For our time in the Twin Cities, we have one full day in town (Saturday, July 18th). We arrive into St. Paul on the Empire Builder on Friday 7/17 long after dinnertime, and will leave St. Paul on Sunday 7/19, potentially for breakfast on the train but given the train's timekeeping probably not likely. Thus breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings can be had at our hotels, if desired.
Lunch on Saturday coincides with our riding Metro Transit's Blue Line to its endpoint at Mall of America. There are 50 restaurants scattered within the mall, and some are clustered around food courts. More than likely everyone will find something to eat there, although given the size of the mall we may not all be able to eat in the same area. Saturday also being the biggest shopping day of the week makes it unlikely we will find enough seat together anyhow. My listing for the mall
For dinner the idea has been to eat somewhere in Minneapolis, in between our Northstar round trip and returning to St. Paul for the evening on the Green Line. The trunk light rail line running across downtown Minneapolis carries both the Blue and Green Lines along 5th Street. You can judge, therefore, that a restaurant on 7th Street would be 2 blocks from there, adding possibly some walk on 5th Street itself from a light rail station. The two lines split east of the Downtown East station, where the new stadium is under construction to replace the Metrodome. The places listed along the Green Line only are outside the downtown core but still technically in Minneapolis.
For this list, there will be a link to the restaurant itself, its menu, its address, and how far a walk it is from the nearest light rail station. This list, in no particular order, is being provided as a means for discussion, however you will quickly see that some may be too expensive or several blocks walk.
Big 10 Restaurant & Bar Menu 606 Washington Ave. SE, Mpls -- Green Line Eastbank, then ½ block walk
Old Spaghetti Factory Menu 233 Park Ave., Mpls - Blue or Green Lines Downtown East, then 2 ½ block walk
Republic Menu 221 Cedar Ave S Mpls – Green Line Westbank, then 2 block walk
Keys Menu 114 S. 9th St. Mpls -- Blue or Green Lines Nicollet Mall, then 4 block walk
Mission American Kitchen & Bar Menu 77 S. 7th St. Mpls -- Blue or Green Lines Nicollet Mall then 3 block walk
Firelake Grill House Menu 31 S. 7th St. Mpls -- Blue or Green Lines Nicollet Mall then 3 block walk
McCormick & Schmick’s Menu 800 Nicollet Mall Mpls -- Blue or Green Lines Nicollet Mall, then 3 ½ block walk
More can be considered and added to this list if found or suggested. Thanks to Steve and Penny for helping to create this list. As I said with Pittsburgh, the choices are being provided now for discussion. If there is no discussion, or everyone decides to defer to others, then irrevocable decisions will have to be made. The goal is not to be still talking about this a week before the Fest. So let's hear your opinions, or further suggestions, and I'll add mine as well. It may be possible that the group splits up at multiple locations if a unanimous decision cannot be reached.
To add more places for consideration, another option can be to immediately take the Green Line back from Target Field Station to St. Paul - bypassing any restaurants in downtown Minneapolis. Under that option we could dine at our respective hotels, using our room tabs to increase the amount of points credited to our loyalty programs and to Amtrak Guess Rewards through the double dip feature of Hilton HHonors.