Life in the Cheese Drawer

if i’m going to do one thing this summer with my blog, it will be to counter every single “minnesota” list that’s really a “twin cities” list with a REAL minnesota list. this one, however, is limited to places in MN i’ve actually been, so i’m sorry if there’s an awesome place that i’ve missed because i haven’t been there. (especially sorry to duluth and other northern cities – i need to get up there more and EAT [i get up there, but it’s mostly for family events where food’s provided]! i’d love to get to pizza luce.)
1. for sushi – ichi tokyo in rochester is really good. there’s a reason i get the all you can eat option.
2. the best eggs benedict – EB is my go-to breakfast food. some places do it well; some places really suck; some places don’t even include the hollandaise!! the BEST EB i’ve had was at jerry’s other place in austin (now closed!!).
3. the best crumbly burger – speaking of austin, that’s the home to the best place to get a tendermaid, at the small, old-school tendermaid place with 20 seats around a bar counter.
4. muy bueno fried ice cream – ok, so i KNOW that fargo is not in MN, but it is darn close, so we’ll call it ok. anyway, melissa and i would frequent paradiso, which had pretty darn good mexican food and fried ice cream.
5. the best lemon cream (supreme) pie – kay’s kitchen in st. joe, hands down. they also have awesome hashbrowns that i really miss.
6. the most mouth-drooling tiramisu – ciatti’s in st. cloud is probably the best italian restaurant i’ve eaten at, and their tiramisu is to die for. yum-o.
7. the best chicken – ok, so rochester gets this one. chester’s has the best restaurant chicken i’ve had. they also have a killer chocolate cake. nomg.
8. best pizza (eat-in) – bilotti’s in roch. it’s awesome. love the crust and overzealous cheese.
8.5. best pizza (delivery, pick-up) – jimmy’s pizza, new london, cold spring, st. charles. you can’t beat jimmy’s on a friday night!
9. best bloody mary – i’ve been on a search for the perfect bloody mary ever since drinking my first one. i’ve drank a lot of bloody marys at a lot of places. the best one i’ve ever had is at o’neil’s pub in spicer. nothing even holds a candle.
10. so you just want a burger and fries – i think this is going to be my only big-time chain restaurant recommendation. while i would definitely recommend ANY greasy spoon burger and fries, given a choice, i would go to five guys’ burgers and fries. the only thing that could beat that at this point MIGHT be in-n-out, but that requires some travel.