The Artists' Quarter Lives On

Like many other folks, I was saddened with the Twin Cities' best jazz club, the Artists' Quarter, closed at the end of 2013.

I have a bit of a bias; I was a long time friend of the club; having ran the club's website from its inception at the end of 1998 until I left Minneapolis for Chicago in 2006. I was proud to help owner Kenny Horst bring people in the door, and build up the email list from zero to thousands-- the email list had over 5,000 subscribers in 2006 -- not bad for a local business. It was easy to gauge the reach of the email list -- all I had to do was include a typo in a cover charge price, which happened accidentally on occasion, and it seemed like everybody through the door that night wanted to receive the discounted, typo'd price. That wasn't my preferred method of proving that the website and email list actually connected with folks, but it surely proved the point.

In 2006, my friend Don Berryman took over the AQ website and managed it under his own steady hand. After our successful and fun AQ New Year's Eve 2015 pop-up event at Hell's Kitchen, we realized that it no longer made sense to continue running the dynamic-content laden incarnation of the website with its associated technical and financial overhead. But instead of shutting down the Artists' Quarter website, we've transitioned it in a way that will allow us to keep it alive for the long term. You'll see that it's still out there at http://www.artistsquarter.com, awaiting your visit. But now, we're focusing on the history of the club, video clips from various musical acts over the years, and links to insightful articles with more detail, including Pamela Espeland's fabulous "Pleased and Flipped: Memories of the AQ" series, and the occasional shout out when a musician known to grace the AQ stage gets a solid mention elsewhere.

The site's now hosted on Blogger; Google's free blogging platform. This allows us to post and share content easily, while eliminating any hosting costs beyond the regular renewal of the domain name.

Minneapolis Roundup

Looking for something to do in Minneapolis? Here's a quick bullet list of a few fun places to check out.

Need good restaurant recommendations? Here's a few. Or if you're more into the fast food/fast casual (read: cheaper) kind of thing, here's a list of five less upscale places to consider.

Back in 2013, some random hack tried to expense a quick trip to the Twin Cities by pounding out an awful travelogue of his weekend's mis-adventure in the area. Here find my suggested alternative itinerary for how to spend a weekend in the Twin Cities.

Stuff to Explore in Minneapolis

Here's a few things you might want to check out when you're in Minneapolis. (Got others? Please add them in comments and I will update this post.)

• The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. A beautiful garden park with outdoor art. Much of it modern/abstract. Is not too huge to rue walking around in. Also has a conservatory, so if it's cold out it's wonderful to go inside and warm up while looking at the greenery. If you walk there from a downtown hotel, you'll go through the beautiful Loring Park and across a walking bridge with a poem on it.
• The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. A wonderful art museum. Worth a visit. In a neighborhood some consider ghetto, but it's not bad and I used to live right by there.
• The Walker Art Center. Comparable to the MCA in Chicago. Bigger than the MCA, I think.
• The Mall of America. You go here because you like shopping and it's cold outside and you need christmas presents. If that's not you, avoid. 
• The Minehaha Falls are beautiful. There's a restaurant there called Sea Salt that is fantastic. (Expect a line. And save this one only for warmer weather.)
• Drive or bike down to Nicollet Island and look at the cool homes and row houses. It's very small, so it won't take long. Then drive or pedal over to St. Anthony Main and have a beer at Pracna or Aster. Pracna is the oldest still-open bar in Minneapolis.

Some Good Twin Cities Restaurants

Compiled for a friend. Got any others? Leave a comment and I'll add it.

Downtown restaurants/pubs:

• Bulldog Downtown, 11th and Hennepin. Good place for a burger. Part of a small chain.
• The Local, 9th and Nicollet. Good Irish Pub. Not my favorite one in the world, because that would be:
• Kieran's Irish Pub, 6th and Hennepin. Great food, great atmosphere. My favorite Irish pub in the world. (Both the Local and Kieran's are owned by the same guy and the both have good food.)
• Brit's Pub, 11th and Nicollet. Best scotch eggs in town. Love this place. Go. If it's nice out, they have a huge patio.
• Vincent, 11th and Nicollet. Great French restaurant. 
• Barrio Tequila Bar, 9th and Nicollet. I actually haven't been here yet but it comes well recommended, so don't hesitate to check it out.
• Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant. If you happen to see somebody you like playing there, it's a good venue. Like SPACE in Evanston. However, I find the food to be overrated, so I wouldn't bother going there just for food.
• King & I Thai. You will see this on maps and the sign is still there, but this place is closed, so don't bother. Which is a bummer, because their food was fantastic.

