Re: Hotels in Minneapolis
Thanks- I'm sure part of the location decision will be choices of food around. We always try to find the best eats in a given area, and like to splurge some on the FF.
Probably would stick with the bus system, and I would assume that it will run later for the championship game, if we choose to stay in Minneapolis, yes?
I remember the last time we were down there- went to the theater on Friday night- it was pretty cool- and we are still on the mailing list.
For you locals, I'll encourage you to do some hunting for tourist things to do for us all, more so the off the beaten path stuff. I kinda doubt we will do the MoA- since I see no real point in that- we have stores, too (yea, I know MoA is more than that, but shopping is the base- the rest are for the kids and dads who hate shopping). I want to see things that are unique to Minnesota, and the twin cities.
One of the main buslines you'd want to look at is #16 (
http://transit.metc.state.mn.us/Schedules/WebSchedules.aspx?route=16 ). Runs from downtown Minneapolis to downtown St Paul at least every 10-15 minutes (except for 1am-5am when it's only every hour). You'll also probably want to look into getting a day/event pass (
http://metrotransit.org/buyPass/dayPass.asp ).
My (probable) advisor's wife is a foodie, and consequently I've gone to a couple nice restaurants this past year when we've taken visiting speakers out to eat (and I'll probably be going to a few more before the Frozen Four next year). I'd take these more as suggestions for places to look into, because I don't think my taste is refined enough to be somebody that should be making strong suggestions.
Spoonriver is right across the street from the Guthrie. Gets mixed reviews online (though it seems more for service and not being as organic/veggie friendly as they claim), but I really liked it. I'd probably only go if you were also going to a show at the Guthrie, because it would be super-convenient. Just make sure that you make reservations because everybody else will be doing the same thing.
Fogo De Chao is a high class all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse in downtown Minneapolis. Technically a chain, but they only have locations in about 15 major cities. Waiters walk around with various kind of meat skewered on sticks, and when they see that your coaster is flipped over to green they swarm you and you get to pick and choose what you want. Filet Mignon, top sirloin, bottom sirloin, ribeye, parmesean crusted pork, lamb, chicken wrapped in bacon, sausage, ribs... There's also a server covering about every 4 tables, so if there's something you want and haven't seen in a while, you can have him track it down. Also comes with a salad bar (which I didn't partake in) and the sides were also pretty good (cheese bread, garlic mashed potatoes, polenta, carmelized bananas). If you do go, make it your last stop, because you'll be so full you won't want to eat for the next day.
Cave Vin is a French place out by Edina, not sure how easy it is to get there by bus. Gets pretty good reviews, and since my advisor just spent a year in France/has his kids in French immersion school/is hosting a French au pair, I assume he knows good French food.
El Meson is a Spanish/Caribbean place south of Minneapolis off of Lyndale, I presume there's a bus that runs straight there from downtown. Citypages voted it best tapas in the Twin Cities area. Not exactly my kind of food, but I still enjoyed it. They suggest that if you're planning on getting a paella that you order that in advance, since it takes longer than everything else to cook.
Townhall Brewery is a nice little brewpub just off of Minnesota's West Bank of campus (only a block from the #16, though oddly enough, that bus stop is on an exit ramp). Good beer, good food, has outdoor seating. Would probably be a good place to go for lunch.
Bombay Bistro is an Indian place downtown. I'd only had Indian food once or twice before I went there, but I liked it.
Nami is a sushi place on the north end of downtown. Sushi isn't really my thing, so I can't say much about that. At least I enjoyed the edamame
.
