I can’t believe it’s Restaurant Week season again! And even better—in Minnesota, we’re in harvest-mode during the autumn, which means fresh late-season ingredients and meals worth hunkering down for. Here are some highlights we’re excited to stick a fork into, including a handful of spots that are new to restaurant week plus some menu notables.
Newbies This Year
St. Paul’s Altera, which opened in late 2024, is doing it up with a hearty Italian menu that feels perfectly fall—we’re talking sage brown-butter squash a la plancha, arancini, bucatini alla vodka, and (notably!) a pappardelle pasta made with oxtail. Dessert is a choice of carrot cake, chocolate mousse, or dessert wine. Three courses for $45; dinner only.
Mirabelle, the supper club-eque restaurant from Jester Concepts that opened this summer out in Excelsior, is keeping things down-to-earth and approachable with a menu of wedge salad, chicken wild rice soup, cacio e pepe bucatini, French dip, carrot cake, and more. Dinner only; three courses for $45.
Out in Ramsey, SUR by Vita Bella (which opened just this summer) is keeping it classy with roasted mushrooms in brandy cream sauce, ribeye, swordfish in beurre blanc (with a neat little side of potato pavé), chocolate cake, and ice cream sundaes. There are dinner add-ons too, like brandy cream and blue cheese compound butter. Dinner only; three courses for $50.
Recently revived Italian Eatery’s comeback menu gets you four courses (love it): Go for the prosciutto and burrata on grilled bread with fig mostarda or the arancini, the chopped salad, and any one of five pastas of your choice. Dessert is crostata al limone or Dream Creamery ice cream. Dinner only; four courses for $50.
Chef Soleil Ramirez’s excellent Venezuelan restaurant Crasqui is making its Restaurant Week debut with soooo many good choices: roasted heart of palm, empanadas, asada negro in a dark chocolate and red wine sauce, and bollitos pellones, a vegetable-stuffed corn dumpling that comes vegan or made with beef. For dessert it’s gotta be the passionfruit tart! Dinner only; three courses for $50.
Editor’s Picks
By now you must have heard that Minneapolis’s Tiny Diner is up and running after a little hiatus. If you haven’t been back yet, the best way to reintroduce yourself is with the Restaurant Week lunch menu, which clocks in at just $19: Corn ribs with citrus crema, chimichangas (either vegan or alla bolognese), and a chocolate torte or banana split for dessert (any banana split wins my heart, but the choice is yours).
Luna & The Bear is a bit of a hidden gem on Eat Street. The restaurant is offering both lunch and dinner menus, but for the best value I’d go for the $30 three-course dinner menu of hot honey tofu, chicken and brie, or fish and chips and a burger, and the Belgian waffle bread pudding to finish it all off. Then slip into Moonwater Gin Bar for a nightcap.
Among other recently revived restaurants: Up in Robbinsdale, Pig Ate My Pizza is offering really solid value with a $30 dinner menu of apps like Caesars and pork nuggets plus pasta, pizza, or a burger, and Dream Creamery ice cream for dessert. If you have mems to relive at PAMP, now is the time.
It’s not every day you can stroll into P.S. Steak at 510 Groveland in Minneapolis and have a full swanky steakhouse experience for $45. They’re not skimping on this three-course menu: Go for a Caesar or dry-aged meatballs for an appetizer; shoulder steak au poivre with potatoes and carrots or linguine and clams. Love the classic dessert selection too: A brownie with macerated berries, a hot fudge vanilla sundae, or sorbet. If you’re trying to get fancy for (relatively) cheap during restaurant week, I’d do it here.
Props to Tavern 19 out in Shakopee for this solid-value three-course $30 dinner menu: chicken tinga stew or Greek salad as an app, entrees like bourbon blueberry pork chop or Caribbean jerk shrimp. Key lime pie is always in season IMO.
Eagan’s Mason Jar Kitchen has stellar options for both lunch ($20) and dinner ($35): We’re eyeing that tater tot hotdish and grilled turkey apple brie (‘tis the season) for lunch, and for dinner, it’s all about the Red Lake walleye with garlic mashed potatoes or the 12-ounce NY strip steak with fingerlings and carrots. (Plus, crème brûlée for dessert.)
Dining and Cooking