One of the best parts of traveling to a new area is trying
out different places to eat and Minneapolis has many places to dine. Minneapolis is consistently rated near the
top in dining and has attracted many top chefs to the area.
When we first began traveling we would rely on restaurant
guides to help as decide where we would dine. By using the restaurant guides we
found that about half of the time we were disappointed in our dining
experience. We decided that we needed to have a more reliable system for
choosing our restaurants.
We started asking the desk clerks where we stayed, if they
could recommend a dining choice. We did get better results with this approach,
depending upon the clerk. Many times the
restaurant with the longest lines doesn’t always have the best dining – they are
just the newest trendy restaurant and this will be the recommendation. They may
or may not have the best food. I have
found this to be a pattern in New York and in Minneapolis.
New doesn’t always
equal the best. Some would take the time
to ask what type of food we were looking for and what price range we wanted to
spend. Based on our answers to those questions they would make recommendations.
We found that this approach was effective as long as the clerk was not busy
with others checking in, or answering the telephone. Some clerks would simply
say that restaurant guides were provided in the room. It was also difficult to get a recommendation
for dinner plans if the hotel or inn had their own dining room.
I’ve found larger cities have restaurant guides in local
newspapers. These are often lists of the
restaurants by cuisine, price and some other basic information such as
reservation requirements and dress code. For Minneapolis Restaurants the city pages or http://todoinminneapolis.com
can provide some dining ideas.
However, the best restaurant guides for us are asking local
residents not just the employees. Many employees
only work in Minneapolis and live in the suburbs. So, it’s worth asking if they live in the
city – if they do and they dine out and many do – they can offer you a wealth
of information. This may sound strange, but most people like to support their
favorite restaurant by recommending it to others. We have approached people by
simply going into a neighborhood bar and having a drink. We will ask the
bartender or another patron. This can actually be fun because at some bars more
than one person will give a recommendation and soon a debate will begin as to
the best place to eat.
We ran into this situation when we were visiting
Minneapolis. We were staying at a hotel downtown and had walked a few blocks to
a pub. This was a weeknight so the pub was not overly busy. We sat at the
horseshoe shaped bar and ordered a drink. My husband asked the bartender if he
could recommend a place for us to have dinner that was within walking distance. Before the bartender could answer the man
sitting on the other side of my husband named a local restaurant. Another
patron commented that the restaurant was under new management, so it was no
longer as good. Another patron mentioned their favorite place to eat, but the
bartender thought it would be too far to walk. The eight local patrons that
were in the bar were soon telling stories about eating out and places that were
closed and many other topics. We were enjoying the lively conversation so much
that we had the bartender make us a frozen pizza and we spent the evening
talking with the people at the bar. When the hot pizza was put in front of us
one of the patrons commented that we would not be finding this meal in the
restaurant guides. I have to admit it was a more enjoyable evening than any
that could have been offered by the restaurant guides.