There is no party like a Travail party. This trail-blazing chef collective specializes in creating an atmosphere of delight and wonder and serving elevated comfort dishes like curried deviled eggs, salmon tartare, and buttery ham and cheese croissants. The third iteration of the restaurant, a newly built and expansive three-level building, has opened in starts-and-stops thanks to the pandemic. But whether you’re tucked into the basement bar or surveying downtown Robbinsdale from the roof, this place is always sophisticated fun.

Chef and co-owner Christina Nguyen goes hard on the herbs, fish sauce, and lime juice inside her exemplary Vietnamese restaurant in Northeast. The rich teal walls and giant inside-outside bar pair with tons of giant tropical greenery to give the restaurant a permanent summertime feel. Come prepared to order the entire menu: From supple water fern cakes to crackly crusty banh xeo to the fresh sugarcane cocktails, it’s really all delicious.

An all-day Mexican cafe from chef Jose Alarcón and co-owner Jami Olsen is perfect for meeting up with friends for a coffee or a light cocktail and feast of empanadas and burritos. Shop the small retail corner or make reservations for a spectacular agave spirit experience in the adjacent private bar. Vivir has a little bit of something for everyone, all on an industrial corner of Northeast Minneapolis.

Chef Gustavo Romero takes the humble tortilla and elevates it to an art form. The heirloom corn varieties he uses and his nixtamalization process create a perfect canvas for his Mexican comfort kits to shine. Bi-weekly take-home menus include Mexican dishes that varied depending on seasonality. All the love and care from the DF are right inside this tiny counter-only spot in Northeast.

Jon Wipfli’s smoker outside of Abel Seedhouse + Brewery is a warm-weather rite; this year, he expanded the operation with more smoke, more dishes, more sides, and more sauces. Best practice is to grab the broth-laden birria tacos, which are highly popular and often sell out.

Every piece of artwork, garnish, and silverware has been carefully selected inside celebrity chef Gavin Kaysen’s small, intimate, tasting menu-only restaurant. Even as the world looks entirely different, this special occasion stop offers the pinnacle of Minneapolis fine dining.

Creating a restaurant built upon music and neo-soul food was a long-held dream for Gerard and Brittany Klass; Soul Bowl, their fast-casual restaurant in North Loop, is its physical manifestation after years of hard work. Whether you order fried chicken, greens, or vegan comfort food classics, these bowls pack a ton of flavor into compostable containers.

Chef-owner Ann Ahmed cooks the food from all around the 14th parallel in Southeast Asia, which means delicious versions of pineapple pork fried rice, lumpia, Bangladeshi beef curry, and a banh mi tartine all happily exist on this endlessly devourable menu. The bar serves a wide array of herbaceous alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

Chef and owner Alex Roberts' Restaurant Alma has managed to become a crown jewel of Minneapolis fine dining with a constant evolution of locally-sourced foods, second-to-none wine list and intimate surroundings. The restaurant has reduced takeout hours, but still creates stunning new American, seasonal meals for celebrating an occasion in a more intimate setting. Stop by the cafe in the morning and lunch for light meals and heavenly baked goods.

A true Izakaya in the heart of Minneapolis’ East Town neighborhood, this is an ideal stop before a Guthrie show or after a long meander down by the Mill City Ruins. The foods are perfect for soaking up a night of drinking: crispy fried karaage or hearty bowls of udon. Thanks to chef and co-owner John Ng’s ramen obsession, the weekly specials are the stuff of dining legend. Order early in the weekend before they sell out.

This is just a phenomenal neighborhood bar. Everything is good, from the top shelf drinks to the bartenders who know which beer to pour a regular as they cross the threshold to the hearty comforts of the amped-up bar food menu from chef Torrence Beevers. Owners Thomas and Molly LaFleche met while working at another bar and this place is their dream realized. It’s an ideal stop for crusty-spiced chicken “wings” (thighs) or mountainous burgers adorned with pulled bacon. The patio is a hidden gem, set back off the street for a quiet reprieve inside a busy city.

When chef Yia Vang first began cooking and serving foods from Hmong culture made with the fine dining skills he had gained working in area kitchens, Hmong food wasn’t a familiar cuisine in the Twin Cities restaurant world. Fast forward years later, his original restaurant Union Hmong Kitchen is the best place to get a taste of the fresh flavors and char-kissed meats. Yang has also become a nationally known chef with a highly anticipated restaurant, Vinai, on the horizon. Still, his first restaurant, the nomadic Union Hmong Kitchen, is the best place to order a takeout feast built to share with others.

Bebe Zito is a brilliant mishmash of flavors, eye-popping design, and a healthy dose of merriment. Co-owners Ben Spangler and Gabriella Grant built an ice cream shop in Minneapolis’ Wedge neighborhood with equal parts fine dining and fun. The menu features ice cream flavors like MSG-spiked cream steeped with generous amounts of vanilla. Dad’s coffee flavor takes an intensely flavored bourbon base, spikes it with coffee, and takes all the edges off with chocolate chips. On the weekends, there’s a burger pop-up serving some skinny-smashed beef draped in an American cheese blanket. It’s the real-world incarnation of sweet summer memories.

Quang on Nicollet Avenue, aka Eat Street, was founded as a tiny spot by matriarch Lung Tran and remains family-run. The giant portions of fragrant pho, piles of flavorful bun, and giant banh mi are wonderfully affordable and satisfy every time.

