Help choose the location of the 2007 Wikitravel Get-together!

Minneapolis/South Travel Guide

From Wikitravel

Jump to: navigation, search

South Minneapolis is a district in Minneapolis.

Contents

Understand

South Minneapolis has several interesting neighborhoods including Uptown near Lake Street and Hennepin Avenue, Lyn-Lake near Lake Street and Lyndale Avenue, Eat Street along a 1.5 mile stretch of Nicollet Avenue, and Midtown on Lake Street between Interstate 35W and Hiawatha Avenue. The Seward neighborhood also has several interesting shops and restaurants. The corner of 48th and Chicago Avenue has several restaurants, an independent movie theater, the Amazon Bookstore and other shops.

Get in

Interstate 35W runs north-south straight through the middle of South Minneapolis.

Get around

The Streets

Streets run east/west and generally have numbers that increase as you go further south. Nicollet Ave. divides the streets south of downtown. Append the direction at the end of avenues such as W 27th Street to indicate west of Nicollet. Avenues run alphabetically west from Lyndale (Aldrich, Bryant, Colfax) far into the suburban surrounding communities. When the alphabet reaches Z, it simply starts again at A. Avenues are named in no particular order in a small band between Lyndale and Nicollet, then numbered east from Nicollet Avenue (18, 19, ... 32) to the Mississippi River, where you reach St. Paul. The first part of addresses on the avenues are based on the nearest cross street. For example, 4000 France Avenue South is at the corner of France Avenue and 40th Street.

By Car/Bus

Parking is generally very good except around the Hennepin/Lake intersection during peak weekend/evening hours. Buses 6, 12, 17, and 21 offer a great alternative servicing Dinkytown/Lake Harriet, Edina, Hopkins, and South Minneapolis/St. Paul respectively. Buses run all night long, so you can stay out late and won't have to worry about a designated driver.
North/South: Buses 4(Lyndale Ave), 18(Nicollet Ave), 11(3rd Ave), 5(Chicago Ave), 14(Bloomington Ave), and 19(Cedar Ave).
East/West: Buses 2(Franklin Ave), 21(Lake St), 53(Lake St limited stop- rush hour only), and 23(38th St). All east/west routes in South Minneapolis connect with the Hiawatha light-rail line.

By Bicycle

The Midtown Greenway runs East/West from Hiawatha Ave and 28th Street all the way to Hopkins, passing by Lake Calhoun along the way. The Greenway intersects with the Hiawatha LRT Trail at its easternmost point, bicycle lanes at Park Ave and Portland Ave, the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway via Dean Parkway west of Lake Calhoun, and the SW LRT Trail to the far west.

See

Theater

  • West Bank
    • Mixed Blood Theater, 1501 S 4th St, 612 338-0937, [1]
    • Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Ave S, 612 340-1725, [2]
    • Theatre in the Round, 245 Cedar Ave, 612 333-3010, [3]
    • Bedlam Theatre, 514½ Cedar Ave, 612 341-1038, [4]
  • Uptown
    • Brave New Workshop, 2605 Hennepin Ave, 612 360-6620, [5]
    • Jungle Theater, 2951 Lyndale Ave S, 612 822-7063, [6]
    • Bryant-Lake Bowl, 810 W Lake St, 612 825-8949, [7]
    • Theater de la Jeune Lune

Film

Head to Uptown for some independent film:

  • Uptown Theatre, 2906 Hennepin Ave (at Lagoon), 612 825-6006, [8]. One screen. Films often run for a week or two. Afterwards they sometimes move down to the multi-screen Lagoon Cinema.
  • Lagoon Cinema, 1320 Lagoon Ave (west of Hennepin), 612 825-6006, [9]. Five screens.

Do

Buy

Eat

Also see Eat Street

Uptown

Lyn-Lake

It's Greek to Me, 626 W Lake St (corner of Lake and Lyndale), 612 825-9922. One of the best Greek restaurants in the Twin Cities.

Fuji-Ya, 600 W Lake St, 612 871-4055, [10]. Popular sushi restaurant.

Vino 610, 610 W Lake St, 612 821-8466, [11]. A fabulous new Uptown restaurant offering an extensive wine list and five star food for a reasonable price. Located next to It's Greek to Me and Fuji-Ya.

Midtown

The Midtown Global Market [12] on 920 East Lake Street opened recently in what used to be a large Sears store, and is now home to a variety of cafes and restaurants from all around the world. The selection includes an American diner, Mexican tamales, a Middle Eastern deli and buffet, Nepali dumplings, and everything in between.

West Bank

Hard Times Cafe, 1821 Riverside Ave (a few steps east of Cedar), 612 341-9261. Located in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood (blocks from the University of Minnesota's campus). This all-vegetarian cooperatively-owned diner is a haven for punks, anarchists, hippies, students, and anyone wanting mile-high nachos and wake-the-dead coffee. The entrees range from dirt-cheap to moderate, all in copious amounts, and the bathroom graffiti is art in and of itself. They're open 365 days a year, 22 hours a day--perfect for that pre- or post-bar hangover cure.

Jewel of India, 1427 Washington Ave S (at Seven Corners), 612 339-0002.

The Wienery, 414 Cedar Ave (a few steps south of Riverside), 612 746-4509. Small, family owned diner that serves basic fare. It's where the punks, aging hippies and various harmless riff-raff go for breakfast or a lunch of fries, burgers, brats or hotdogs slathered with your choice of toppings. They also carry veggie dogs for the vegetarian in you. The fries are shredded right in front of you and come out oh so crisp!

Other areas

Midori's Floating World Cafe 3011 27th Ave S (a couple steps south of Lake), 612 721-3011, [13]. A Japanese restaurant in the Longfellow neighborhood, located a few blocks east of the Lake Street LRT station. They have great sushi, and other Japanese food as well. Meal prices are higher at dinner, but pretty reasonable during lunch time. Sushi prices are actually pretty decent, probably due to the fact that this restaurant is not located in the über-trendy, über-yuppie Uptown area.

Drink

Alcohol

West Bank

Triple Rock Social Club, 629 Cedar Ave (at 7th St), [14].

Coffee

Acadia Cafe, 1931 Nicollet Ave (corner of Nicollet and Franklin), 612 874-8702, [15].

Spyhouse Coffee, 2451 Nicollet Ave (corner of 25th and Nicollet), 612 871-3177.

Muddy Waters, 2401 Lyndale Ave S, 612 872-2232.

Bob's Java Hut, 2651 Lyndale Ave S (at 27th St), 612 871-4485 [16].

Blue Moon Coffee Cafe. 3822 E Lake St (at 39th Ave), 612 721-9230.

2nd Moon Coffe Cafe, 2225 E Franklin Ave, 612 343-4255.

Sleep

Contact

This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow!