Qualifier: I love to eat out, and these places are on the list. To get on the list I have to have said “I wish I hadn’t eaten yet!” after I stuffed myself. These places did that to me. These are the best of the best for what they do. The list isn’t regional, just the cities, unless nothing else will do.
Best Thin Crust Pizza
- Tie: Aurelio’s in Roseville and Michael’s Pizza on Robert in St. Paul
Best Deep Dish Pizza
- Italian Pie Shoppe, Grand Ave. in St. Paul. Best sauce-on-top in the area.
Best Pizza By The Slice
- A Slice of New York, downtown Minneapolis. And the best stromboli too.
Best Coney Dog
- Gopher Bar in St. Paul. AWESOME coneys. No ketchup. Ketchup is a sin anyway. Cold Pabst.
Best Chicago Style Dogs
- Chris & Rob’s on West 7th, St. Paul. Don’t wear a Sox hat. Or anything American League for that matter. Better to don the Mighty Blue cap.
Note: If you have the gut for it, do the hot dog tour at the Gopher and Chris & Rob’s on the same day.
Best Fried Flour Shell Tacos
- The Taco House, St. Paul. (Wish I could find fried bread tacos all the time besides the county fair).
Best “Authentic” Tacos
- The Taco Truck on Robert, West St. Paul. Soft corn tortillas and meat. You can buy awesome tamales to take home too.
Best Burger
- Lindey’s Prime Steak House in Arden Hills. Hands down. Order the mushrooms and fried onions and nothing else. They only serve them at lunch.
- Runner Up: Wagner’s in Minneapolis, The Nook in St. Paul.
Best Juicy Lucy
- Matt’s Bar, by far. Minneapolis.
Best Patty Melt
- Ike’s, Minneapolis.
- Runner up: too far away but a small joint in Moose lake gets mention.
Best Buffet
- Big Marina Grill and Deli, Columbia Heights. Its Mediterranean and it’s awesome.
Best MiddleEastern Food
- Emily’s Lebanese Deli, Minneapolis.
Best Gyros
- Best Steak House on the corner of Larpenteur and Rice, St. Paul.
Best “I think its a steak”
- The Farmington Steakhouse (Pete’s). A little far but they get a mention for awesome low priced steaks and grub — its a great place.
Best Roast Beef Sandwich
- Mayslacks Bar, Minneapolis. Rye bun, raw onion, pepper rings, with 1 pound of garlic roasted beef.
Best Onion Rings
- Also Mayslacks Bar, Minneapolis. This is no joke. They kind of over-cook them to crispy perfection.
Best Sausages
- Kramarczucks, Minneapolis. They have meat in their sauerkraut!!!!
Best Ice Cream
- Donatelli’s in White Bear Lake. They keep it COOOOOLLLLD.
Best Pie
- The Birchwood Cafe, Minneapolis. OK its a hippy joint but their coconut cream pie with chocolate on the bottom is unparalleled.
- Runner Up: The Square (Baker’s Square) in Roseville. Very well run place.
Best Broasted Chicken
- The Oak Inn in North Branch. OK, technically this is pretty far out of the Twin Cities but nothing comes close. NOTHING. I heard also there’s a place in Grandy MN that is awesome — something about living rural makes for good chicken.
Best Drive In
- Wagner’s in Minneapolis. Shakes and burgers WOW.
- Runner Up: The Dariette, St. Paul. Great burgers, and you can get either fries OR spaghetti for a side.
- A&W Rice Street: R.I.P. Sad to see the last of the area A&Dubs go down, the kind that closed for X-mas trees in the winter. An era gone.
Best Fish Fry
- The Sport’s Club, Hudson WI. Close enough to St. Paul . . . old school.
Best Lindy (BLT & Eggsalad)
- Cobblestone Cafe in White Bear Lake
Best Pannekoeken (Dutch Pancake)
- Pannekoeken Huis in Maplewood. Where else? Get a bacon one and an apple one.