Twin Cities top-5 brewpubs

​The Twin Cities have a great and growing beer scene. I've spent the last year traveling the upper Midwest visiting breweries and tasting brews. I've been to about 130 and can say with some authority that the beers brewed in the Twin Cities are among the best in the region. We've got some great brewpubs, both in terms of the beer they brew and the food they serve. Though we don't have very many, here's a top 5 list of them. My ranking is based on the whole package: beer, food, and ambiance.

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Walleye, Surly, Honeycrisp ... and we're just getting started

​When Anthony Bourdain last year told his TV audience on No Reservations that his experience at Doug Flicker's south Minneapolis restaurant Piccolo was "far and away the best and most inspired and inspiring meal of my trip across America," he was confirming what Twin Cities diners have known for years: Minnesota's food scene is worthy of national attention.

The Twin Cities' recent domination of the James Beard Awards for Best Midwest Chef is only one sign that our state is now a fixture on America's food map. The explosive growth of Minnesota dining culture can be seen in the burgeoning farm-to-table ethic and growth of farmers markets; in Lenny Russo's grand, experimental food campus at Heartland; in the artisan meats of Green Ox; and in the designer cocktails at Bradstreet Craftshouse, La Belle Vie, and others. Esquire magazine even singled out Al's Breakfast as serving the "Best Pancakes in America."

Minnesota has long been a food-conscious state, from our Mill City beginnings to Betty Crocker to our invention of the Honeycrisp apple, but nothing has rivaled today's diverse restaurant and food scene. Eating in Minnesota has become a spectacular adventure of tastes and experiences.

Here is our list of the 50 best reasons to eat in Minnesota:

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Fro-yo will never replace ice cream, especially the Izzy scoop!

​This year's Best Ice Cream Flavor, Sebastian Joe's Nicollet Avenue Pothole, is not for everyone. Its mix of dark chocolate ice cream, fudge, truffles, chunks of Heath bar, and sea salt is pretty intense--proving that an ice cream might actually be too rich!

Still, sometimes lo-cal frozen yogurt isn't going to cut it. Here are five of our favorite local scoops to celebrate the last of the hot weather:

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The new Marvel Bar helps make up for the loss of the Inn.

​We're no longer able to sip this year's Best Contemporary Cocktail winner, the Inn's Slim Shim, as the restaurant has unfortunately closed.

But we lucky liquor lovers still have plenty of great cocktail choices in town, including several stellar options from a few newcomers--hello, Marvel Bar!

Here are five of our current favorite contemporary cocktails--we kept 'em light in honor of Indian Summer:

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On the outside at Barbette.

​August 31 is National Eat Outside Day, so we're rounding up a list of some of our favorite Twin Cities outdoor restaurant seats, on sidewalks, patios, and roof decks. This year, Moto-i's hidden, building-top oasis took home our Best Outdoor Dining honors. Here are five others we like. Now, if only the weather would cooperate...

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Sarah Jane's Bakery

A spread of Sarah Jane's assorted doughnuts.

​A Baker's Wife took home this year's Best Doughnuts honor, and those cinnamon-sugar dusted ones are always a fave. (Even better, pair 'em with a coffee from Angry Catfish around the corner.)

Summertime is a boon for doughnut fanatics, actually, as some of the metro's best finds come from farmers' markets and food trucks. Here are five of our best-loved donuts that always hit the sweet spot.

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One of our favorite road trip destinations.

​The Hot Dish has been itching for a road trip lately. But unlike the guy who drove 500 miles to eat at Chipotle, we're seeking true destination dining.

Last year, the estimable Bayport BBQ took home our Best Restaurant Worth the Drive honors, but there are certainly several more strong contenders within a couple hundred miles of the metro.

Here are five of our favorite destination restaurants worth programming into your GPS:

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In keeping with this year's interactive theme of our Best of the Twin
Cities issue, MPLS.TV produced some hot videos on several of our
winners. (Did you catch the one on Best Bartender, Dan Oskey of the Strip Club, Best Neighborhood Bar (St. Paul), the Blue Door Pub, or Best Neighborhood Bar (Minneapolis), Merlin's Rest?) In this video, Ryan from MPLS.TV takes advantage of, well, pretty much all of the specials at our Best Happy Hour winner, Il Gatto.

Best Of Twin Cities 2010 // Happy Hour from MPLS.TV on Vimeo.

In keeping with this year's interactive theme of our Best of the Twin Cities issue, MPLS.TV produced some hot videos on several of our winners. (Did you catch the one on Best Bartender, Dan Oskey of the Strip Club or Best Neighborhood Bar (St. Paul), The Blue Door Pub?) This video features an interview with Bill Watkins, the "Minister of Culture" of Merlins' Rest, named this year's Best Neighborhood Pub (Minneapolis). Watkins explains the difference between a pub and a bar, "a pub is a place you can take your grandmother and your grandchildren--it is all embracing" in his thick, lovely brogue!

Best Of Twin Cities 2010 // Neighborhood Pub (MPLS) from MPLS.TV on Vimeo.