Best Restaurants Readers' Poll Winners 2018

We asked and you answered. Here are your best restaurants for 2018! For nearly 30 years we’ve been highlighting the best places to eat out in our annual Best Restaurants issue. Clearly we all agree on many of the picks for the best Thai, pizza, food trucks, and more. 

Top 5 Minneapolis Restaurants

• Spoon and Stable
• Bar La Grassa
• Young Joni
• Alma
• Martina

Top 5 St. Paul Restaurants

• Meritage
• Saint Dinette
• Revival 
• The Lexington
• The St. Paul Grill

Best New Restaurant

• Martina
• Octo Fishbar
• Hai Hai

Best Service

• Spoon and Stable
• The Lexington
• Meritage

Best Institution

• Murray’s
• Manny’s
• The St. Paul Grill

Day trip

• New Scenic Café
• Duluth Grill
• Northern Waters Smokehaus

Counter Service

• World Street Kitchen
• Cafe Latte / Cossetta
• Agra Culture Kitchen

Beer Bar

• The Happy Gnome
• Surly Beer Hall
• Red Wagon Pizza

Cocktails

• Marvel Bar
• Martina
• Parlour Bar (Now open in St. Paul!)

Happy Hour

• Red Cow
• Pizza Lucé
• Smack Shack

Late Night

• Pizza Lucé
• 112 Eatery
• Nightingale

Live Music

• Icehouse
• Dakota Jazz Club
• Aster Cafe

Wine Bar

• Terzo
• Stem
• Bev’s Wine Bar / GYST / Riverview

Outdoor Dining

• W.A. Frost
• Sea Salt Eatery
• Stella’s Fish Cafe

Kid Friendly

• Red Cow
• Tilia     
• Red Wagon Pizza / Shamrocks

BBQ

• Revival
• Q fanatic (Amazing brisket!)
• StormKing

Burger

• Red Cow
• The Nook
• Blue Door Pub

Pizza

• Pizzeria Lola
• Black Sheep Pizza
• Young Joni

Seafood

• Octo Fishbar
• Smack Shack
• Oceanaire

Steak

• Manny’s
• Burch Steak and Pizza Bar
• Murray’s

Deli

• Cecil’s Deli
• Kramarczuk’s
• Crossroads Deli

Pho

• Quang
• Ngon Bistro
• Pho 79

Cheap Eats

• Maya Cuisine
• Pimento Jamaican Kitchen
• Lu’s Sandwiches

Coffee

• Spyhouse
• Penny’s Coffee (Have you tried the crepes?)
• Five Watt

Chinese

• Rainbow
• Tea House
• Shuang Cheng

French

• Meritage
• Saint Genevieve
• Bellecour

German

• Black Forest Inn
• Gasthof zur Gemutlichkeit
• Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter

Greek

• The Naughty Greek
• It’s Greek To Me
• Gardens of Salonica

Italian

• Bar La Grassa
• Broders’
• Mucci’s Italian

Indian

• Gandhi Mahal
• India Palace
• Gorkha Palace

Japanese

• Masu
• Zen Box Izakaya
• Kyatchi 

Sushi

• Masu
• Kyatchi
• Kado no Mise

Mex/Latino

• Hola Arepa
• Pajarito
• Boca Chica / Maya Cuisine

Middle Eastern

• Holy Land
• Babani’s
• Emily’s Lebanese Deli

African

• Afro Deli
• Fasika
• Safari

Thai

• On’s Kitchen
• Supatra’s
• Sen Yai Sen Lek

Vietnamese

• Quang (Legendary pho!)
• Ngon Bistro
• Hai Hai

Veg Friendly

• J. Selby’s
• Fig + Farro
• Birchwood Cafe

Breakfast

• Al’s Breakfast
• Keys Café
• Colossal Cafe

Brunch

• Hell’s Kitchen (Lemon-Ricotta cakes FTW!)
• Martina
• Lake Elmo Inn

Bakery

• Patisserie 46
• Salty Tart
• Rustica 

Top 5 Food Trucks

• Hot Indian
• World Street Kitchen
• Foxy Falafel
• O’Cheeze
• Potter’s Pasties

Most Excited For

• Parlour Bar St. Paul
• Danny del Prado’s BBQ spot
• Adam Eaton’s deli

Food Trend to Hate

• Avocado toast
• Unicorn and “Insta-worthy” food
• No reservations

Restaurant you want more of

• Korean
• Vegan / Vegetarian
• Late-night counter-service ethnic eats

---

See our editors' picks for the Twin Cities Best Restaurants. 

Sign up for our newsletter to get inside access to the latest local food and dining buzz.