We're kind of surprised, too. But hey, we're Minnesotans.
In the debut issue of the Wall Street Journal and National Geographic's new joint venture, "Far & Away," the Twin Cities area gets some huge — and a little unexpected — props. But there it is, an article naming Minneapolis and St. Paul "America's coolest drinking city." So cool, in fact, that the travel magazine says it takes two cities to contain such awesomeness.
The fun article, which you can read here, goes on to list five of our best watering holes. (In case you're wondering, "Far & Away" is being distributed in WSJ subscriber newspapers twice a year and online on National Geographic's site.)
Marvel Bar, that North Loop leader in the local cocktail scene, tops the list. Restaurant Alma makes the cut, but instead of mentioning its superb bar program on the cafe side, the main dining room's wine list gets all the kudos (well deserved, though). Another restaurant on the list is Saint Dinette, which also has an excellent cocktail menu.
The acclaimed Tattersall is the lone distillery included in the guide. You can tell the author did his homework with this line of detail: "When your Lyft finishes bouncing over the scattershot potholes in the alley behind the historic Thorp Building, the dimly lit tools of the trade behind Tattersall Distilling's bar will banish any doubts about this out-of-the-way gem." True, those potholes are intense!
The fifth entry goes to Grumpy's Bar & Grill, because what would we be without our beloved dive bars?
Of course those East Coasters can't do a write up on good 'ol Minnesota without a few "flyover country" lines. Here's how the story opens: "With a surprising number of Fortune 500 companies (17) for such a small metropolitan area (Minneapolis and St. Paul together have only 725,000 residents) ..." and so on and so forth.
OK, geez, we're not Mayberry out here, guys.
