This charming restaurant serves deeply satisfying, comforting dishes. The setting is an old firehouse, with decor representing all the neighborhood icons that define Lake Harriet. Don’t leave without plunging a fork into the tres leches cake.

Ann Ahmed has captured imaginations and appetites with her second restaurant Lat14, but Lemon Grass was her first restaurant and is just as delicious and buzzworthy. Try the zippy Lao-style papaya salad or any one of the roast duck preparations.

A no-frills barbecue shop in North Minneapolis with friendly counter service and brisket so tender you can cut it with a plastic fork. It’s a family-run restaurant focused on perfectly smoked meat. 

A fancy-leaning small plates menu paired with a well-made cocktail, beer and wine list give The Sample Room the air of a speakeasy for food lovers. It’s one of the most intimate restaurants in town and has been a go-to neighborhood hang since before Northeast was dotted with freshly-built condos.

This is one of the best restaurants in town to descend upon with a large group of friends and do your best to tackle the whole of the menu. Whole roasted fish and punchy cocktails are built for boisterous nights out with friends. It’s edge-of-downtown location and valet makes it easily accessible for everyone, too.

If restaurants were movie genres, Uncle Franky’s would be the cult classic. The menu reads like a best-of for big-city street eats, checking off all the most iconic meals from major american cities. Detroit’s chili-slathered burger. Philadelphia’s cheesesteak, complete wiz wit. NY hot pastrami (a cow with two loaves of bread on either side). Chicago dog buried under a mountain of condiments.

Irresistible aromas of garam masala, cumin and house-grown serrano peppers fill the air at Gandhi Mahal, just off East Lake Street. Expect a long list of curries and small plates to snack through. Add to that a few orders of beautifully bubbly naan and the quest for the best Indian food in the Twin Cities is complete.

Nearly lost in the menagerie of well-marketed restaurants that populate Dinkytown, Korea Restaurant keeps quietly chugging along with a glorious assortment of bibimbap, bulgogi and potstickers. Lunch is mayhem, but worth every second of wait time. Prepare for self-service, generous helpings, and don’t be shy to refill on the side dishes.

Chef and owner Max Thompson’s dishes tend to be built upon punches of flavor added to familiar comfort foods. The Korean chili-flake fries vie for the title of best in the Twin Cities with a duo of dipping sauces and the burger is a thing of true beauty.

A vertical spit is a beautiful thing and Taco Libre's is glorious. To take advantage of it, order the al pastor: bright-orange, charred meat with a little onion and pineapple. Salsas range from kind to hot, hitting every garlicky point on the spectrum.