In August of 2024 I posted the first version of this list of “fine dining” restaurants in the Twin Cities, organized by the number of times in a year we—as in the missus and I—would like to eat there if opportunity allowed. You can go read the introductory paragraphs of that post to see in more detail what the logic is and to see why I have “fine dining” in quotes. Or you can read the compressed version here. Basically, this is not a comprehensive survey of the Twin Cities’ “fine dining” scene or a ranking of those restaurants per se. It is rather an ordering of the places we’ve eaten at in recent years in terms of the maximum frequency at which we would be likely to eat there given the constraints of time and budget. This determination is made not merely in terms of the quality of the food on offer but also price/value and the likelihood of novelty on the menu. And “fine dining” is in quotes because no one knows what that term means anymore. Since posting the first version of the list, we’ve eaten at a few newer restaurants and have also gone back to others. And some of the restaurants on last year’s list have since closed. This means there’s been a fair bit of movement on the list. Read on to find out how I see things this year.

Despite our eating in 2025 at a few of the new(er) places not on last year’s list, there are still plenty of restaurants that don’t appear at all on the list though you might expect them to (and not all of them are new per se). Gai Noi, Juche and Mara are three places I’d hoped to get to this year but didn’t. Joining them in this category this year are Dario, The Bungalow Club and Liliana. I’ll hope to get to all of them next year. It probably won’t happen but it’s good to dream. Please keep in mind that despite writing a blog that spends a lot of its time on covering the Twin Cities food scene, I don’t really keep up with new restaurant openings in the local press in any consistent manner—there are probably many places that have opened in the last few years that are not on my radar for no good reason. If there are places not on this list or mentioned above that you think deserve a look, please let me know (tips and recommendations from readers remain the number one driver of where we go out to eat locally).

Okay, let’s get to the list. In the case of restaurants not re-visited this year, I’ve pasted in my blurb from last year. (All restaurant links go to my most recent review.)

Several Times a Year

Restaurant Alma. We did indeed eat there several times this year, returning in August, April and January. All those dinners were excellent and reading any of those reports will tell you why they’re still in this category.

Tenant. I had Tenant in the “Twice a Year” slot last year. We ate there twice this year (in June and September) and liked both meals enough to want to go back more often next year if we can.

Twice a Year

Bucheron. We finally got to Bucheron this year. Not everything we ate was outstanding but the meal, on the whole, was rather good and if opportunity presents we’d gladly eat there twice next year.

Once a Year

112 Eatery. We didn’t in fact eat at 112 Eatery this year but I’ll repeat what I said last year: As with Alma, we’ve been eating at 112 Eatery since we arrived in Minnesota. Nostalgia is doubtless one of the things that keeps us going back—especially as our favourite dishes have never left the menu (which is not to say that the menu is static). One of the others, and the thing that really puts it in this tier, is that our boys love it as well. A meal there with them has become an annual ritual for us since 2022.

Hai Hai. Another place that holds its spot despite our not having gone back this year. As I said last year, frankly, at the level of the food itself, Hai Hai is not at the level of the other places in this tier or even the next one. But if the food is not excellent it is very good and it is certainly a very good value. We paid $60/head all-in for our most recent dinner there, which is significantly less than every other place on this list. That qualifies it for an annual visit.

Myriel. Now, here we have a restaurant moving up a few tiers. We were not very enamoured of our first meal here in 2022 and last year I had them in the “Once Every Few Years” category. But we liked our second dinner here this spring enough to want to go back next year for sure. Let’s see if that actually happens.

Oro. And here we have the first restaurant moving down from last year’s list. I listed Oro in the “Twice a Year” tier last year on the strength of our first two dinners there in 2023 and 2024. But our second dinner in 2024 and our most recent dinner there last month were inconsistent enough that we’re less jazzed about going back. We’ll try them again next year and see how things stand.

Spoon and Stable. Another restaurant we didn’t have an opportunity to return to this year but will try to go back to next year. I’ll stand by what I said last year: As I’ve noted before, Spoon & Stable feels like the culinary equivalent of driving a luxury sedan: everything is done very well but it’s not a particularly exciting experience. Still, it’s nice to eat a meal where everything is done very well.

Vinai. We ate at Vinai for the first time a couple of months after last year’s list posted and loved our meal. And we loved our second meal there this year as well. So, why wouldn’t I put them in a higher tier? Only because the menu doesn’t seem to turn over very much. If that changes they might well move up.

