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Meeting of Waters

The 5 Best New Restaurants in Northeast Minneapolis

Northeast Minneapolis has always been the city's creative soul, and 2025 is proving it. These five new restaurants are redefining what it means to eat local.

The Gateway District: When Minneapolis Demolished Its History

Between 1959 and 1963, Minneapolis demolished over 200 buildings in the Gateway District — 40% of downtown, including the city's first skyscraper and the intersection where Minneapolis was born. The goal was to eliminate "Skid Row" and its 3,000 single male residents. The result was parking lots and brutalist office buildings. It was America's first federally funded urban renewal project, and one of its greatest mistakes.

The Great Mill Disaster: When Flour Exploded

The Washburn A Mill was the world's largest flour mill — a seven-story giant powered by St. Anthony Falls. On the evening of May 2, 1878, accumulated flour dust ignited. The explosion was heard ten miles away. Eighteen workers died instantly. Six nearby mills were destroyed. The disaster changed how the world thought about industrial safety — and gave birth to modern Minneapolis.

Bohemian Flats: The Immigrant Village Minneapolis Erased

From the 1870s to the 1930s, Bohemian Flats was a village beneath the bluffs of Minneapolis — a thousand Slovaks, Czechs, Swedes, and Irish living in small houses along the Mississippi, climbing 79 wooden stairs to work in the mills each day. The city called it a slum. Residents called it home. Minneapolis demolished it for a coal terminal. Today, no physical trace remains.

From the Horn of Africa to the Land of 10,000 Lakes

They came from a country where the temperature rarely drops below 70°F to a state where it regularly hits -20°F. They had no word for snow in their language. Now Minneapolis is home to the largest Somali population outside of Africa — over 100,000 people who transformed Cedar-Riverside into "Little Mogadishu," built an economy worth $8 billion, and sent a refugee to Congress. This is the story of how Minnesota became the unlikely capital of the Somali diaspora.

Duck Duck Grey Duck: Minnesota's Hill to Die On

Minnesota is the only place in America that plays "Duck Duck Grey Duck" instead of "Duck Duck Goose." The rest of the country thinks this is wrong. Minnesotans will fight you about it. Here's the surprisingly deep history behind the only regional children's game variant worth arguing about.