Things to do in Minneapolis

[sasky7777]

We are heading to Minneapolis at the end of September. My father in law is a MLB fan and it is the closest ball park to us. We have a day at a Twins game and a day at the Mall of America. Any suggestions for our third day? I was thinking of hitting up Surly but other than that I don't have any idea. Family friendly ideas would be a plus since we have a 2 and 5 year old as well as well. The rest of us are in our twenties and thirties and my in laws in their 50s.

 

[BrewerBrad82]

If you want to do the brewery thing you have a ton of options.

-Surly
-Indeed Brewing Co (NE MPLS)
-Dangerous Man (NE MPLS)
-Fulton Brewing (downtown MPLS right next to the Twins stadium)
-Northgate Brewing (NE MPLS)
-612 Brew (NE MPLS)
-Bauhaus (NE MPLS)
-Insight Brewing (NE)
-Urban Growler (St Paul)
-Dayblock Brewing (downtown)
-Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery (West Bank UofM) GO HERE!!!
-Harriet Brewing (S MPLS)


I know I missed some, so if any other Minnesotans can help out that would be great!

 

[sasky7777]

Thanks BrewerBrad82, what about bottle shops? Who are some of the notable breweries distributing in the city? Being from Canada we don't always get the best selection.

 

[motobrewer]

Four Seasons Curling Club. Blaine, MN

 

[d3track]

Ale Jail, Four Firkins, South Lyndale Liquors are just a few.

There are a lot of good restaurants and almost all have a good selection of local brews.

Target field has a great selection too for a ballpark.

I suggest the sculpture garden in September, it's a good time to go.
And Minnihaha Falls are beautiful when the leaves turn, and I think Sea Salt there will be open, one of my favorite summer places.

Where in the city will you staying? I can point you some good places.

 

[Alextuttle]

All you need to do is get a Juicy Lucy! http://mattsbar.com/

 

[d3track]

If you want to do the brewery thing you have a ton of options.

-Surly
-Indeed Brewing Co (NE MPLS)
-Dangerous Man (NE MPLS) - GO HERE TOO
-Fulton Brewing (downtown MPLS right next to the Twins stadium)
-Northgate Brewing (NE MPLS)
-612 Brew (NE MPLS)
-Bauhaus (NE MPLS)
-Insight Brewing (NE)
-Urban Growler (St Paul)
-Dayblock Brewing (downtown)
-Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery (West Bank UofM) GO HERE!!!
-Harriet Brewing (S MPLS)


I know I missed some, so if any other Minnesotans can help out that would be great!

Summit (St Paul)
Free House (NE)
LynLake Brew (Uptown)
Steel Toe (St Louis Park)

 

[gratefulfloyd]

Food places/things I enjoy:
The Blue Door
Eli's
French Meadow (for Breakfast)
Psycho Suzi's (if you can get a break from the little ones
The new Surly buildng is pretty awesome.
Minnehaha Falls
Theo Wirth park
Walker art museum
Football game at TCF Stadium

 

[flars]

Visit Northern Brewer.

 

[TxBrew]

I'm going next month so following this thread. I'll have a 1, 3 and 7 year old.

So probably no breweries but eateries, museums, brothels, etc.

 

[Yesfan]

i'm going next month so following this thread. I'll have a 1, 3 and 7 year old.

So probably no breweries but eateries, museums, brothels, etc.

LOL!! :d

 

[MaxStout]

I'm going next month so following this thread. I'll have a 1, 3 and 7 year old.

So probably no breweries but eateries, museums, brothels, etc.

Lots of good kid-friendly things. Minnesota Science Museum. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden next to the Walker Art Center. Twins baseball. Urban lakes. Two great zoos--Minnesota Zoo and the free Como Park Zoo in St. Paul. Mall Of America.

Edit: Bring warm clothes. It can be chilly here in May. Even frost some nights.

 

[Yooper]

I'm going next month so following this thread. I'll have a 1, 3 and 7 year old.

