It was a big year for the venerable Readers Poll, with a more than doubling of the number of votes cast over the previous year. Yet there was little movement in our annual Top Ten. Returning this year after last year’s absence is Lake Elmo Inn at ninth place. Falling off the list is Chambers Kitchen, after one year. All the remaining restaurants are Top Ten perennials, reaffirming the long-standing truth that great new restaurants take awhile to work their way into your hearts (or minds). Classic meat (or fish)-and-potatoes restaurants dominate the Top Ten, but the enduring presence of La Belle Vie and 112 Eatery are reminders that edgier fare, when executed with consistency and served with true hospitality, are embraced by the masses.
Surprises? Our survey was compiled in the fall, as the economy began its free fall. Yet the bulk of the restaurants in our Top Ten sit comfortably in the Expensive or Very Expensive category. We also detected a higher level of attempts by certain restaurants to pack the ballot box, in ways both within our rules and outside them, for which we have attempted to compensate.
Happy eating!
—Adam Platt, Dining Editor
10 Best Restaurants
(and how they ranked in
other categories)
1. St. Paul Grill
1st power lunch
1st Twin Cities institution
2nd service
2nd special occasion
2nd wine list
3rd romantic
3rd view
4th brunch
4th dessert
5th bar menu,
5th steak (tie) | 6. La Belle Vie
1st service
1st special occasion
1st wine list
2nd romantic
3rd bar menu
3rd French
4th creative cocktails |
2. Kincaid’s
4th bar menu
4th happy hour deals
4th service
5th after-work scene
5th power lunch
5th seafood (tie) | 7. Pazzaluna Urban Italian
1st Italian
2nd after-work scene
3rd happy hour deals
5th bar menu
5th romantic
5th stylish atmosphere
5th wine list (tie) |
3. Manny’s Steak House
1st steak
3rd power lunch
4th Twin Cities institution
4th wine list
5th service (tie)
5th special occasion | 8. Jax Cafe
2nd brunch
2nd outdoor dining
3rd Twin Cities institution
4th (tie) romantic
4th special occasion, 4th steak |
4. The Oceanaire Seafood Room
1st seafood
3rd service
3rd special occasion | 9. Lake Elmo Inn
1st brunch
2nd dessert
3rd comfort food
3rd day trip restaurant
5th service (tie) |
5. 112 Eatery
1st late-night dining | 10. The Capital Grille
3rd steak |
African/Somali [top]
1. Blue Nile
2. Red Sea
3. Safari Restaurant
4. Barbary Fig
5. Tam-Tam
After-Work Scene [top]
1. The Local
2. Pazzaluna Urban Italian
3. Brit’s Pub
4. restaurant Max
5. Bank
Kincaid’s
Redstone American Grill
Bakery Café [top]
1. Cafe Latté
2. French Meadow Bakery
3. Patrick’s Bakery & Bistro
4. Panera
5. Keys Cafe
Barbecue [top]
1. Famous Dave’s
2. Rudolph’s Bar-B-Que
3. Market Bar-B-Que
4. Ted Cook’s 19th Hole BBQ
5. Scott Ja-Mama’s Hot B-B-Q
Bar Menu [top]
1. Café Lurçat
2. The Bulldog NE
3. La Belle Vie
4. Kincaid’s
5. Pazzaluna Urban Italian
St. Paul Grill
Beer Selection [top]
1. Old Chicago
2. The Happy Gnome
3. The Muddy Pig
4. Brit’s Pub
5. William’s Uptown Pub and Peanut Bar
Breakfast [top]
1. Keys Cafe
2. Hell’s Kitchen
3. Good Day Cafe
4. The Original Pancake House
5. Perkins
British/Irish Pub [top]
1. Brit’s Pub
2. The Local
3. The Liffey
4. Kieran’s Irish Pub
5. Keegan’s Pub
Brunch [top]
1. Lake Elmo Inn
2. Jax Cafe
3. Ideal Diner
4. St. Paul Grill
5. Nicollet Island Inn
Burgers [top]
1. Matt’s Bar
2. Casper & Runyon’s Nook
3. Convention Grill
4. 5-8 Club
5. Lion’s Tap
Chinese [top]
1. Rainbow Chinese
2. Peking Garden
3. Tea House
4. Big Bowl
5. P.F. Chang’s China
Bistro Coffeehouse [top]
1. Caribou
2. Dunn Bros
3. Starbucks
4. Spyhouse Coffeehouse
5. Wilde Roast
Comfort Food [top]
1. Modern Cafe
2. Keys Cafe
3. Lake Elmo Inn
4. Grand Cafe
5. Tria Restaurant, Bar & Market
Creative Cocktails [top]
1. Chino Latino
2. Town Talk Diner
3. Bank
4. La Belle Vie
restaurant Max
5. Psycho Suzi’s
Day Trip Restaurant[top]
1. Harbor View Cafe
2. The Green Room
3. Bayport Cookery
Lake Elmo Inn
4. Confluence
5. dock cafe
Dessert [top]
1. Cafe Latté
2. Lake Elmo Inn
3. The Cheesecake Factory
4. St. Paul Grill
5. Baker’s Square
French [top]