Eat Street:

• The Eat Street Area. This is Nicollet Avenue from 25th Street to 28th Street. Great Asian restaurants. Quang for Vietnamese. Rainbow for seafood. Pho 79 for pho noodle soups.
• Icehouse. 25th and Nicollet. Farm-to-table kind of place. Good vegetarian options (like crispy tofu). Had a great meal here a few months ago.
• Eat Street Social. 26th and Nicollet. This is one of those places where the have 15 kinds of bitters and it looks like an apothecary behind the bar. Good for fancy cocktails.

Elsewhere:

• Travail/The Rookery. In Robbinsdale, a north suburb of Minneapolis. Kind of a long haul from downtown. I haven't been here yet, but everybody says it is fantastic and that it is a destination. Map location. North Minneapolis can be a little unsafe if you don't know what you're doing, stick to the highways if you go up that way.
• French Meadow Bakery. 26th and Lyndale Avenue South. Great breakfast/brunch place. Haven't been for dinner. It looks worth checking out for dinner. Right next to a dive bar called the CC Club, which is a friendly space filled with lots of young people.
• Bryant Lake Bowl. Lake and Bryant. Was a bowling alley for many years. Has eight lanes hidden in the back, still. Is now a restaurant and also has a performance space. Is unique. A Minneapolis gem.
• Pazzaluna, in downtown St. Paul. My all time favorite Italian restaurant. Great gnocchi. Great asparagus and chicken pizza. Great almost everything else. Funny bartender (Steve) who tells horribly lame jokes that you'll love.

48 Hours in Minneapolis-St. Paul? Try #2

Here's what to do in Minneapolis, if you don't know anything all, don't have access to Google, and think Potbelly is fine dining. However, if you're willing to try a little harder than that, the next time you find yourself with 48 hours to spend in Minneapolis, here's what you should do instead:

Friday, 5:00 pm: Arrive at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP). Take the light rail downtown if you're up for an adventure. If you're tired and weary from flying, take a taxi. It's not cheap, though it'll cost less than cabbing it in from larger airports in larger cities like NYC & Chicago.

Don't stay out by the airport or the Mall of America. Nothing there is on a pedestrian scale, thus it will be a baffling ordeal just to get coffee in the morning. Instead, stay in downtown Minneapolis. Check your favorite travel site (such as Expedia, Orbitz or Hotels.com) for a 3.5-4.5 star hotel. Avoid the Embassy Suites, Hyatt Place or Normandy; they've all seen better days. Consider the Millennium; it recently underwent massive renovation and was nice even before that. Other solid choices include the Radisson Blu, Hyatt, or Marquette. The W Hotel (Foshay) is hip and young. The Grand Hotel provides old school elegance. (We haven't stayed at the Grand yet; but it's on our list for a future visit.) (Hotel list revised March 2015.)

Friday, 7:00 pm: Like steak? Don't go to Capital Grille. It's actually fine, but it's a chain, a place you can find in any big city nowadays. Local options abound. SEVEN is hip and upscale. Murray's is the oldest of the old school. Manny's is a bit like how I imagine Morton's of Chicago was, once upon a time. JD Hoyt's is more of an old school supper club, but the room is nice and the food is fantastic.

