FOODSTUFF >>

• Best Pizza (1 Comment)
  Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza
  Guest Best: Aaron Landry Great pizza is about balance. While loads of ingredients and gobs of cheese can be satisfying, a fantastic pizza is disciplined: Each flavor, smell, and texture comes out without competing. Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza in Minneapolis's North Loop is... More >>
• Best Burger (4 Comments)
  The Blue Door Pub
  Still lamenting the loss of the Crack Burger at the late, great Sauced—that dear, departed patty was slathered in an incomparable veal demiglace—we decided to drown our sorrows in a few brews at the Blue Door Pub. There we discovered the new-ish neighborhood hangout to be pretty much... More >>
• Best Hot Dog (3 Comments)
  The Wienery
  Just as trail mix tastes best on the trail, a proper hot dog tastes best in a dive. In the Twin Cities, no atmosphere is more appropriate for hot dog consumption than the Wienery, a dump (in the best sense of the word) of a restaurant on Cedar Avenue. Their Chicago-style dog is the best in... More >>
• Best Fries
  Herkimer Pub and Brewery
  Most of us have been so focused on the grimmer aspects of LynLake dining—no more jP American Bistro, no more La Bodega—that we've overlooked what's still working (especially now that the end of road construction means easy accessibility). In the case of the Herkimer, that's the... More >>
• Best Barbecue
  Pastor Hamilton's Bar-B-Que
  "This looks like a homeless shelter," one first-timer said as he pulled up outside Pastor Hamilton's black-barred door on St. Paul's East Seventh Street. Pastor Luches Hamilton opened his tiny barbecue shop right next door to his storefront church, across the street from what looks like a... More >>
• Best Taco
  Shrimp taco at La Sirena Gorda
  Minneapolis's Lake Street and Nicollet Avenue abound with mom-and-pop taco shops—places where vats of greasy, precooked meat await deposit in soft corn tortillas and a sprinkling of hot sauce. These restaurants have their appeal, but for those looking for a taco that doesn't leave the lips... More >>
• Best Burrito
  El Burrito Mercado
  The first sign that El Burrito Mercado on St. Paul's west side is going to deliver a worthy burrito is the fact that you can smell it before you see it. From the bright yellow market/gift shop/restaurant waft the dueling scents of refried beans and spicy rice, which bodes well for the first bite... More >>
• Best Cheese Shop (1 Comment)
  France 44
  Benjamin Roberts, the man in charge of the cheese shop at France 44 (it replaced the former restaurant about a year ago) so abhors the product-mishandling he's witnessed at upscale grocers—fragile, living, breathing cheeses tightly wrapped in plastic instead of a porous cheese... More >>
• Best Farmers' Market (1 Comment)
  Mill City Farmers Market
  All the local farmers' markets have one thing in common: great farmers. (Admittedly, they can be hard to find at the Minneapolis and Nicollet markets, choked among the vendors selling past-its-prime supermarket produce.) But most of the markets' locations feel like the city's leftovers, as... More >>
• Best Bakery (1 Comment)
  Salty Tart
  With all that the Midtown Global Market has to offer in the way of sweets, it might seem surprising that relative newcomer Salty Tart consistently has a crowd gazing through its glass cases. That is, until you realize James Beard Award nominee Michelle Gayer, whose desserts can be found at La... More >>
• Best Bagels
  Common Roots Cafe
  You can tell when a bagel was made with love—and when its creators want you to love it as much as they do. Carefully hand-sculpting these golden rings of yeasty dough has to be almost an intimate act in order to secure a perfectly crusted outside and chewy inside lightly peppered with air... More >>
• Best Doughnuts (2 Comments)
  Granny Donut
  The hardcore doughnut lover has no use for the prissy and limited varieties at most bakeries, nor the equally limited Stepford doughnuts of Krispy Kreme. Only a real doughnut shop will do, with a generous selection of cinnamon rolls and maple bars, cakes and raised, jellies and twists. Granny... More >>
• Best Late-Night Snack
  Sweet Martha's Cookies
  You've got only 12 days a year to chow down on the endless supply of junk food at the Minnesota State Fair. But one of the best things about the fair can be found in the frozen-food section of the metro's major grocery stores. Now you can feed your Sweet Martha's chocolate-chip cookie addiction... More >>
• Best Caramel Roll
  Isles Bun and Coffee Company
  First is the smell. Seldom do you get to experience a caramel roll before eating it—before even ordering it—but the time spent waiting in line at Isles Bun and Coffee Company is an integral part of the ingestion process. Then you get your caramel roll, with pecans or without (your... More >>
• Best Ice Cream Parlor (1 Comment)
  Pumphouse Creamery
  The Twin Cities boast a wealth of good, independent ice cream shops, but this small, well-kept storefront takes top honors this year for its owner's zeal for local ingredients; its thick, super-rich ice cream made with organic dairy products; and its intriguing flavors. Barb Zapzalka uses milk... More >>
• Best Cookie (1 Comment)
  Rustica's Bittersweet Chocolate Cookie
