Round trip to Minneapolis

I'm going to the Northwestern game there next month. Looks like we're going through Eau Clarie and near La Crosse.

Any recommendations for Minneapolis or along the route?

Dodger

I have a feeling there might be a hamburger or two on the way through Wisconsin. Minneapolis and St Paul have been covered fairly well here (in multiple threads; major one here). Assuming you want to focus on things less available in Chicago, Hmong and Scandinavian should be high on your list. Hmongtown Marketplace on Como is a fun immersion in a different culture (and you can eat well too). For a good Swed-ish lunch, Fika (at the American Swedish Institute) would be hard to beat. I don't think this terrific spot has been mentioned here yet; hopefully I'll get around to it soon. Be sure to take a cooler and stock up on cured meats and fish at Ingebretsen's (Lake at 16th). Everything I brought back recently was best-of-type. A great store. Finally, don't forget, you'll be there in the heart of booya season.

Well we got back late Sunday night. We left Friday morning. Our first stop was Decatur Dairy. Took the tour and bought some cheese, great stop. Brought a big cooler and we knew our hotel in Minneapolis had a fridge.

Drove to O'so Brewery in Plover, WI. Got there at 2. Found out they didn't open till 3. Got lucky when someone local showed up, he thought they opened at 2. He recommended the bar next door for their beer and food. He mentioned O'so didn't sell food anyway. We went to this place, Mikey's. We both were pleasantly surprised. They had 39 taps. I had an O'so porter, a good representative of the style. My buddy had an O'so red ale, which he liked. The food was standard pub grub. I had a turkey rueben with an apple jam and a side of Apple baked beans. Sandwich VG, beans excellent.

We hit O'so on the way out of Mikey's. They let us in 10 minutes early. Got to talk to one of the Brewers. We bought a case of their Scotch Ale for $25 and 2, 750ml of their Imperial red ale, aged 8 months in oak. Looking forward to that.

Then we were on to Minneapolis, got to our hotel about 7. It was an Embassy Suite, grab a couple of our free drinks and some appetizers. It ended at 7:30.

For dinner we went to Town House Brewery based on a friends recommendations. Unfortunately he missed this. Beer was decent but the food was not very good. My friend had the salmon burger and I had the Walleye tacos. I was even disappointed with their Wisconsin beer cheese soup.

Next day we went to the Northwestern tail gate (8:30 - 10:30). It was decent, not great. They had really good maple flavored bacon. Had a couple of Bloody Mary's and several glasses of a decent Champagne. Walked to the game. It was enjoyable, but NU couldn't stop some big plays and didn't handle their next to last possession. Being the visiting fans our seats at the top. Great day, a little too much sun by the 4th quarter.

After the game we walked around the campus. Then went to the Muddy Pig. They had several terrific beers. We each had 2 beers, all were great. I had a La Trappe Quad, fantastic. Except for this place having food, it reminded us of the Map Room in Chicago.

Then we walked to the Happy Gnome. Got there at about 6:50, with an hour + wait. Got lucky with a couple of seats at the bar. They have a huge selection of brews. Can't remember what all we had, all were VG. My friend had a house salad and pheasant pot pie. The salad was field greens, fresh mozzarella, plus other vegetables, in a red wine vinaigrette. The pot pie was a good size. He liked both. I had a huge buffalo rib eye with a reduction sauce and a little bit of creamed horseradish. Cooked the right way. Best piece of buffalo I've ever had.

My buddy picked the places more on their beers, than the food. Sorry I didn't get to your recommendation. Sunday had the free breakfast and drove back.

D.

Decatur Dairy
W1668 County Road F
Brodhead, WI 53520

Mikey's
3018 Village Park Dr
Plover, WI

O’so Brewing Company
3028 Village Park Drive
Plover, WI

Muddy Pig
162 Dale St N
Saint Paul, MN 55102

Happy Gnome
498 Selby Ave
Saint Paul, MN

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