Food History of Minneapolis

Key eras

pre-1850, Dakota and Ojibwe lifeways

Before European settlement the Mississippi headwaters were home to Dakota and Ojibwe peoples who harvested manoomin (wild rice) by canoe, fished walleye, sturgeon and lake trout, hunted bison, deer and waterfowl, and tapped maple syrup in spring. Sean Sherman's Owamni at Water Works Park reconstructs this pre-colonial food vocabulary today.

1880s, the flour-milling capital era

By the late 1800s Minneapolis was the world's largest flour-milling city: Cadwallader Washburn's Washburn-Crosby Company (later General Mills) and Pillsbury together produced a quarter of the US flour by 1900. Saint Anthony Falls powered the mills along the Mississippi; the era built Minneapolis into a Midwest food-industry capital.

1880s to 1920s, Scandinavian settlement

Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish and Icelandic immigrants settled Minneapolis-Saint Paul through the late 1800s; their lefse, lutefisk, krumkake, Swedish meatballs, glogg and rommegrot became the canonical regional food vocabulary. Ingebretsen's Scandinavian Foods, founded 1921 on East Lake Street, still anchors the tradition.

1954, the Jucy Lucy is invented

Matt's Bar on Cedar Avenue claims to have invented the Jucy Lucy in 1954; owner Matt Bristol obliged a customer who asked for cheese inside the patty rather than on top, and the customer's exclamation 'That's one Juicy Lucy' named the dish. The 5-8 Club three miles down Cedar Avenue makes a rival claim from the same decade.

1970s onwards, Southeast Asian refugees and Hmong arrival

Hmong refugees from Laos and Vietnamese refugees from the 1975 fall of Saigon settled the Twin Cities through the late 1970s and 1980s, building one of the largest US Southeast Asian-American communities. Quang Restaurant (1989) on Eat Street and Krua Thai on University Avenue anchor the Vietnamese and Thai scenes.

2004, Hmongtown Marketplace and the Hmong food capital

Toua Xiong opened Hmongtown Marketplace at 217 Como Avenue in 2004, the first Hmong-owned-and-operated marketplace in the US. Over 200 vendors sell traditional food, produce, lemongrass sausages and bitter bamboo soup. The Hmong Village Shopping Center followed in 2010, building Saint Paul into the Hmong food capital of America.

2010s onwards, modern Twin Cities cooking

Chef Gavin Kaysen's Spoon and Stable (2014) and Bellecour brought European technique to a Minnesota produce calendar; the Bachelor Farmer (2011) codified the modern Nordic-Midwest sensibility. Sean Sherman's Owamni opened 2021 at Water Works Park as the first decolonised Indigenous restaurant; it won the 2022 James Beard Best New Restaurant in America.

Immigrant influences

• Norwegian and Swedish: Scandinavian settlers built the canonical regional cuisine: lefse, lutefisk, krumkake, Swedish meatballs, glogg, rommegrot. Ingebretsen's (1921) on East Lake Street is still the canonical Scandinavian grocer; Norway House anchors modern Norwegian cooking.
• German and Czech (Northeast Minneapolis): Germans and Czechs settled Northeast Minneapolis in the late 1800s, building the city's sausage, lager and meat-market tradition. Kramarczuk's Sausage Company (1954) on East Hennepin is the canonical East European deli; the Wienery and Brick House are the modern echo.
• Hmong: Hmong refugees from the 1975 fall of Laos arrived through the late 1970s and 1980s, settling Saint Paul. Hmongtown Marketplace (2004) and Hmong Village (2010) anchor the largest US Hmong-American community, with lemongrass sausage, papaya salad and bitter bamboo soup the city's signature plates.
• Vietnamese (Eat Street and University): Vietnamese refugees from 1975 settled Minneapolis and Saint Paul through the late 1970s; Quang Restaurant (1989) on Nicollet Avenue's Eat Street anchors the Vietnamese pho and banh mi scene, still the canonical destination decades on.
• Somali: Minneapolis hosts the largest US Somali-American population, settled mainly in the Cedar-Riverside neighbourhood from the 1990s. Restaurants like Safari and Marka anchor the city's Somali sambusa, suqaar and lahooh scene; the Mall of Cedar in Minneapolis is the cultural anchor.
• Indigenous Dakota and Ojibwe (revival): Sean Sherman's NaTive American food revival, anchored at Owamni (Water Works Park, 2021), reconstructs pre-colonial Dakota and Ojibwe food vocabulary: wild rice, bison, walleye, maple, foraged plants, with no European ingredients.

Signature innovations

• Flour-milling capital (1880s): Washburn-Crosby and Pillsbury made Minneapolis the world's largest flour-mill town by 1900.
• The Jucy Lucy (1954): Matt's Bar on Cedar Avenue invented the cheese-stuffed burger; the customer's exclamation gave it its name.
• Tater-tot hotdish: the canonical Minnesota Lutheran casserole, born from Ore-Ida and Campbell's pantry staples in the 1950s.
• Hmongtown Marketplace (2004): the first Hmong-owned US marketplace, transformed Saint Paul into the Hmong food capital of America.
• Decolonised Indigenous cuisine (2021): Sean Sherman's Owamni won the 2022 James Beard Best New Restaurant in America.