  It's such a humble-looking thing, Rustica Bakery's bittersweet chocolate cookie: black as midnight and sprinkled with sugar granules that twinkle like stars against the night sky. Your first bite breaks through a crisp, delicate crust to reveal a brownie-soft center—something you can... More >>
• Best Chocolate
  Rogue Chocolatier
  Colin Gasko, you've ruined us. We thought we could enjoy other chocolate, but now it all tastes like sweet, brown wax compared to your robust Rogue chocolate bars. Gasko produces a small collection of single-origin chocolates, which means the cacao beans are sourced from one area and have a... More >>
• Best Candy Store
  Fiesta in America
  Have a craving for goat's-milk caramels? How about strawberry-flavored bubble gum, the kind you used to chew on the school bus years ago? Or maybe a miniature plastic toilet filled with sugary sweets and a button that makes a flushing sound? Fiesta in America is an explosion of color, candy, and... More >>
• Best Pancakes
  Good Day Cafe
  Minnesotans' history of pancake-eating goes back to the days when Paul Bunyan's legendary logging camp crew made flapjacks on a griddle so big it was greased by skaters who glided on bacon slabs. We love our pancakes in every possible permutation: made with buttermilk, sourdough, or cornmeal;... More >>
• Best Italian Market
  Morelli's Market
  These are things worth believing in: food and liquor sold under the same roof, family-run businesses thriving, and both of those happening in a vibrant city neighborhood. Morelli's Market scores on all three counts. Walking in the door of Morelli's is like stepping into an episode of The... More >>
• Best Natural Foods Grocery (1 Comment)
  Seward Co-op Grocery & Deli
  For activists and converts to organic and local food, the new 13,000-square-foot Seward Co-op is the promised land. Yes, it's pricey—but hey, eating well these days costs a fortune wherever you go, and Seward's selection of produce, meats, and cheeses is the best around. The spread of... More >>
• Best Fish Market
  Coastal Seafoods
  Coastal Seafoods' two Twin Cities shops make it easy to forget that we're more than a thousand miles from the Atlantic or Pacific. Thanks to the frequent deliveries of Northwest Airlines, the guys at Coastal Seafoods pick up fresh deliveries at the airport twice a day—and most of the... More >>
• Best Middle Eastern Grocery
  Holy Land Grocery & Deli
  The Twin Cities are blessed with an array of international specialty shops, but perhaps none is more comprehensive than Holy Land in northeast Minneapolis. Whether you're craving something savory (halal meats, green olives with garlic, varieties of hummus), sweet (baklava, dried glazed orange... More >>
• Best Hummus (11 Comments)
  Falafel King
  Hummus is no simple beast. Its Middle Eastern origins are shrouded in mystery, but some legends hold that the dip was the world's first prepared food. The bulk is mashed chickpeas, seasoned with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and garlic. When the ingredients are blended poorly, the hummus... More >>
• Best Egg Roll
  Taste of Thailand
  An egg roll is so often the least-appreciated item on an Asian restaurant's menu. Little thought or preparation goes into it beyond dunking a prefab roll of sodden cabbage and limp carrot into the deep fryer. That sad state makes us more likely to reach for a cream-cheese wonton or a chicken... More >>
• Best Wings
  Sweeney's Saloon
  If, as Sweeney's Saloon in St. Paul's Cathedral Hill claims, beer is the reason you get out of bed every afternoon, then the venerable establishment's wings are the reason you show up for that beer with an empty stomach. Listed on the menu as the "Famous Flamingo Wings," these massive hunks of... More >>
• Best Tea Shop
  Northern Lights Tea Company
  The scaling back of Starbucks' store-every-block saturation is just one more reason caffeine addicts are turning to tea to fill the void. More specifically, they are heading to Northern Lights Tea Company, where owner Sandy Nelson happily advises newbies on the differences in darjeelings (do you... More >>
• Best Bubble Tea (Alcoholic)
  Jasmine 26
  In a genius move, Jasmine 26 has spiked the classic Asian bubble tea, resulting in a deliciously buzzed treat. Both milky and fruity, Jasmine 26's bubble tea is part smoothie and part cocktail, and it comes in three tempting flavors: classic green tea, mango, and mocha. Served in an elongated... More >>
• Best Bubble Tea
  Peninsula Malaysian Cuisine
  Bubble tea, or boba, is a whimsical drink that at first might seem best suited for small children, cartoon characters, and Japanophiles. The liquids may vary from teas to fruit juices to smoothies; it's the boba—large, black pearl tapioca so large that it must be consumed through a special... More >>
• Best Skyway Lunch
  Zen Box
  For the last four years or so, Zen Box, a narrow space in the 6 Quebec building, has been turning out fresh Japanese comfort-food lunches that have won over even the most dedicated burger-and-fries loyalists. And they're a decent bargain, too—many main dishes cost under $7 and nearly all... More >>
• Best Non-State Fair Cheese Curds
  Red Stag Supper Club
  We're still months away from the Great Minnesota Get-Together, but do not fret—succulent, deep-fried cheese is available in Northeast all year long. The Red Stag Supper Club has some blue-ribbon quality curds: Served in a paper cone, these hot babies melt in your mouth and go perfectly... More >>