Sadly, most of the vegetarian places I used to love seem to have closed. But if you're looking to avoid meat, I have a novel suggestion: Fogo de Chao. It is a Brazilian steakhouse, a churrascaria. But trust me -- vegetarians will find much to love here as long as you don't mind watching other people gorge on steak. Instead of approximately $50 for all you can eat steak, you can opt-for the approximately $25 "salad bar only" choice. Their salad bar is to die for. It makes all other salad bars cry in shame. I actually most often go to this restaurant just for lunch, and just for the salad course. It is thick with vegetables and cheeses, potatoes and pasta salads. Freshly dressed asparagus. Fresh mozzarella. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

Friday, 8:00 pm: As noted in that other article, Minneapolis has a strong and thriving theatre and music scene. Check the City Pages to see what your options are for the evening. TC Tix is also a good place to check, it's a "half price tickets" site. If nothing appeals to you, jump in a cab and head over to the Whiskey Junction bar. There will be a band. It will be local. It will probably be blues or classic rock. The scene may be silly. It will definitely be fun.

If you like jazz, then you're in luck. The area has two fantastic jazz clubs. My favorite is the Artists' Quarter, located in Downtown St. Paul. It's worth the cab ride there and back. I have a bias in that I've known the owner for years and have always loved this place. Don't take my word for it, though -- the reviews, universally positive, often say things like "this is what a jazz club should be:" dark, subterranean, not expensive.

Friday, 11:00 pm: Need a nightcap? Kieran's Irish Pub in the block E complex is a bright spot in an otherwise dull development block. Kieran owns a few pubs around, and he has a knack for taking something that starts as office space in a glass office block and turning into something that looks and feels authentic (or at least very fun). There is often live music.

Saturday, 10:00 am: For the love of god, don't go to Potbelly. If it's nice out and you want to go for a very short walk to get your coffee, walk to a specific downtown Dunn Brothers coffee shop at 201 3rd Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55401. It's a neat, old historic two-story brick building. The coffee is great, the service is good, and they'll be plenty of light breakfast options. If you have a car, head over to the French Meadow Bakery/Cafe on Lyndale Avenue South. Their menu is large, mostly organic, and fantastic. Be patient; it can take some time to order and find a table.

Saturday, 11:00 am: The Mississippi River is one of the stunning natural features of the area. If you can't find anything at or near the river, you're dead inside and need to stop writing travelogues. Nicollet Island, St. Anthony Main, and the Mill Ruins Park are just a few of the things you'll find near downtown. If you're up for a drive, take the south river road south/east bound out of downtown Minneapolis, and follow it down toward Minnehaha Falls, at the confluence of the river and Minnehaha Creek. It's a great place for an informal hike or a bike ride (rentals available). The Sea Salt Eatery is highly ranked and worth checking out.

Saturday, 2:00 pm: The Mall of America is fun to visit if you like to shop or have kids (and patience). If that's not your thing, take the kids to Historic Fort Snelling instead. If the weather's not nice, go see a movie at the fancy Showplace ICON movie theatre in St. Louis Park. Premium VIP seating with cushy leather chairs, gourmet food and a full bar will make it a movie-going experience you'll not soon forget.

Saturday, 6:00 pm: I guess you could go see a baseball game, if that's your thing. Or you could experience the arts up close at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, a wonderful museum of fine art located in South Minneapolis. Admission is free.

Sunday, 9:00 am: Don't eat breakfast at your hotel. Hop in the car and head over to St. Paul's Cathedral Hill area. The Cathedral itself is very pretty, and you can kill time walking around while waiting for W.A. Frost to open at 10:30 am for brunch.

Sunday, 12:00 pm: After a long and leisurely brunch, Mark's suggestions aren't too bad. He recommends visiting the Minnesota History Museum and Science Museum of Minnesota, both located in downtown St. Paul.

Sunday, 5:00 pm: If you've got time for an early dinner before departure, for the love of all that is holy, don't eat sad pizza at some place that has no windows. Go to Pizza Luce, a local chain with multiple locations. Their gourmet pizza is quite possibly the best pizza you may ever have in your entire life. And they have slices ready for easy snacking, if you're on the run.

Big Fat Bacon!

Damn, maybe I'm regretting moving away from Minnesota. I'm missing out on the opportunity to eat 1/3 pound slice of bacon fried and carmelized with maple syrup, served on a stick with dipping sauces. (Image Courtesy of Dave Romm.)

Thankfully there's Wiener and Still Champion in Evanston, if I need my bacon fix. They have battered, deep fried bacon. I'm intrigued, but scared, and have yet to order it.