1. Vincent A Restaurant
2. Meritage
3. La Belle Vie
4. Salut Bar Américain
5. Barbette | German [top]
1. Black Forest Inn
2. Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter
3. Gasthof Zur GemütLichkeit
4. Glockenspiel
5. Winzer Stube
Greek [top]
1. Christos
2. It’s Greek To Me
3. Gardens of Salonica
4. Santorini Taverna & Grill
5. Dino’s
Happy Hour Deals [top]
1. McCormick & Schmick’s
2. Figlio
3. Pazzaluna Urban Italian
4. Kincaid’s
5. Green Mill Restaurant and Bar
Indian [top]
1. India Palace
2. Taste of India
3. Bombay Bistro
4. NalaPak
5. Chapati
Everest on Grand
Italian [top]
1. Pazzaluna Urban Italian
2. Broders’ Pasta Bar
3. I Nonni
4. Buca di Beppo
5. D’Amico Cucina
Japanese [top]
1. Fuji Ya
2. Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar
3. Origami
4. Benihana
Saji-Ya
5. Sakura Restaurant
Late-Night Dining [top]
1. 112 Eatery
2. Figlio
3. Chino Latino
4. Pizza Lucé
5. Azia
Latin American [top]
1. Chino Latino
2. El Mesón
3. Café Ena
4. Fogo de Chão
5. Brasa Rotisserie
Pop! Restaurant
Mexican [top]
1. Boca Chica Restaurante
2. Masa
3. Pepitos
4. El Loro
5. La Cucaracha
Middle Eastern [top]
1. Holy Land
2. Saffron
3. Emily’s Lebanese Deli
4. Shish A Mediterranean Grill & Cafe
5. Mediterranean Cruise Cafe
Music [top]
1. Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant
2. 318 Café
3. The Times Bar and Café
4. Nye’s Polonaise Room
5. Cafe Maude
Famous Dave’s BBQ & Blues
Neighborhood Restaurant[top]
1. Pop! Restaurant
2. Grand Cafe
3. First Course
Mill City Cafe
4. Broders’ Pasta Bar
5. 318 Cafe
Tria Restaurant, Bar & Market
New Restaurant[top]
1. restaurant Max
2. Meritage
3. The Strip Club
4. Pop!! Restaurant
5. Heidi’s
Porter + Frye
Salut Bar Américain
Outdoor Dining [top]
1. W.A. Frost & Company
2. Jax Cafe
3. Stella’s Fish Cafe & Prestige Oyster Bar
5. Tria Restaurant, Bar & Market
Pizza [top]
1. Punch Neopolitan Pizza
2. Broadway Pizza
3. Pizza Lucé
4. Red’s Savoy Inn
5. Green Mill Restaurant and Bar
Place to Take Kids [top]
1. Broadway Pizza
2. Fuddrucker’s
Perkins
3. Buca di Beppo
Red Robin
4. Champps
5. Pop! Restaurant
Power Lunch[top]
1. St. Paul Grill
2. Mission American Kitchen
3. Manny’s Steak House
4. Zelo
5. Bank
Kincaid’s
| Romantic [top]
1. W.A. Frost & Company
2. La Belle Vie
3. St. Paul Grill
4. Jax Cafe
Nicollet Island Inn
5. Pazzaluna Urban Italian
Salads [top]
1. Cafe Latté
2. Q. Cumbers
3. Zelo
4. The Cheesecake Factory
Punch Neopolitan Pizza
5. Applebee’s
D’Amico & Sons
The Good Earth
Seafood [top]
1. The Oceanaire Seafood Room
2. McCormick & Schmick’s
3. Stella’s Fish Cafe & Prestige Oyster Bar
4. Red Lobster
5. Kincaid’s
Sea Salt Eatery
Service [top]
1. La Belle Vie
2. St. Paul Grill
3. The Oceanaire Seafood Room
4. Kincaid’s
5. Lake Elmo Inn
Manny’s Steak House
Special Occasion[top]
1. La Belle Vie
2. St. Paul Grill
3. The Oceanaire Seafood
Room
4. Jax Cafe
5. Manny’s Steak House
Steak [top]
1. Manny’s Steak House
2. Murray’s
3. The Capital Grille
Ruth’s Chris Steak House
4. Jax Cafe
5. Morton’s the Steakhouse
St. Paul Grill
Stylish Atmosphere [top]
1. Chambers Kitchen
2. restaurant Max
3. Bank
4. Solera
5. Pazzaluna Urban Italian
W Prohibition Bar
Sushi [top]
1. Origami
2. Fuji Ya
3. Sakura Restaurant
4. Saji-Ya 5. Nami
Thai [top]
1. Chiang Mai Thai
2. Sawatdee
3. King and I Thai
4. True Thai 5. Pad Thai Grand Cafe
Twin Cities Institution [top]
1. St. Paul Grill
2. Murray’s
3. Jax Cafe
4. Manny’s Steak House
5. The Lexington
Wine Bar[top]
1. Lucia’s Restaurant and Wine Bar
2. Chateau Lamothe
3. Heartland Restaurant
4. Beaujo’s Wine Bar & Bistro
5. Spill the Wine
Wine List[top]
1. La Belle Vie
2. St. Paul Grill
3. Chateau Lamothe
4. Manny’s Steak House
5. Meritage
Pazzaluna Urban Italian
Vegetarian[top]
1. Cafe Brenda
2. The Good Earth
3. Birchwood Cafe
Spoonriver
4. French Meadow Bakery
5. Ecopolitan
Vietnamese [top]
1. Mai Village
2. Quang Restaurant
3. Ngon Vietnamese Bistro Lotus
4. Que Viet
5. Saigon Star
View [top]
1. Stella’s Fish Cafe & Prestige Oyster Bar
2. 20.21
3. St. Paul Grill
4. dock cafe
5. Nicollet Island Inn |
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