So probably no breweries but eateries, museums, brothels, etc.

Minnehaha Falls is fun, especially if the weather is nice. There is a very nice walking trail, in a park setting and everyone should like that. The Mall of America might be a necessary stop for your family, and it's ok. I mean, it's a mall with an amusement park so kids like it.

I love some of the Asian markets (United Noodles is a good one). If you're staying downtown, it's a very walkable area. A good family restaurant (for my kind of family, anyway) is Town Hall Brewery. The food is decent, and on nice days sitting on the sidewalk and eating and drinking is nice.

I'm not able to give better advice, since I love dives. There are some very nice dive type restaurants and I've eaten at a lot of them. It really depends on the area you're staying. Out by the mall/airport, it's mostly chain type stuff (chili's, Red Lobster) but there are other places that are either in neighborhoods or near downtown that are great.

 

[TxBrew]

Is the Mall of America worth it? We aren't really shoppers, so besides browsing shops, the scale of the mall and amusement park is the attraction for families?

 

[BrewerBrad82]

Is the Mall of America worth it? We aren't really shoppers, so besides browsing shops, the scale of the mall and amusement park is the attraction for families?

Personally I avoid it like the plague. BUT, if you have never been there it *might* be worth it to check it out - the sheer scale of the place is pretty amazing.

 

[standpoint]

Minneapolis/St. Paul area has so much stuff to see, three days really isn't much time. We have serious amounts of quality food and beer here.....

Really depends on where you are staying, but Minneapolis side you have uptown and downtown, both have tons of restaurants and bars. St. Paul downtown has a few restaurants and bars, also a few brewpubs. Grand Avenue in St. Paul is a good place to walk, shop and eat - lots of unique stores, very few chain type places.

Beer brewing has really taken off around here, I could probably find over 50 brewpubs in mpls/st. paul. Probably a dozen breweries, too.

The mall of America is good for kids with the amusement park inside, but otherwise it is just a stupidly big mall with a bunch of chain crap in it. Worth checking out, but not exactly 'fun'.

FYI we recently got a train system running. You can take the train from the Mall of America to target field (blue line), and also take the green line from target field which runs right next to the new Surly building. I personally prefer to park by the mall and take the train to downtown, then you don't have to worry about parking.

Most liquor stores have good beer selections around here. A few notable ones are Surdyk's and Zipp's.

There are tons of great Sushi places around town, and tons to great pizza places, too. Great burgers galore, also.

 

[saazall]

Surly really is a family place and are very accomodating of kids. There is a play area while waiting for a table and they hand out fun kits in lunch pails to keep the kids busy.
The food is good,the beer is great,and the beer garden is awsome. Worth a few hours.

 

[d3track]

There is also a Children's Museum in St Paul that the kids will love.

The apple farms should be starting up too.

 

[NeoBrew]

Is the Mall of America worth it? We aren't really shoppers, so besides browsing shops, the scale of the mall and amusement park is the attraction for families?

It's an impressive place. There is tons of stuff to do from the amusement park, to dozens of restaurants at all cost levels as well as a pretty impressive aquarium.

I don't think I could call it one of the wonders of the world. So only go if that stuff sounds interesting to you.

The Twin Cities have so many great things. What kind of things are you and your party interested in? Give us some guidance and we can help suggest some things to see.

 

[MaxStout]

Is the Mall of America worth it? We aren't really shoppers, so besides browsing shops, the scale of the mall and amusement park is the attraction for families?

Yes, it's more a matter of scale. MOA has the same kinds of stores that you'd find in other malls, just more of them, with a few specialty shops thrown in. There is the amusement park, however. It's close to light rail (Blue Line), which connects to both terminals of the airport and downtown Minneapolis. The Blue Line also has a stop near Minnehaha Falls.

That stretch along "I-494 strip" near the mall and airport tends to be mostly chain restaurants, big box stores and car dealers. The core cities have more interesting sights.

