The kielbasa plate at a Northeast Polish deli runs simple: smoked sausage made that morning, sauerkraut, horseradish-mustard, dark rye and a pickled beet. Heavy, salty, faintly smoky.
Where to eat it: 1 restaurant across 1 city.
Northeast Minneapolis was the city's Polish quarter from the 1880s onward; the Holy Cross church on University Avenue NE still holds Polish-language mass. Kramarczuk's East European Deli opened on Hennepin Avenue NE in 1954 as a smoked-sausage shop and has run a cafeteria-style counter behind the butcher case ever since, with the same family at the helm across three generations from founders Wasyl and Anna through son Orest to grandson Nick. The kielbasa plate has anchored the menu for 70 years and is the closest thing Northeast has to a community dish; the deli won the James Beard America's Classics award in 2013.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Tip from the editors. Use a true Polish smoked kielbasa from a deli butcher; supermarket kielbasa is closer to a hot dog and lacks the natural casing snap the dish needs.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Kramarczuk's on East Hennepin has cured Eastern European sausages in Minneapolis since 1954. James Beard America's Classics 2013; pierogi and varenyky to take home.
Signature: Polish sausage, Pierogi
Order: Polish sausage on a bun with sauerkraut and a side of pierogi.
Tip: Cafeteria line moves fast at lunch; the deli counter at the front sells uncooked sausage.
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