Help with staying in Minneapolis, MN

So we are headed to Minneapolis, MN in two weekends, the 17th-20th. It will be my wife and I plus my two younger kids, 5 and 2. Our business will take place right off the river on the south east side of the river near the SE Washington Ave bridge. My wife and I like to eat good food. Asian and Mexican foods probably top the statistics of our eating habits but we love a good steak and pasta as well. Very open to trying MN cuisine if we know what to look for. I might be able to get a great deal at the Marriott Renaissance but hear there is construction around there, can someone confirm?

• Where is the best density of good food? Not wanting do spend big bucks.
• Which side of the river should we stay on?
• Any nice walkable spaces for us with a stroller?

Go get a juicy Lucy.

What's the stroller for ?

mtn wrote: Go get a juicy Lucy.

Any particular restaurant to source one of those from?

iceracer wrote: What's the stroller for ?

Part of our required life tools. We find some places are just not setup for them to get anywhere and others are ok. So asking to try and cut down on frustration searching for somewhere we can go enjoy a sunny day outside.

I travel to Minnesota all the time…next week will conclude a run of three trips in three weeks.

I reliably select fish / crustaceans over any other option but for years, I’d notice Walleye on menus in Minnesota restaurants and pass it over thinking it was some sort of moose or something.

Bhahaha, maybe I’m the only person that doesn’t know this but Walleye is actually a fish; durp.

In reply to RX Reven':

You poor poor soul.

It's ok, I'll eat all the walleye cheeks anyone over looks.

As for juicy Lucy, there are 2 big name restaurants that are escaping me right now. According to people I used to live with from Minneapolis, you have to try both if you have the chance.

I've not had the restaurant versions, but my roommate would make them all the time, and yes, definitely go find them when you're there.

Advan046 wrote:

mtn wrote: Go get a juicy Lucy.

Any particular restaurant to source one of those from?

Get your Jucy Lucy at Matt's Bar, 35th and Cedar Avenue S.

There's a stretch of Nicollet Avenue going south of downtown with a ton of restaurants that's referred to as Eat Street: Eat Street restaurants. (I live two blocks away.) There's any kind of food you'd want - I like the Market Barbeque, Black Forest for German, Christo's for Greek, Rainbow for Chinese, the Bad Waitress for breakfast, Glam Doll for sweets, Little Tijuana for Mexican. The Eat Street Social has good food as well, plus they're known for their cocktails. There's a bunch of other Asian cuisine to try. I haven't been there yet but I've been told the Copper Hen is good.

The list in the link above is not up to date, for instance there's a good pizza place (Black Sheep Pizza) and a barbeque (StormKing Barbeque) on the corner of 26th and Nicollet that have been added recently, but it gives you an idea of what's there.

Another thought is there are 80 zillion food trucks running around here in the summer. There must be a list online somewhere. Also, we have just about as many microbreweries, if you're a beer drinker. Surly is quite good, and they have a nice restaurant onsite.

Edit: for strolling, there's a great walking path system that runs around all the lakes (Lake of the Isles, Calhoun, Harriet) in south Minneapolis. Harriet and Calhoun have places that sell food. At Harriet there's a bandshell with music most evenings and on weekends, plus a historic streetcar you can ride on. The ride isn't very long but it's fun and kids like it. You can also walk in downtown, look for the Stone Arch bridge across the Mississippi. http://stonearchbridge.com/

Matt's was where I had my Jucy Lucy's. They were excellent.

When I worked for Twin City Hose the joke was the walleye is never really walleye (perch) and usually it's frozen in a box. But all the tourists love the walleye, eh?

Datsun310Guy wrote: When I worked for Twin City Hose the joke was the walleye is never really walleye (perch) and usually it's frozen in a box. But all the tourists love the walleye, eh?

More likely it was Zander.

So try Matt's and Walleye.

Any ideas where to stay? Is it easy to get around across the river? by car? by public transit?

I live here, but don't have any experience with staying in hotels...having said that, the Marriott Renaissance seems like a pretty cool place in a historic building, and it's close to stuff right downtown and it's reasonably close to the neighborhood you describe. It sounds like you will be on or near the University of Minnesota campus; there's a Marriott Courtyard Downtown on the west bank of the U of M, and The Commons Hotel on the east bank that may be closer.

You can get around by city bus if you like; there is also a light rail system, and the Green Line goes east-west across the river at Washington Avenue. Driving a car works, too, but parking that area may be an issue (although now that school's out, parking around the University shouldn't be too bad. You can walk across the river at University as well, there's an upper deck on the bridge for pedestrians (and it has a covered section in case of rain.) If you want to travel around the rest of the city, parking a car shouldn't be a problem. For instance, if you go to Matts for the Jucy Lucy you can just park on the street in front of the place, there are no meters or anything.

In reply to stuart in mn:

OK Thanks for the info. We will definitely get to Matts.