Our readers do not abandon favorites easily, and though we can hardly call the dethroning of a perennial Number One an abandonment, it’s notable that after, like, 300 years, there is a new Number One restaurant in the Twin Cities—according to YOU. Two of them, actually. The Oceanaire Seafood Room and St. Paul Grill tied this year as your favorites, with Kincaid’s very close behind. New to the Ten Best are The Lexington, Jax Cafe, Pazzaluna, Kozlak’s Royal Oak, and Lucia’s, all long-standing favorites. It definitely takes a few years for a new restaurant to crack our readers’ top ten, and this year, due to a quirk of the calendar, Readers Poll voting closed last fall, just as several of the year’s most notable restaurants opened. Thus, the absence of Five, La Belle Vie, Fugaise, Masa, and Salut in our Best New Restaurant category. Luckily, many are recognized in the adjoining Critics’ Choice feature. So you’re covered, whether you eat like a critic or a real person. Thanks to my colleague Katie Derdoski and our marvelous crew of interns for shepherding this project through the gauntlet this year. It’s truly a massive undertaking.
Ten Best Restaurants (and how they ranked in other categories)
1. The Oceanaire Seafood Room (tie)
Dessert, 5th place; Seafood, 1st place; Service, 3rd place;
Special Occasion, 3rd place tie
St. Paul Grill (tie)
Brunch, 4th place; Romantic, 4th place; Service, 5th place tie;
Special Occasion, 4th place; Twin Cities Institution, 4th place;
View, 2nd place; Wine List, 3rd place tie
2. Kincaid’s
Bar Menu, 4th place tie; Special Occasion, 2nd place;
Seafood, 3rd place; Service, 2nd place; Steak, 5th place;
Stylish Atmosphere, 3rd place tie
3. Manny’s Steak House (tie)
Steak, 1st place; Wine List, 2nd place
Murray’s Restaurant (tie)
Special Occasion, 5th place; Steak, 2nd place;
Twin Cities Institution, 1st place
Vincent A Restaurant (tie)
French, 1st place
4. Lake Elmo Inn
Brunch, 1st place; Comfort Food, 3rd place tie;
Dessert, 2nd place; Romantic, 3rd place; Salads, 5th place tie;
Service, 1st place; Special Occasion, 1st place;
Twin Cities Institution, 5th place; Wine List, 1st place
5. Jax Cafe
Outdoor Dining, 3rd place; Twin Cities Institution, 2nd place
6. Pazzaluna Urban Italian
After-Work Scene, 1st place; Italian, 1st place;
Service, 4th place; Stylish Atmosphere, 4th place tie;
Wine List, 4th place tie
7. The Lexington Restaurant
Twin Cities Institution, 3rd place
8. D’Amico Cucina (tie)
Italian, 5th place
Kozlak’s Royal Oak Restaurant (tie)
Brunch, 2nd place; Outdoor Dining, 2nd place;
Romantic, 2nd place; Service, 5th place tie;
Special Occasion, 3rd place tie
9. Solera
Bar menu, 4th place tie; Creative Cocktails, 4th place tie;
Latin American, 3rd place; Stylish Atmosphere, 2nd place tie
10. Lucia’s Restaurant & Wine Bar (tie)
Brunch, 5th place; Neighborhood Cafe, 3rd place tie;
Wine Bar, 1st place
Palomino (tie)
Bar Menu, 4th place tie; Late-Night Dining, 4th place tie;
Stylish Atmosphere, 2nd place tie
BEST NEW RESTAURANT [top]
1. Kozy’s Steaks and Seafood
2. 20.21 Restaurant and Bar
3. 112 Eatery
4. Five (tie)
Tryg’s (tie)
5. Longfellow Grill (tie)
LoTo Restaurant, Bakery & Coffee House (tie)
AFTER-WORK SCENE [top]
1. Pazzaluna Urban Italian
2. Sunsets (tie)
The Local Irish Pub (tie)
3. Zelo
4. Redstone American Grill
5. Ike’s Food & Cocktails