If you do find time to hit some breweries, you'll find that most of them are within a few miles of the two downtowns.

 

[stpauliboy]

Was just trading emails with friends today about which taprooms we have made it to and what's still be be visited. There are more than a few breweries. Going to have to start on the out state list soon - Duluth area comes to mind.
P.S. - MidLake should be Eastlake in the Midtown Global Market.

 

[sasky7777]

d3track we are near the Mall, we are driving but found a great place on Air Bnb near there

 

[Tin4]

I'm going next month so following this thread. I'll have a 1, 3 and 7 year old.

So probably no breweries but eateries, museums, brothels, etc.

The big ones can watch the little ones. You can do whatever you want.

 

[d3track]

d3track we are near the Mall, we are driving but found a great place on Air Bnb near there

Might as well hit the mall then. If there are girls (I have two so I know) there's American Girl w/cafe and the full size Barbie dream house.

The MN Zoo will be easy to get to from the mall.

You could split it, one day in St Paul, (children's muse, summit brewing - they serve 1919 root beer I believe, eat at Cossettas, and Como Zoo is free so you can go quick if you want)

Minneapolis (surly, dangerous man, you should go downtown to see the skyway system, Minnihaha falls with Sea Salt, sculpture garden, and Lake Harriet by me has a bandshell and rose garden that are nice to see)

 

[d3track]

Was just trading emails with friends today about which taprooms we have made it to and what's still be be visited. There are more than a few breweries. Going to have to start on the out state list soon - Duluth area comes to mind.
P.S. - MidLake should be Eastlake in the Midtown Global Market.

Have you seen this? http://assets3.thrillist.com/v1/image/1424505

 

[mrdauber64]

The Happy Gnome in St. Paul is awesome! Probably the best restaurant for beer geeks in town. The tap list is huge and the food is outstanding.

Make sure to try Surly Abrasive while you are hear. That is my favorite Surly beer.

If you travel North of the cities at all try HammerHeart Brewing in Lino Lakes.

 

[sompls]

All great ideas, especially if you're sticking close to town. The light rail between the mall and downtown is easy, cheap and fun for kids...MOA is probably a must see, at least once. Fort Snelling is certainly worth a visit. Minnehaha Falls is very cool and close by is (not a bad walk from the park or you can rent bikes too) the Ford Bridge and Lock and Dam #1 which is another fun kids thing to see...if Sea Salt is busy don't be put off by the line, it goes really fast
***pro tip***grab a spot in line for food and send someone else to grab some beers while you're waiting, by the time you get your food you'll be ready for another beer!***

If you are on the train, the cardinal tavern (at 38th street) has great burgers, not a great beer selection and is a fun dive bar that you can bring kids to(you will for sure see all walks of life!)

Also on blue line (although across the street) at about 41st or so is elevated beer...great selection of local stuff and a huge build your own sixer deal

Lots of great places downtown and things to do, I haven't seen a bad suggestion in the thread

Somebody mentioned the Minneapolis Institute of Arts...it's awesome and best of all it's free! (children's theater is next door too)

And last but not least? If you're on the train and close to the 50th street station just holler and I'll hustle on down and send you home with some homebrew!

 

[geoffey]

I don't think I've seen it mentioned yet: visit the Stone Arch Bridge in downtown Minneapolis if the weather is nice. It's close to the Guthrie Theater which is open to the public and has a really cool cantilever bridge with a nice view of the river. There's also the Mill City Museum next door which is fun and has some kid friendly stuff.

But ABSOLUTELY have lunch at Surly. It's very kid friendly and the food is great (not to mention the beer)

 

[MaxStout]

I should add that if you do take the Blue Line rail from MSP/MOA to downtown Minneapolis, you can connect to the Green Line, which goes to downtown St. Paul. Fares are $2.25 during rush hours weekdays, $1.75 other times, with 2-1/2 hour transfers.

If you are going to Surly, take the Green Line and get off at Prospect Park station.

Edit: Link for Metro Transit.