Chef Sameh Wadi’s restaurant takes inspiration from street foods from around the world and turns them into dishes that can wake even the sleepiest tastebuds. The Yum Yum Bowl isn’t just a clever name, but the tasty comfort of rice, quivering egg, various meats, veggies, and savory sauce. There are giant fried chicken sandwiches, perfect-bite tacos, and curry-stuffed burritos here, all made even better with an added pint of Milkjam ice cream from next door.

Consider these tortas an ideal in sandwich construction: hot griddled meats are layered with melty cheese, crispy lettuce and tomato, spicy peppers, creamy avocado, and beans — with the option to add more toppings to taste. Manny Gonzalez is also a Minneapolis treasure. His kind, enthusiastic greetings from behind the counter make stopping by this stand inside the Midtown Global Market a treat.

One of the most romantic dining destinations in the Twin Cities is Meritage in downtown St. Paul. Chef Russell Klein’s fare is hearty in the winter, light and lovely in the summer, and decadently briney around Oysterfest time. From the more casual raw bar that serves creative cocktails to the intimate dining room and its fat book of beautiful wine offerings, this restaurant remains an ideal date-night destination.

An intimate bistro in a quiet St. Paul neighborhood, Stewart’s is often an undersung gem. The crowd-pleasing dishes range from tasty sandwiches to new-American-style entrees. It’s an ideal place to meet with parents while visiting nearby St. Thomas University. The patio seats are the height of fun city-summer dining.

Intimacy, comfort, and Italian romance dominate the little dining room of Hyacinth. Chef-owner Rikki Giambruno relocated from running a popular New York restaurant to St. Paul and brought all his talent to this neighborhood spot serving a succinct menu that changes often depending on what is at its peak seasonality. Giambruno’s skills particularly shine when he plays in the vegetable sphere: ingredients like cabbage, zucchini, or frisée become shining stars of the meal, brought to new heights of savory flavor.

This family-owned eatery on St. Paul’s West 7th Street has been around since the wild Prohibition days when the area was home to members of organized crime. Nowadays, the restaurant is a bastion for deeply satisfying cheese and red-sauce-covered Italian comforts. The dining room is often filled with young and old enjoying hefty plates like the hot dago: a mountain of sauce, spicy sausage, bread, peppers, and, of course, lots of cheese.

Chefs Tyge Nelson and Stephan Hesse bring their fine dining background to St. Paul’s West 7th Street and a new Edina location. Salsas and sauces are made entirely from scratch, like the irresistible cashew and chile de abról salsa served with their just-fried tortilla chips. The shaved beef torta is a toasty take on a Philly cheesesteak served end-side down in a thick, spicy sauce. Dignity be damned with this sandwich: tuck that napkin under the chin, throw those elbows out akimbo, and dig in.

Victor’s 1959 Cafe has been serving up Cuban comforts on 38th and Grand for more than 20 years. Even without sliding into those wonderful worn and graffiti-covered booths, the Buena Vista Social Club vibes remain. Order up deliciously sweet cafe con leche for morning takeaway, or long stewed meats, beans, and rice for hearty dinner.

El Burrito Mercado is an icon of St. Paul shopping and continues run by the family who founded it back when cilantro was a hard-to-source ingredient. This pillar of the community has everything from an in-person restaurant, a panaderia, deli items to-go, and a grocery store with everything you could ever need to make your favorite Mexican dishes at home. Every visit ends with arms filled with a few more items than were on your original list. Shop the store, dine in the restaurant or out on the patio, or grab elotes and esquites outside in the parking lot.

Welcome to the world of Tim Niver hospitality. The master of front-of-house service always dreamed of making a red sauce joint like Mucci’s; recipes — like a tightly layered lasagna and decadent tiramisu — are inspired by his mother’s Italian kitchen and executed by a remarkable kitchen team.

Chef Daniel del Prado’s Linden Hills restaurant is fueled by wood fire to create stunning Argentinian and Italian dishes. The well-designed (and well-lit) dining room makes for an Instagrammer’s dream of lighting and composition. Order the potato churros to start, which balance a soft, creamy interior with craggy, crispy fried edges.

At the first sign of a sniffle, or a tiny tickle in the throat, it’s a good idea to order Cecil’s bubbe-approved matzo. A combination delicatessen and restaurant, Cecil’s is the number one spot for Jewish comfort fare like great pastrami or a crumbly rugelach or an aromatic loaf of rye bread.

Doug Flicker was a longtime fine-dining chef who influenced a generation of Minneapolis chefs, but he walked away from the world of white linen to open a neighborhood bar alongside his wife, Amy Greeley. The two have created a watering hole with all the best of the corner bar: a jukebox, pulltabs, and a menu loaded with fantastic things from the fryer and the grill. Stop by for the famous pickle brined chicken: tangy, juicy meat wrapped in a crusty shell.

Tucked off Dodd Road in a residential area of Saint Paul is this Cuban and Dominican restaurant serving some of the best rice and beans to be found anywhere. The humble fare is deeply satisfying, including the namesake Cubano — a mix of crusty bread, salty meats, tangy mustard, and pickles with a melted layer of cheese. The ropa vieja stewed with poppy tomatoes is sized for two or three meals, along with a side of rice, beans, savory-sweet plantains, and a salad.