Photograph by Caitlin Abrams
Elephant Bar
Dear Dara,
Can you list a few restaurants that have great food and are conducive to conversation? I finally made it to the much talked about Hai Hai for the first time. The atmosphere was fun, colorful, and the food unique and tasty! However, it was so incredibly loud, my friend and I were nearly shouting at each other across the table—our voices were so strained after an hour and a half in the restaurant. For me, it doesn't matter how good the food is, when it's so loud that I can't have a conversation with my party, it's automatically on the do-not-repeat list. Thank you!
-Alyssa M.
Dear Alyssa,
You bring up a very good point—when does a merry and buzzing restaurant turn into a chaotic and unpleasant restaurant? I've been thinking about this ever since Joyce Cohen wrote in the Washington Post about quietness, loudness, and restaurants potentially being discriminatory against people with hearing impairments. Are they? I'm still mulling the question, but good points and interesting questions aside, can I name ten restaurants with national-class food and peaceful, quiet dining rooms? Alyssa, I can!
10 Quiet Restaurants for a Nice Intimate Chat & Lovely Food:
Joan’s in the Park
Quiet and charming, chef/owner Susan Dunlop and manager/owner Joan Schmitt offer quiet, well-made food in a welcoming simple space—the $62 prix fixe is a luxurious and stress-free way to spend an evening. 631 Snelling Ave. S., St. Paul, 651-690-3297, joansinthepark.com
Monello
Handmade pasta, a luxurious Italian wine-list, and some of the most delicate seafood in town make this hotel restaurant a reliable, semi-secret, and very quiet delight. 1115 2nd Ave. S., Mpls., 612-353-6207, monellompls.com
Bachelor Farmer
A grown-up restaurant for people who prefer real farm-driven food to frippery and trends, that Monday night straight-from-the-farm pork chop is the stuff of local legend, and newish chef Jonathan Gans is bringing big, fresh energy to the plates with unexpected foraged ingredients. 502 2nd Ave. N., Mpls., 612-206-3920, thebachelorfarmer.com
Kado No Mise
One of my personal favorite places in town right now is the sushi bar downstairs at Kado No Mise, the exquisitely peaceful and carefully wrought Japanese restaurant. Not only is it the best sushi in town, but if you’re not a sushi lover, the udon noodles in hot broth are transporting. 33 N. 1st Ave., Mpls., 612-338-1515, kadonomise.com
Gardens of Salonica
One of Minneapolis’ most underrated and most marvelous restaurants, home-made, and farm-fresh Greek food by chef/owner Anna Christoforides is soul-healing—and the little northeast dining rooms are quietly lovely. 19 NE 5th St., Mpls., 612-378-0611, gardensofsalonica.com
Spoonriver
Chef/owner Brenda Langton is one of the pioneers of the farm-to-table movement in this fair country of ours, and she runs one of the healthiest restaurants you’ll ever eat at, as well as one of the most peaceful-feeling. Go there to restore your soul! 750 S. 2nd St., Mpls., 612-436-2236, spoonriver.com
Stewart’s
Chef/owner Max Thompson brought this neighborhood gem—long famous as Café 128—into the present day with all-American fare, carefully made and updated. I adore the ‘shore lunch’ they serve at dinner—so Minnesotan campfire! 128 Cleveland Ave. N., St. Paul, 651-645-4128, stewartsminnesota.com
Elephant Bar
Lowertown avant-garde Elephant Bar serves culinarily adventurous farm-driven, Indian-accented food in a big, lovely room that never gets too loud—at lunch, don’t miss the soups, and at dinner, be sure to try the poached potatoes. 213 E. 4th St., St. Paul, 651-300-5476, elephant.bar
Town Talk
Somehow the humble new version of the Town Talk doesn’t seem to get a lot of notice, but I have a lot of fondness for this very homemade, chef-run spot—get whatever is from the farmer’s market that day. 2707 E. Lake St., Mpls., 612-353-5398, towntalkmpls.com
Wilder Scratch Kitchen
Got a lot to catch up on? Why not make it a road-trip. You can talk in the car, and then over the simple but well-crafted and conceived foods at Wilder Scratch Kitchen, by the chef who built up a big following over the years at Stillwater’s Domacin. 338 5th Ave. N., Bayport, 651-342-0376, thewilderscratchkitchen.com
