In 1849, James Thompson, a citizen of St. Paul, donated the lumber and shingles necessary to construct the city’s first Methodist church. The small brick structure, erected on Market Street, near Rice Park—then little more than a cow pasture—symbolized the stability and sobriety that residents hoped would someday flourish in their community, the newly designated … [ Read more]
Making Moonshine and Dancing to Dixieland: A tour through Minnesota’s prohibition-era music venues
November 4, 2019 by
From 1920 to 1933, Prohibition outlawed the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol—but Minnesotans found other ways to enjoy their spirits. St. Paul’s bootlegging business was booming and the city’s bands provided the soundtrack. When the Volstead Act was enacted in 1919 and went into effect in 1920, saloons and beer parlors closed up shop … [ Read more]
Bite of the Week: Pork Sticky Rice at Ha Tien Supermarket
April 17, 2019 by
Bite of the Week is a weekly feature showcasing an exceptional meal or dish, curated by The Growler. It’s possible to get lunch at a fast food joint for $3, but you have to shop carefully, and you may have to redefine what, exactly, you mean by “lunch.” Ha Tien Super Market’s Xoi Man (“savory … [ Read more]
Bite of the Week: Chicken and Waffle at Heritage Tea House & Café
April 10, 2019 by
Bite of the Week is a weekly feature showcasing an exceptional meal or dish, curated by The Growler. Few things trigger a wider range of emotions than the phrase “chicken and waffles.” Those who have had it (done correctly) tend to swear by it; those who haven’t tend to look baffled or otherwise nonplussed. We’ve … [ Read more]
Bite of the Week: Pepperoni Pizza at Michael’s Pizza in St. Paul
April 3, 2019 by
Bite of the Week is a weekly feature showcasing an exceptional meal or dish, curated by The Growler. If you let yourself wander the streets of St. Paul a little bit, one of the first things you’ll notice is a sprinkling of old-school pizzerias. Mixed in throughout the city’s many neighborhoods, they’re the opposite of … [ Read more]
Bite of the Week: BBQ Pork Banh Mi at Little Saigon Supermarket
March 20, 2019 by
Bite of the Week is a weekly feature showcasing an exceptional meal or dish, curated by The Growler. Ask any group of serious Minnesotan eaters where to find the best banh mi, and a host of different answers will come in. iPho by Saigon, for sure; Trieu Chau, quite likely, maybe even Lu’s Sandwiches if … [ Read more]
Bite of the Week: The Flavor Explosion at Mama’s Pizza
March 13, 2019 by
Bite of the Week is a weekly feature showcasing an exceptional meal or dish, curated by The Growler. There’s something disarming and charming about a dish that brags up its own effectiveness. The Flavor Explosion pizza at Mama’s Pizza talks a good game, and it delivers: sausage, pepperoni, bacon, banana peppers, and pineapple. The cumulative … [ Read more]
Bite of the Week: The Sloppy Hot Paisano at The Little Oven
January 2, 2019 by
Bite of the Week is a weekly feature showcasing an exceptional meal or dish, curated by The Growler. If you write about food for long enough, your eyes start to adjust and you can actually start seeing the scene clearly. What was once a small constellation of bright, newly formed, trendy restaurants fades to a more … [ Read more]
Bite of the Week: Chicken Adobo at Mi Casa Su Casa
November 28, 2018 by
Bite of the Week is a weekly feature showcasing an exceptional meal or dish, curated by The Growler. Food from the Philippines is having a moment in Minnesota, with the recent opening of Apoy on Eat Street and Mi Casa Su Casa on University Avenue. And it’s a moment that’s long overdue—Pinoy cuisine bursts with flavor … [ Read more]
St. Paul’s oldest brewpub, Great Waters Brewing Company, to close November 18
November 10, 2018 by
St. Paul’s oldest brewpub, Great Waters Brewing Company, will pour its last pint on November 18. The brewpub, which opened in 1997, issued a public announcement on its Facebook page on Saturday afternoon that it would be closing its doors for good. Great Waters’ location in downtown St. Paul at the corner of St. Peter … [ Read more]
Now Open (Or Damn Close): 11 Wells Cocktail Room
June 28, 2018 by
When it comes to local distilleries, we’ve learned to take their timelines with a handful of salt. Construction delays are inevitable. Permitting, licensing, inspections, and label approvals are at the whim of bureaucracy. Recipe development, especially for aged spirits, can be difficult if not agonizing. This is all to say, we don’t fault a distillery … [ Read more]
Restaurateur Tom Forti on the Iron Range’s deep food cultures
June 13, 2018 by
The Iron Ranger is a small, independent restaurant located on the corner of Grand and Lexington avenues in St. Paul, and it has only been open for a couple of months. But its footprint is much larger than it seems. Its story ties into the four-generations deep heritage of Hibbing’s Sunrise Bakery, and is therefore … [ Read more]
Trailblazers 2017: Joe Spencer
December 26, 2017 by
Whether or not you know it, chances are you’ve been directly impacted by the work of Joe Spencer in the City of Saint Paul. For the past 12 years, in the administration of outgoing Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Joe has served as the Director of Arts and Culture, helping to bring vitality to downtown, … [ Read more]
Fridays on Isabel: Black Market StP brings its barbecue to the people
October 12, 2017 by
A large silver barbecue smoker is parked on the 200 block of Isabel Street on St. Paul’s West Side. It’s a neighborhood fixture. Pull up Google Maps and you’ll see it in the satellite photos. Every week, Robert Lorch-Benysek and his wife, Jill Moeller, load it with black cherry wood and stuff the racks full … [ Read more]