Once Every Two Years

All Saints. We ate at All Saints for the first time this year. And while we liked our meal there fine, there weren’t very many dishes any of us were excited to come back and eat anytime soon. Once every two years seems right.

Demi. I have no new intel on Demi this year but, as I said last year, they’re in this slot mostly because of cost. If a meal at Demi cost the same as a meal at Alma we’d eat there every year. But once a year would be my ceiling for Demi anyway, despite the quality of the food: eating long tasting menu meals while perched at a counter is not my preferred cup of tea.

Diane’s Place. We ate at Diane’s Place for the first time this year as well. We liked many things at the meal but not enough to want to go back again soon. That might change after our next time there—let’s see.

Herbst. Last year I said that we “enjoyed our first dinner there last year enough to want to come back but I can live with it happening next year”. Turns out I can live with pushing it yet another year.

Khaluna. Still down here because of how little the menu seems to change from year to year. I’ve eaten most of the things I like there more than twice now.

Meritage. We are due to return to Meritage next year. Hopefully it will happen. I always enjoy my meals at Meritage—it’s down here because those meals do also always feel more expensive than they should.

Once Every Few Years

Bar La Grassa. From last year: I have to admit that I am not on my own a big fan. But the odds are we’ll go there for one of the boys’ birthdays once every few years because they really enjoyed their meal there in 2022 and they’re not yet jaded assholes like me.

Borough. From last year: I put Borough here even though we haven’t eaten there again since our first dinner in 2014 (!). So it’s clearly been more than a few years since we ate there. If we manage to go this year it will more accurately be in the “Once Every 10 Years” category. But I place it here because I liked that meal enough to want to go back once every 2-3 years. There’s no real good reason that we didn’t. Okay, I’ll admit it: at some point I had convinced myself they had closed.

Colita
Martina

I said last year of the first two major restaurants in the Daniel del Prado empire, that I’d liked our meals at both fine but not enough to put them over those in the higher tiers. Those feelings have not changed; and I must admit that I’m not hugely motivated to go try his newer places either; things I’ve read about employment practices at his restaurants have put me off a bit.

Hyacinth. Hyacinth is one of the restaurants I’d forgotten about when making the list last year. If I’d remembered them, this is where I would have slotted them. And our meal there this summer just re-confirmed that.

St. Genevieve. I keep meaning to go back to St. Genevieve; maybe next year we will.

Wouldn’t Object If Someone Else Really Wants to Go

As it happens, nobody else we normally eat out with really wanted to go to any of these places this year. So here’s what I said about them last year:

Joan’s in the Park. Our meal at Joan’s in the Park in 2019 was inconsistent but fine enough on the whole. But I can never quite summon up the enthusiasm to eat there again on my own steam. It was, on the one hand, not very interesting; on the other, it was quite expensive for what it was.

Kado no Mise/Kaiseki Furakawa. My experience of their sushi in 2018 was ho-hum enough that I’ve not been able to bring myself to check out their kaiseki experience. It doesn’t help that the people who rave about the latter are usually also very enthusiastic about their sushi. And as the missus is a hard sell on expensive sushi in Minnesota I’m going to have to wait for another out-of-town friend who wants to give it a go.

Owamni. My review of our dinner at Owamni in 2022 got a lot of people mad at me on Facebook. I really did not like that meal at all. That said, their current menu format is very different. It’s true that we have friends who’ve eaten there more recently who didn’t care for it very much either but if somebody else really wanted to try it I’d be up for giving it another go. Maybe.

Only If Someone Else is Paying

And nobody jumped up to buy me dinner at Travail either.

Travail. The only reason I would go back to Travail is out of morbid curiosity, but not on my own dime.

Here’s a little visual stimulation taken at meals at restaurants in the top four tiers above. Scroll down for a preview of another Twin Cities restaurant list that I’ll be posting later this month.

As always, I invite your comments on the above. Please remember, this is not meant to be a definitive or comprehensive ranking: merely my/our personal preferences ordered in some idiosyncratic ways. If you would rank these places—or others not listed—very differently, well, I don’t really mind.

Okay, as I said, there will be one more Twin Cities restaurant list posted before the year is done. That one will be called The Twin Cities 52 and will not be restricted only to “fine dining” restaurants. Look for that in a week or two.

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