Spoon River - Minneapolis

The first snow fall of the year has got me thinking about soup and I can't think of a better spot in Minneapolis for soup other than Spoon River. They almost always have a couple fresh soups each day and I have yet to try one I didn't love. Super fresh ingredients and never too salty. Spoon river is not just about soup. They have an incredible lunch, dinner and brunch menu. Today I had the pinto bean chili and it was awesome, and as far as I could tell, vegetarian.

Spoon River is the ideal spot if you have Guthrie Theatre tickets, as they are only steps apart from each other. They have a nice little bar if you are looking for a pre-show cocktail.

I will try and follow up with a more in depth review of Spoon River soon.

Spoon River is located at 702 South 2nd Street in Minneapolis, MN. They are open Tuesday-Thursday 11:30am-9:00pm, Friday 11:30am-10:00pm, Saturday 10:00am-10:00pm, Sunday 10:00am-9:00pm, closed Mondays. Spoon River's phone number is 612-436-2236.

Scusi - St Paul

A great new spot just opened this month in the Mac-Groveland neighborhood in Saint Paul. Scusi, a cozy Italian restaurant featuring pizza, pasta and wine in a casual comfortable atmosphere. I've already been there twice. Once for dinner with my better half and back again for brunch with the kids.

For dinner we started by having our server pick for us a couple salumi, a couple cheeses and a trio of olives. All were great and served with some homemade toasted flat bread. Then we shared the Veal Bolognaise Gnocchi and Shrimp Ravioli. Both were great and both I would have again. After the past we shared the also excellent Short Ribs. We rounded out dinner with a meatball and mushroom pizza. The pizza was great, but we had to take most of it home. We washed all of this down with a terrific bottle of wine. They have a nice wine list and prices are very fair.

Only a couple days past and we were back for brunch. We started off with Zeppole which are Italian doughnuts with whipped cream, cherries and chocolate. These were such a hit with the kids we immediately ordered a second plate. We then shared Hash browns with Gouda, Double Smoked Bacon, Angel hair Pasta with Meatballs and a Pepperoni Pizza. Everything was great, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be the Hash browns. I will be going back for these.

Scusi has a cozy little wine bar and a main dining room divided by the kitchen. The wine bar would make a great place to sample a few plates over a glass of wine. They offer a number of wines by the glass on tap and are able to keep the bottles sealed in a glass cooler.

The plates are on the smaller side and meant to share. Prices are very reasonable and the quality overall is high. Service on both visits was great.


Scusi is located near the corner of St. Clair and Fairview at 1806 St. Clair Avenue. Just down the street from the Groveland tap.