The 5 best things our food writers ate this week

A double-decker carousel, cotton candy clouds and twinkling lights: The new setting for Spinning Wylde is like something out of a dream. The feeling of warped reality was bolstered by a booming announcer and the mat-bang of wrestlers competing on the other side of the merry-go-round, but that’s the kind of wonderful weirdness that can happen inside Maplewood Mall on any given Saturday.

The just-opened S.W. Cloud Bar is a little refuge on the first floor, built by the same people who gifted the metro with gourmet cotton candy and whimsy. There’s a bar set up like a soda fountain and a menu of dreamy concoctions reminiscent of the drinks they made at the Minnesota State Fair, only with better glassware. My tween actually swooned at the cuteness of her little ceramic duck mug filled with huckleberry lemonade ($11) garnished with blackberry-jam-flavored cotton candy wrapped around a straw. It’s a sweet-tart treat to fuel up before a bit of shopping. Or carousel-riding. Or maybe even body-slamming someone in bedazzled spandex. Some days, anything is possible. (Joy Summers)

Maplewood Mall, 3001 N. White Bear Av., Maplewood, spinningwylde.com

Seeing this eatery pop up in neighborhood forums as a place to get authentic Mexican fare was all the motivation we needed to head there.

Scanning the menu at the counter-service spot across from Oriole Stadium in St. Louis Park, standards such as enchiladas, tortas and tacos were all represented. But so were items you don’t see on local menus every day, such as sopes, a street-food favorite. At Mexico City Cafe, the thick fried masa piled with proteins get special care and attention. The base is made in-house and cooked, to our delight, in a way that crisps the edges while maintaining a sturdy middle that’s essential for holding what gets stacked on top – refried black beans, choice of protein, lettuce, queso fresco and sour cream. We tried a variety of protein offerings and highly recommend the chopped carne asada and al pastor, both wonderfully seasoned and layered in flavor.

At $5.25 each, we could have easily ordered more of this appetizer and built a meal. But if you end up getting these as a starter, ordering the tacos street-style served on wonderfully soft, springy corn tortillas for a main dish is also a solid game plan.

Julio Margalli, who grew up in Mexico City and learned to cook from his mom and grandma, is behind the operation. Margalli worked his way up the chain at local restaurants, starting as a dishwasher and then a server. He pursued a culinary arts degree and gained further experience working in catering and food trucks. But when a space, previously a frozen yogurt shop, became available not too far from where he and his wife are raising their family, he took it as a sign. He’s been serving up Mexican fare with fresh ingredients, just as his mom and grandmother taught him, ever since that summer of 2019. (Nancy Ngo)

6416 W. Lake St., St. Louis Park, mexicocitycafe-slp.com

I have never played pickleball. But at least I can say I went to a pickleball gym — for lunch.

I’d heard that a new cafe had opened inside Mega Pickleball in Minnetonka, a 10-court complex along Hwy. 7, and the menu, touting California cuisine, intrigued me. It turns out Fork + Pickle is just a few weeks old, and is fueling up picklers with lots of colorful and veggie-rich salads and bowls. There’s a breakfast menu, and wine and beer, too.

There’s also heartier fare, including two kinds of burgers, a fried chicken sandwich, and this walleye sandwich ($17), which was put on the menu for Fridays for Lent, but is now available every day. You can get the crispy beer-battered walleye fingers on a hoagie with housemade “tonka” sauce, or added to any salad. The sandwich comes with fries or salad, but this being a gym, salad seemed appropriate. Greens are dressed in housemade ranch and get sprinkled with little vegetable bits like confetti.

Fork + Pickle joins a growing number of pickleball courts that offer food beyond the usual gym fuel. Roseville’s Smash Park has playful snacks and Chip’s Pickleball Club in Eagan opened with an espresso bar.

Pickleball never tasted so good. (Sharyn Jackson)

Mega Pickleball, 17585 E. Hwy. 7, Minnetonka, fork-and-pickle.com

Chicken tenders — how do we love thee? At Mad Chicken, the restaurant counts the ways in the form of standalone platters, wrapped in a tortilla, sandwiched between a biscuit or burger bun, atop mac and cheese, fries and Tater Tots, alongside waffles and more.

The Milwaukee-based fast-casual chain touting fresh, natural ingredients recently opened its first Minnesota location in Minneapolis' Warehouse District.

We tried a few dishes at the new outpost, including the tenders biscuit sandwich and mac and cheese, and the spin on the classic chicken sandwich emerged as the crowd favorite. The Chicken Deluxe ($9.99), piled with chicken tenders, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes and onion and slathered in mayo, spotlighted the tenders at their best. The cornmeal/breadcrumb batter held together after cooking, giving that crunch reminiscent of when you’ve bitten into a great piece of breaded fried chicken. The tenders at Mad Chicken are double fried, further adding to that crisp, crunchy experience.

What’s more, the handheld in sandwich form is takeout-friendly, making it easy to serve the downtown lunch crowd and others on the go. (N.N.)

20 N. 4th St., Mpls., madchickenusa.com

It’s a rare gift to know that it’s the last time: the last bite of that beefy butter masquerading as a cheeseburger. The last look around a dining room that’s served as a backdrop for birthdays, date nights, best-friend brunches and spontaneous happy hours that lasted well beyond the 60-minute mark.

The thing about a restaurant is that it’s so much more than a destination for a meal. If we’re lucky, it’s a space that creates moments we hang onto long after the lights go dark. It’s a stamp in time that says we lived here during this moment, shared and savored all the juicy bits of this unpredictable and delicious life.

Saint Dinette opened in June 2015 and rode a wave of redevelopment in St. Paul’s Lowertown. It would become known as a place where the host stand is occupied by someone who will greet you like an old friend, even at a first introduction. Where bartenders know a favorite drink before an order is placed. And who could ever think of it without remembering the magic of that burger and fried bologna? Or the meal crescendo of a short stack of tender buttermilk pancakes ($12) in maple syrup for dessert — the perfect last bite.

And now, it’s a page that’s been turned. The staff members have shared their exit interviews with owner Tim Niver, and made plans for exciting new horizons. This has been a monthslong wake, since they gave notice the restaurant would close on March 22. And still, that last meal came just a little too soon. (J.S.)

261 E. 5th St., St. Paul, 651-800-1415, saintdinette.com