BAKERY CAFÉ [top]
1. Cafe Latté
2. French Meadow Bakery
3. Panera Bread
4. Turtle Bread Company
BARBECUE [top]
1. Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que
2. Market Bar-B-Que
3. Rudolphs Bar-B-Que
4. Cap’s Grille
5. Ted Cook’s 19th Hole Barbeque
BAR MENU [top]
1. Bar Lurçat
2. Champps
3. McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant
4. Kincaid’s (tie)
Palomino (tie)
Solera (tie)
BEER SELECTION [top]
1. Old Chicago
2. The Local Irish Pub
3. Rock Bottom Brewery
4. William’s Uptown Pub and Peanut Bar
5. The Muddy Pig
BREAKFAST [top]
1. Keys Café
2. Al’s Breakfast (tie)
Original Pancake House (tie)
3. Perkins
4. Egg & I (tie)
Uptown Diner (tie)
BRITISH/IRISH PUB [top]
1. Brit’s Pub
2. The Local Irish Pub
3. The Liffey Irish Pub
4. Kieran’s Irish Pub
5. Keegan's Pub
BRUNCH [top]
1. Lake Elmo Inn
2. Kozlak’s Royal Oak Restaurant
3. Nicollet Island Inn
4. St. Paul Grill
5. Lucia’s Restaurant & Wine Bar
BURGERS [top]
1. Matt’s Bar
2. Snuffy’s Malt Shop
3. Convention Grill
4. Fuddruckers (tie)
Lions Tap Family Restaurant (tie)
5. Ike’s Food & Cocktails (tie)
Joe’s Garage Restaurant (tie)
CHINESE [top]
1. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro
2. Rainbow Chinese
3. Big Bowl Fresh Chinese and Thai
4. Seafood Palace
5. Shuang Cheng Restaurant
COFFEEHOUSE [top]
1. Dunn Bros
2. Caribou Coffee
3. Starbucks
4. Cafe Latté
5. Moose & Sadie’s Coffeehouse (tie)
Nina’s (tie)
Wilde Roast Café (tie)
COMFORT FOOD [top]
1. Keys Café
2. Modern Café
3. Lake Elmo Inn (tie)
Peter’s Grill (tie)
4. The Cheesecake Factory (tie)
Dixie’s (tie)
CREATIVE COCKTAILS [top]
1. Chino Latino
2. FireLake (tie)
Zelo (tie)
3. Martini Blu
4. Cosmos (tie)
Ike’s Food & Cocktails (tie)
Solera (tie)
DAY-TRIP RESTAURANT [top]
1. Harbor View Café
2. The Wilds Pub
3. The Bayport Cookery
4. Confluence (tie)
Minnesota Zephyr (tie)
5. Paradise Landing
DELI [top]
1. Cecil’s Delicatessen & Restaurant
2. D’Amico & Sons
3. Kramarczuk’s
4. Cossetta
5. Buon Giorno Italian Market (tie)
Panera Bread (tie)
DESSERT [top]
1. Cafe Latté
2. Lake Elmo Inn
3. Zeno
4. The Cheesecake Factory
5. The Oceanaire Seafood Room
FRENCH [top]
1. Vincent A Restaurant
2. La Belle Vie
3. Chez Colette
4. Cavé Vin
5. Forepaugh’s (tie)
Louis XIII (tie)
GERMAN/CENTRAL EUROPEAN [top]
1. Black Forest Inn
2. Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter
3. Glockenspiel (tie)
Kramarczuk’s (tie)
4. Moscow on the Hill
5. Gasthof zur Gemütlichkeit
GREEK [top]
1. Christos
2. It’s Greek to Me
3. Gardens of Salonica
4. Santorini Taverna & Grill
INDIAN [top]
1. New Delhi Bar and Restaurant
2. India Palace
3. Udupi Café
4. Taste of India
5. Grand India (tie)
Moti Mahal (tie)
Passage to India (tie)
ITALIAN [top]
1. Pazzaluna Urban Italian
2. Buca di Beppo
3. I Nonni
4. Campiello
5. D’Amico Cucina
JAPANESE [top]
1. Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar
2. Fuji Ya
3. Sakura Restaurant
4. Saji-Ya
5. Origami
LATE-NIGHT DINING [top]
1. Figlio
2. Perkins
3. 112 Eatery
4. Mickey’s Diner (tie)
Palomino (tie)
5. Café Latté (tie)
Café Lurçat (tie)
Chino Latino (tie)
LATIN AMERICAN [top]
1. Chino Latino
2. BaBaLú
3. Solera
4. El Mesón
5. Machu Picchu
MEXICAN [top]
1. Boca Chica Restaurante
2. Chipotle
3. El Burrito Mercado
4. La Cucaracha Mexican Restaurant (tie)
Pepitos (tie)
5. Ol' Mexico
MIDDLE EASTERN [top]
1. Emily’s Lebanese Deli
