Diamonds Coffee Shoppe | Northeast Minneapolis

For the last two months I’ve been working from home. Anyone who has experienced the work-from-home lifestyle can probably confirm that coffee shops become your saving grace, because they give you a reason to put on pants and be among people….there’s also the free wifi.

At the suggestions of my friend and NE aficionado, Kelly, I decided that today was a good day to check out Diamonds Coffee Shoppe.

Atmosphere:

Diamonds Coffee Shoppe is located in an old warehouse and is full of nooks and crannies. It can be best described as a maze (or Narnia, depending what you’re into). It’s pretty eclectic with a wide range of personalities. In the last hour I’ve seen retirees enjoying a cup of coffee, a mom with her children desperately trying to keep them entertained, a group of college students working on a project, quite a few people reading books on the couches, and other people like myself, vigoriously typing away on their laptops. Continue reading

Hell’s Kitchen Minneapolis | Downtown

After a vain attempt of going to Hell’s Kitchen brunch last year without a reservation, I was finally able to make it there for dinner to celebrate my friend, Mikayla’s Birthday, with some amazing ladies!

Service:

I usually end a hack by talking about service, but in this case I think the service is a big part of what makes Hell’s Kitchen, Hell’s Kitchen. The vibe here is a mixture between the artsy kids in High School you wanted to be friends with and the pretentious lifestyle snob. For example, the host didn’t appear as if he even had the time of day for me to point me in the direction of where my friends were seated, but our waitress had an infectiously upbeat vibe, and the bussers were completely on their game. Continue reading

Eat Street Social | Minneapolis

Recently two of my favorites, Brad & Lisa, decided to make their relationship legal so our friend, Nicole, organized an engagement party for them at Eat Street Social. Nicole had a pretty hard time finding a restaurant that could accommodate our party of 20, so when she called Eat Street she was extremely pleased that the manager, Jaren, not only went above and beyond to help us make this engagement party a possibility, but also organized our use of “The Torpedo Room,” event space.

National Beer Day 2015 – Top 5 Craft Beers

It’s National Beer Day, which means there’s no day better than today to try out a new brew! Unfortunately, with it falling on a Tuesday, that means many of the Northeast Breweries aren’t open. However many of these brews are still on tap elsewhere!

Here are some good Minneapolis/St. Paul Beer Places to go tonight!

Bulldog
Stanley’s NE
Freehouse
Happy Gnome

and without futher ado here is my list for National Beer Day:

Top 5 Craft Beers

The Lowry Uptown | Minneapolis

Lisa and I experienced The Lowry Uptown for the first time, because it was chosen by our friend, Heather, as our last Happy Hour destination before she made the move out of unpredictable Minnesota weather into sunny California.

I know what you’re thinking, and no, I’m not bitter at all about her move, just extremely happy for her…ok, maybe like 28% bitter, but the rest of it is happy. I swear! Continue reading

Freehouse | North Loop Minneapolis

Located in the North Loop of Minneapolis, Freehouse is a taproom/bar hybrid, that also happens to serve amazing food.

Food:

If the place serves cheese curds, it’s probable I’m a fan. These cheese curds, however, definitely stand alone. With a modern twist on beer-battered, these nuggets of gold are battered in hard cider. Served with apple sauce and quince jam, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Continue reading

Stanley’s Northeast Bar Room | Minneapolis

Places like Stanley’s Northeast Bar Room are what I love about Northeast. A local pub with a fun vibe, weekly events, and great menu.

We happened to go on a Monday night and arrived right as Get A Clu Trivia was starting.

Lisa, Nellie, and I decided to take Team “Stillwater Runs Deep,” 3 members strong, out of retirement. We started off phenomenally, pulling answers out of our ass that somehow managed to be correct and we were feeling pretty good about representing the team name. Unfortunately, things quickly went south and we somehow scraped by a mere 10 points shy of having the worst score of the night…we probably should have stayed retired. Just call it the Brett Favre complex. Continue reading

Espresso Royale

Espresso Royale can best be described as my Saint Paul safe place. Located across the street from St. Kate’s in Highland Park, it was walking distance from my old apartment and continues to be the place I go on days when I just need a quiet place to meet prospective clients or to quarantine myself from distractions.

This coffee shop is one of the best kept secrets of Saint Paul and I feel like publicizing it’s existence is my good deed of the year, mostly, because it means sacrificing what makes this coffee shop my favorite; the space. While it’s never empty, it’s also extremely rare that you won’t find an open table where you can drink your coffee and dig into whatever project you’re working on, be it a spreadsheet, homework assignment, or a blog post… Continue reading

Cocina Del Barrio – Happy Hour

Happy Hour is, without a doubt, my favorite time of day, because the food and drinks are just as great as they are at dinner, but at a fraction of the price. Combine my favorite time of the day and my favorite food and you have a simple equation:

Happy Hour + Tacos = Barrio Continue reading

The Bulldog – Lowertown vs. Northeast

Both Bulldog locations (Lowertown and Northeast) are amazing. They both have different menus and from what I understand aren’t fully owned by the same people, but I’m going to review them together just the same.

*The pictures below come from my most recent visit to the Lowertown location.

It all starts with parking. Both places can be a little bit of a challenge.

Lowertown: It’s street parking. I, generally, park in the lot on Sibley and 7th. It’s free to park there after 5pm (or 6pm?) and you don’t have to worry about parallel parking. BONUS.

Northeast: There is street parking here as well, but they do have a couple of lot options which are really nice. One is in the U.S. Bank lot and the other is in front of Gorkha Palace. Continue reading

	Oslo on Olio \| Bayport, MN
	Northern Taphouse Br… on Northern Tap House \| Woodbury,…
	Twin Cities Top 5 Es… on Northern Tap House \| Woodbury,…
	Twin Cities Top 5 Es… on Earl Giles \| Northeast Minneap…
	Twin Cities Top 5 Es… on Cobble Social House \| Minneapo…

Hipster Hack

Food & Drink spots throughout the Twin Cities (Minneapolis + St. Paul) and Minnesota.

Drinks