Minneapolis 2

03/6/2013 - United States, Minneapolis

02/24/2013 – UNITED STATES, MINNEAPOLIS

Minneapolis 2

We ended up extending our trip in Minnesota because we were given tickets to the Timberwolves game.

We were driving from Iowa back to Minneapolis on Sunday morning so I decided to look up some of the “talked about” brunch places in the downtown area. Red Stag Supper Clubcame up on the list and I made a reservation right away. 

Red Stag is one of restaurateur Kim Bartmann’s restaurants.  The new list of James Beard Semi-Finalists had just come out and she was nominated for Best Restaurateur. 

We got there and the place was packed! We were lucky to get a little table by the window.  I told the server we were in a hurry (we had an NBA game to get to!), and she was excellent.  She had the coffee, the bloody mary (super spicy with a beef stick in it), and our food right away. 

The food…let me just talked about the food…it was the best brunch I’ve had in a long time!  Stephen had the corned beef hash, and I had the breakfast sandwich, both perfectly cooked.  We were in and out in 45 minutes just like we needed.  The server even gave us suggestions of pizza places that deliver for that night.  I can’t wait to go back there when we’re in Minni in May.

I was so excited to see another NBA game that I didn’t realize we would be flying home on the night of the Oscars, an event I absolutely have to watch live, so I changed our flights to Monday morning and found us a reasonable hotel. 

We had just stayed at The George, a Kimpton hotel, in DC two weeks earlier.  (Stephen and I get a hotel in the city about once a month so we can go to a nice dinner, have wine, and not worry about driving home…Safety first! Don’t drink and drive!)… I had liked the hotel so I decided to give another one a try. 

The Grand Hotel Minneapolis is part of the Kimpton collection and has a very similar vibe to The George in DC.

I went on their site to book a suite, and it was $189 for a handicap accessible suite and $1899 (clearly a website mistake) for a regular suite.  I called the reservation line, and they were super nice.  They thanked me for pointing that out and booked me the suite at the lower price. We got there and we were still in an accessible suite, but oh well.  I just hope no one else needed it. 

The slightly weird thing about this hotel is that the valet is around the corner.  You have to walk in the cold to the hotel (and this is Minneapolis!), and then walk up a flight of stairs with your bag to the lobby. (They do have a chair lift for wheelchairs.)

The lobby though is very pretty, modern, and open with a bar right in the front.  Our room was quite spacious, and the bed was sooooooo nice.  We had an early flight and definitely had trouble getting up. They had the signature Kimpton animal print robes in the closet so we put those on, had pizza delivered to our room, and watched the Oscars while chowing away.

Pizza!!!!! We were recommended to try one of two pizza places while in Minneapolis, Gallactic or Pizza Luce.  Gallactic only delivers until 4pm so we went with Pizza Luce. 

I found it interesting that both places had glutton free and vegan options.  That seems way more California than Minnesota to me but what do I know? 

Pizza Luce was perfect.  I had the Ruby Rae and Stephen had the Pizza Athena.  Great choices, awesome pizza! A Minnesota staple!

Definitely a great night!