10 Places Where Locals Love to Eat in Minneapolis

FIKA Café, located inside the American Swedish Institute, honors the Nordic ties of the city. In Sweden, fika is a social concept where friends take a daily break to chat about life over coffee and bakery items.

FIKA Cafe embodies this sentiment, earning many awards for its combination of ambience and delicious fare. Make sure to order the iconic Swedish meatballs and smorgasbord (open-faced sandwich) for the full experience. On Wednesdays, the cafe stays open till 8 pm, with a slew of happy hour specials attracting culture aficionados from around the city.

The 5-8 Club specializes in Juicy Lucy, a cheese-stuffed burger that’s widely regarded as American comfort food at its finest. The actual origin of the famed burger is hotly contested between Matt’s Bar (a tourist magnet) and the 5-8 Club, though many locals consider the latter as its creator.

Originally opened as a speakeasy during the Prohibition era, the 5-8 Club has evolved into a Minneapolis institution. The classic Juicy Lucy, oozing with cheese, is served on a freshly baked bun alongside a generous helping of coleslaw and fries. While waiting for your burger, make sure to order a portion of the substantial house-made jojos (loaded potato wedges). Open every day and located right by the airport, this is a stop for every traveler to the city.

Victor’s 1959 Cafe offers a traditional Cuban dining experience in a high-energy, familial environment. The space is quirky, with Cuban culture radiating from the decor, as well as the sharpie scribbles of former patrons covering most of its tables and walls.

Open daily for breakfast and lunch, their Cubano is a culinary treat you need to try – it was featured in the American reality TV series Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Dinner is only available from Tuesdays to Saturdays, bringing an electric Havana Nights aura to the place.

The Black Forest Inn takes patrons on a trip to Bavaria through their full menu of German comfort food. Located on Minneapolis’s food capital thoroughfare, ‘Eat Street’, the tavern is within a short walk from downtown.

Locals flock to the inn almost every day of the week for its cozy atmosphere, warm staff, and fresh beer – best enjoyed on the outdoor patio on a hot summer day. Start your meal with the ham and sauerkraut balls before diving into the paprika schnitzel, a twist on the German classic. You can also stick to traditional dishes, such as the hefty Bratwurst dinner, followed by its house dessert – Black Forest torte.

Quang is one of the city's most famous Vietnamese restaurants, located along Minneapolis' 'Eat Street'. A large influx of Vietnamese immigrants in the 1970s brought steaming lawn bowling of pho (beef noodle soup) and banh mi (Vietnamese baguette) to the Minneapolis food scene.

Make sure to order the legendary pho accompanied by a creamy Vietnamese egg coffee served over ice. Quang is closed on Tuesdays but open on all major vacations throughout the year. Visit on a weekend to enjoy special dishes, such as banh mi bo kho (red curry with beef and carrots) and banh cuon (steamed rice crepes).

The French Meadow Bakery & Bluestem Bar is a local favorite for a top-notch Sunday brunch in Minneapolis. Founded in 1985 as the first-organically certified bakery in the USA, it has longstanding relationships with dozens of local farms, which supply the restaurant with fresh and organically grown products.

The menu at French Meadow is dense, covering breakfast, soups, salads, rustic sandwiches, and plated entrees. Gluten-free and vegan offerings are also in abundance with patron favorites such as the huevos rancheros and avocado toast selling out regularly. A self-serve coffee station keeps the energy level high and conversation flowing. Situated in the Lowry Hill East neighbourhood, make sure to get here early on weekends to beat the crowds.

Pizza Luce has been humbly serving Minneapolis pizza-lovers for around 3 decades. With 9 establishments in and around the Twin Cities (Minneapolis–Saint Pau), it’s safe to say this former slice counter is a city icon.

Its flagship downtown location, caddy-corner to Target Field, is where locals go for pizza before a Twins ballgame. With specialty names like Ruby Rae and Fire Breathing Dragon, you know creativity is part of its charm. Don't limit yourself to the pies, as its delectable parmigiana hoagies are just as good. The beer menu is robust, and everything is reasonably priced.

Butcher & The Boar is what you get when you blend a BBQ joint, a beer garden and upscale date-night spot. The allure of this establishment is its parallel functionality – couples can have romantic date-nights inside, while groups of friends enjoy a raucous night out at the massive outdoor patio.

The menu centres around creative meat dishes, best eaten alongside a delectable selection of sides and bourbons. A visit to Butcher & The Boar is not complete without tasting the signature B&B foot-long hot dog – it’s topped with shoestring potatos, a spicy 'chow-chow', and served on a brioche bun. Located on the western end of downtown, you can enjoy a walk around the beautiful Loring Pond.

Hi-Lo Diner is modern and hip, yet traditional and classic all at the same time. The diner is actually an original 1957 Fodero Diner from Gibsonia that’s dropped along Lake Street in Minneapolis’ Longfellow neighbourhood.

The menu is half standard diner fare, half ridiculous and zany eats – popular picks include the disco fries and fried chicken over doughnuts. This joint really starts to bump during afternoon rush hour. Boozy cocktails and local beers flow freely alongside the hearty comfort food. You can also stroll down the banks of the nearby Mississippi River after a meal at Hi-Lo to burn off those carb-heavy calories.