Minneapolis - What to do

[dullard]

Anyone know of things to do in Minneapolis this weekend? There will be four of us. I was thinking of walking around Como park, but it looks like it'll be cold and rainy. What are good museums? What other entertainment is nice? Any great restaurant that isn't too pricey (I always like Kahn's Mongolian BBQ, but that isn't really that fancy and I've been overruled)? I like Forepaugh's (my cousin was a pastry chef there at one point years ago and I don't really want to talk to him to ask these questions), but that may be a tad bit too expensive for the rest in my group.

 

[Genx87]

Como should still have their gardens on display. This weekend probably isnt the best to enjoy the sites and sounds of the cities due to shitty weather

Today is about 80 and sunny, but by Saturday supposed to be 50 and rain. It is that time of season where we see wild fluctuations in weather.

 

[Inferno0032]

I would recommend BlockE down by the Target Center. The complex consists of tons of restaurants, fancy, cheap like Applebee's, or different and fun like Hooter's and a music resaurant I think is called "The Shouthouse." There's also Gameworks which is a massive arcade, gaming, and bowling alley, and a movie theatre as well. There's alot to do in downtown, but you probably won't want to be walking around if it's rainy, so that's a good place to start.

The science museum is pretty good, don't know how much different it would be than where you've been before, but that's on the edge of downtown St. Paul near the river, not far from Minneapolis.

 

[Commish]

Wife and kids? Depending on their age, the science museum in St. Paul is ok for a crappy weather day, which it looks like it will be.

If you're with other adults, Block E in downtown Mpls is also decent as mentioned above.

 

[dullard]

I've been to the city many times, but it was always visiting relatives. The ones I like are out of town and unavailable by phone. The rest of my relatives are drug addicts and ex cons with bipolar disorder who have stabbed people.

I'll be going with my fiance and her sister/brother-in-law.

I've been to university campuses, Nicollet Mall, Mall of America (with the lego store cut back, I never feel the need to return), an orchestra (not sure which one), and the sculpture garden with that big spoon (but I didn't go inside that museum). But that is about it. I almost went to the science museum once, but it seemed childish from the ads and I skipped it. Is it worth going with adults?

 

[AstroManLuca]

I can personally hang out in a science museum for hours, and the one in St. Paul is one of the more adult-friendly ones I've been to. It still has plenty of kid stuff, but it also has interesting stuff if you have a bit longer attention span as well. But then, I love science so that helps.

Downtown is good. There are some decent bars and stuff. A couple of Irish pubs - The Local is a good one, and I've seen Kieran's Irish Pub but I haven't been in it. Brit's Pub is also a good place to go in downtown. For restaurants, I'm not sure what you're interested in, but there are some pretty good ones around depending on what you like. Nicollet Avenue south of downtown is nicknamed "eat street" for all the restaurants along it: http://wikitravel.org/en/Minneapolis/Eat_Street. That's nowhere near a complete listing though. My personal recommendation is a place only a few blocks from where I live called the Java restaurant at the corner of 28th and Nicollet. If you want good middle eastern food for a reasonable price, it's the place to go. Be forewarned, the restaurant is a bit dumpy inside (but clean) and the service is pretty bad (they only seem to have one person running the show at any given time, so they're very bad at taking away dishes or refilling water). But the food is worth it. Other ones I like are the Evergreen Chinese restaurant in a basement along Nicollet, the Uptown Diner for breakfast and lunch food on Hennepin, and either Pizza Nea or Punch for authentic Italian-style pizza (Pizza Nea is fancier; Punch is very casual). There's a German restaurant called the Black Forest that has really good sausage.

Unfortunately if there's poor weather, there's not terribly much to set the city apart. Or maybe there is but I am not used to it because I don't have much of a standard of comparison. But I'm at a bit of a loss to come up with stuff other than restaurants and coffee shops that is fun for a rainy day. If it's sunny, the chain of lakes (Lake of the Isles, Calhoun, and Harriet) are pretty nice and have walking paths around them, and there's also an old restored streetcar that runs near Lake Harriet. Outdoor events are fun on sunny days in downtown as well, but if it's rainy there probably won't be much happening. The Mall of America is a tourist trap.

 

[Inferno0032]

The science museum is actually pretty good, as mentioned, I'm often entertained there for quite awhile, and I don't know if it's still going, but they have like a 5-movie thing going at the iMax there.

 

[weirdichi]

I've been meaning to try a Juicy Lucy at 5-8 Bar in South Minneapolis. Maybe you can do that. As far as places to be, Uptown is always a good spot, but be aware that it's pretty trendy. I like the block E idea. Of course there's always MOA, but the parking is gonna suck. I've lived here for 6 years and I've only been there about 3 times. You can head to Lake Calhoun if the weather should clear up and walk around the lake.

 

[Newbian]

Go to Mall of America.