2. Fhima’s
3. Abu Nader Deli & Grocery
4. Istanbul Bistro
5. Khyber Pass
MUSIC [top]
1. Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant
2. Rossi’s Steakhouse
3. BaBaLú (tie)
Sophia Restaurant (tie)
4. Café Lurçat (tie)
Famous Dave’s BBQ & Blues (tie)
Fine Line Music Café (tie)
Loring Pasta Bar (tie)
NEIGHBORHOOD CAFÉ [top]
1. Pop! Restaurant
2. Broders’ Pasta Bar
3. Longfellow Grill (tie)
Lucia’s Restaurant & Wine Bar (tie)
Modern Café (tie)
St. Clair Broiler (tie)
OUTDOOR DINING [top]
1. W.A. Frost & Company
2. Kozlak’s Royal Oak Restaurant
3. Jax Cafe
4. Lord Fletcher’s (tie)
Redstone American Grill (tie)
dock café (tie)
5. Café Lurçat
PIZZA [top]
1. Punch Neapolitan Pizza (tie)
Red’s Savoy Inn (tie)
2. Pizza Lucé
3. California Pizza Kitchen (tie)
Cossetta (tie)
4. Green Mill Restaurant and Bar
5. Broadway Pizza
PLACE TO TAKE THE KIDS [top]
1. Fuddruckers
2. Perkins Restaurant & Bakery
3. T.G.I. Friday’s
4. Applebee’s
5. Old Country Buffet
ROMANTIC [top]
1. W.A. Frost & Company
2. Kozlak’s Royal Oak Restaurant
3. Lake Elmo Inn
4. St. Paul Grill
5. Sophia Restaurant
SALADS [top]
1. Café Latté
2. The Cheesecake Factory
3. Applebee’s
4. Champps
5. The Good Earth (tie)
Lake Elmo Inn (tie)
Panera Bread (tie)
SANDWICHES [top]
1. Panera Bread
2. Champps
3. Cecil’s Delicatessen & Restaurant (tie)
D. Brian’s Deli (tie)
Potbelly Sandwich Works (tie)
4. Café Latté (tie)
French Meadow Bakery (tie)
SEAFOOD [top]
1. The Oceanaire Seafood Room
2. McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant (tie)
Red Lobster (tie)
3. Kincaid’s
4. Blue Point Restaurant
5. Three Fish
SERVICE [top]
1. Lake Elmo Inn
2. Kincaid’s
3. The Oceanaire Seafood Room
4. Pazzaluna Urban Italian
5. Kozlak’s Royal Oak Restaurant (tie)
St. Paul Grill (tie)
SPECIAL OCCASION [top]
1. Lake Elmo Inn
2. Kincaid’s
3. The Oceanaire Seafood Room (tie)
Kozlak’s Royal Oak Restaurant (tie)
4. St. Paul Grill
5. Murray’s Restaurant
STEAK [top]
1. Manny’s Steak House
2. Murray’s Restaurant
3. Ruth’s Chris Steak House
4. Morton’s, The Steakhouse
5. Kincaid’s
STYLISH ATMOSPHERE [top]
1. Cosmos
2. Kozy’s Steaks and Seafood (tie)
Palomino (tie)
Solera (tie)
3. Kincaid’s (tie)
Zelo (tie)
4. Bellanotte (tie)
Pazzaluna Urban Italian (tie)
SUSHI [top]
1. Fuji Ya
2. Sakura Restaurant
3. Nami (tie)
Origami (tie)
4. Saji-Ya
5. Tiger Sushi
THAI [top]
1. Sawatdee
2. Chiang Mai Tai
3. True Thai
4. Ruam Mit Thai Café
5. King & I Thai
TWIN CITIES INSTITUTION [top]
1. Murray’s Restaurant
2. Jax Cafe
3. The Lexington Restaurant
4. St. Paul Grill
5. Lake Elmo Inn
VEGETARIAN [top]
1. Café Brenda
2. The Good Earth
3. French Meadow Bakery
4. Birchwood Café
5. Udupi Café
VIETNAMESE [top]
1. Lotus Garden Restaurant
2. Mai Village
3. Pho Tau Bay
4. Quang Restaurant
VIEW [top]
1. dock café
2. St. Paul Grill
3. Carousel (tie)
Nicollet Island Inn (tie)
Stella’s Fish Café & Prestige Oyster Bar (tie)
4. 20.21 Restaurant and Bar (tie)
Lord Fletcher’s (tie)
WINE BAR [top]
1. Lucia’s Restaurant & Wine Bar
2. Cesare’s Wine Bar
3. Café Lurçat
4. Heartland
5. Marx Wine Bar & Grill
WINE LIST [top]
1. Lake Elmo Inn
2. Manny’s Steak House
3. St. Paul Grill (tie)
The Vintage Restaurant and Wine Bar (tie)
W. A. Frost & Company (tie)
4. Cesare’s Wine Bar (tie)
Fhima’s (tie)
Pazzaluna Urban Italian (tie)
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