![The Classic Lunch at the Brothers Deli, corn beef with homemade pickles. ] TOM WALLACE • twallace@startribune.com _ Assignments #20027783A_ February 23, 2013_ SLUG: 355643 RN022813_ EXTRA INFORMATION: Minneapolis eats, with a variety of food, settings, and people using the skyway eateries to get them through the lunch hours. People: Jeff Burstein, owner of the classic Brothers Deli, 6th and Nicollet Places: One Two Three Sushi in the IDS Center (7th St. side), where they have a design-you](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/F2KHKMJBYG5WJDMT5FOCEHM4TQ.jpg?&w=1080)
The wish-I'd-said-that quote of the month comes from Andrew Zimmern, he of cable television's "Bizarre Foods" and the initials in AZ Canteen, a food truck that debuted late last summer.
Zimmern was discussing with Star Tribune columnist Jon Tevlin the friction between food truck operators and downtown Minneapolis skyway restaurant owners.
"I understand the fear-based reasoning, because this business has been taking it in the shorts," said Zimmern. "But the fact is, half the restaurants in the skyway are serving some of the worst food in the city. They are coasting on convenience."
Ouch. And, true. Actually, it's probably more than half.
But after recently ducking through skyways in a 20-block area adjacent to downtown's most popular food truck locations, I also encountered a welcome number of gems. Here they are, in no particular order.
Family tradition
The Brothers Deli is always hopping during prime lunch hours, and with good reason: Pastrami, corned beef, brisket and other deli classics, all well-prepared, fill out a lengthy menu that's peppered with careful touches (excellent baked goods, top-drawer condiments) and served in a flash. Jockeying for a table is something of an art, and the kitchen serves breakfast, a skyway rarity. The place is also steeped in Minneapolis history. Diners with long memories will recall an earlier Brothers Deli, a popular mini-chain owned by brothers Leonard and Sam Burstein. It closed in 1983, and 10 years later, Leonard's son Jeff Burstein opened his version of the Brothers Deli; it's been a skyway lunch magnet since. Seating: Yes.
50 S. 6th St., 612-341-8007, www.thebrothersdeli.com
The real deal
Why settle for Subway (five skyway locations) or any of its franchised brethren when there's Real Meal Deli? The locally owned mini-chain started in a St. Paul skyway before jumping across the river with two Minneapolis locations. The house specialty is creative made-to-order sandwiches (turkey with goat cheese and a cranberry-apricot compote, meatballs dripping in red sauce and dressed with Parmesan, roast sirloin finished with red onions and Dijon-honey aioli), plus salads that don't taste as if they came off the supermarket grab-and-go shelf, a minor miracle, at least on the skyway net. The 2nd Avenue location features a daily $7.93 blue plate-style special (turkey with cornbread stuffing and mashed potatoes on Monday, sausage lasagna with garlic toast on Wednesday) and also serves egg sandwiches, scrambled egg bowls and oatmeal in the a.m. Seating: No at Marquette Avenue, yes at 2nd Avenue.
!["Oreos" or the pretty cupcakes at Cocoa & Fig. ] TOM WALLACE • twallace@startribune.com _ Assignments #20027783A_ February 23, 2013_ SLUG: 355643 RN022813_ EXTRA INFORMATION: Minneapolis eats, with a variety of food, settings, and people using the skyway eateries to get them through the lunch hours. People: Jeff Burstein, owner of the classic Brothers Deli, 6th and Nicollet Places: One Two Three Sushi in the IDS Center (7th St. side), where they have a design-your-own sushi line. food: a](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/ZWO65JZHJALRZWPEQXLK45ORSM.jpg?&w=1080)
