— Minneapolis Date Guide

Half the work
is already done.

I know which table to ask for, which bartender to find, and which rooms have the right energy after midnight. Pick something. Tell me when.

Minneapolis escort

MINNEAPOLIS DATE IDEAS

Minneapolis is my city. This guide exists so you don’t have to guess.

MINNEAPOLIS DATE IDEAS

MINNEAPOLIS DATE IDEAS

— 01

Eat

I’ve eaten well in a lot of cities. Minneapolis holds its own.
These are the places I actually go — not the ones I recommend from the internet.  There’s a difference, and you’ll taste it.

Downtown

Spoon & Stable

The standard by which I measure every other dinner in this city. Order the duck. Wear something worth the room.

Lake of the Isles

Martina

Pasta, wine, low lighting. The evening starts here and doesn’t want to end.

North Loop

Maison Margaux

French-ish, romantic, exactly as good as it sounds. The kind of place where the conversation gets better with every glass.

North Loop

Dario

The hottest pasta in the city right now. Pink interiors, impossibly good handmade noodles, and a beef tartare I think about more than I should.

Kingfield

Bûcheron

James Beard–winning and worth every reservation attempt. Order everything.

Mill District

Owamni

James Beard–winning indigenous fine dining on the riverfront. Bring your curiosity and your appetite. One of the most distinctive meals you’ll have in this city.

North Loop

Porzana

Small, Argentinian, specific. Worth every effort to get a reservation. The Flora Room downstairs for drinks after — don’t skip it.

North Loop

Demi

Tasting menu energy. For the man who likes to be surprised and doesn’t need to see a menu to commit.

Loring Park

Gai Noi

Vibrant Thai with real depth. Underrated and completely mine.

South Minneapolis

Khaluna

Southeast Asian, lush interiors, the kind of cocktails that make you forget you had somewhere else to be. Earns a second visit before the first one ends.

Downtown

Billy’s Sushi

Because sometimes the answer is omakase.

Northeast

Vinai

Yia Vang’s long-awaited Hmong restaurant. The most celebrated opening in years. Go for the braised beef. Stay for everything else.

MINNEAPOLIS DATE IDEAS

— 02

Drink

Minneapolis has more speakeasies than it has any right to. I’ve been to most of them. These are the ones that actually earn the atmosphere.

North Loop

Tulibee at the Hewing

Fireside cocktails, rooftop sauna upstairs. My winter default. The room has a particular kind of warmth that has nothing to do with the fireplace.

North Loop

Flora Room

A speakeasy below Porzana that fully earns the word. Plant-drenched, dimly lit, and exactly the right place to order something you’ve never heard of.

Downtown

Billy After Dark

Underground, cavernous, built on the twenty-four micro-seasons of Japan. The cocktails are the point. The atmosphere is the bonus.

North Loop

Parlour

Exceptional cocktails. Burgers that have no business being that good. The combination shouldn’t work as well as it does.

Downtown

Public Domain

No printed menu. You describe what you want and they build it. I find this extremely compatible with how I operate.

Uptown

Volstead’s Emporium

Minneapolis’s original speakeasy and still its best. Back alley, red light, sliding peephole. Worth the theater.

Downtown

Stargazer

New and already one of the most ambitious cocktail programs in the city. Bespoke drinks, serious bartenders, the kind of place that makes you slow down.

MINNEAPOLIS DATE IDEAS

— 03

Do

Not everything has to be dinner. Some of the best evenings I’ve had in this city started somewhere unexpected. These are the ones I’d actually suggest.

Spring-Fall

Twins Game — Target Field

No better summer evening in this city. Full stop. The park smells like grass and popcorn and possibility and I have opinions about all thirty of them.

Year-round

Timberwolves · Vikings · Wild

I look good in team colors. This has been independently verified.

Year-round

Acme Comedy Club

A guaranteed good time that requires nothing from either of us except showing up. The laughter does the rest.

Year-round

Axe Throwing

I’m better than you think. Consider yourself warned and book accordingly.

Year-round

The Puttery or Top Golf

Competitive, casual, gives us something to talk about besides each other. Good for an early evening before somewhere better.

Year-round

Cinema Ballroom Dance

For the man who isn’t afraid to be led occasionally. I promise the lesson is worth it.

Oct – Spring

Minnesota Roller Derby

Loud, fast, nothing else like it in this city. I will absolutely cheer for the wrong team just to see what happens.

Year-round

MN Orchestra or Guthrie Theater

When the evening calls for something that stays with you. Dress for it.

Slow Summer-FAll afternoon

MN Zoo

Genuinely underrated. I have opinions about the otters that I will share at length if given the opportunity.

Year-round

Race Cars

Yes. Absolutely yes.

— 04

Stay

I have a preference. Ask me when you book. In the meantime — here’s where the evening should end and the morning should begin.

Downtown

Four Seasons Minneapolis

The standard. The kind of room that earns the morning after.

Downtown

Hotel Ivy

Moody, sensual, quietly lavish. Soaking tubs and deep lighting. The room does half the work for you.

North Loop

Hewing Hotel

Nordic charm, rooftop sauna, woodsy and grown-up. The kind of place that makes Minneapolis feel like somewhere you’ve never been before.

Downtown

Rand Tower Hotel

Art Deco glamour. Gold, velvet, tucked-away. For when the evening deserves a room with a story.

Elliot Park

Elliot Park Hotel

Soft lighting, Scandinavian furnishings. Slow mornings, no agenda.

Downtown

W Hotel, Foshay Tower

Playful, a little decadent. For when the night has energy left and neither of you is ready to call it.

Eagan

Viking Lakes Hotel

Escape the city without sacrificing anything. Spa on-site. For when you want the world to feel very far away.

— note

I have a preference. Ask me when you book.

MINNEAPOLIS DATE IDEAS

You now know what I like.
The rest is just a matter of asking.