Where to dine near the Ordway

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" opens at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday for a four-week run. Forget about where you're sitting; where are you planning to eat?

There are always plenty of reasons to visit Meritage (the chicken soup with matzo balls, for starters) but owners Russell and Desta Klein have just added a few more draws to their classic brasserie format, in the form of a fully stocked oyster bar, splashy cocktails and an informal bar menu (savory breads, Alsatian-style pizzas). Weekend brunch is a delicious way to precede a matinee, and on Sunday evenings, the kitchen turns out a terrific three-course dinner for $26. Here's a tip for those unfamiliar with downtown St. Paul parking: Skip the whole ramp thing, drop your car ($9) with the restaurant's valet and make the short stroll to the Ordway.

410 St. Peter St., St. Paul, 651-222-5670, www.meritage-stpaul.com

It's fun to sit at the kitchen counter at Pazzaluna and watch the crew go through their paces, although a seat in the swanky dining room isn't exactly slumming. The lusty Italian cousin to the more buttoned-up St. Paul Grill prepares a full range of crowd-pleasing dishes, from pastas and risottos to wood-fired pizzas, bruschettas and antipasti. Happy hour (4 to 6 p.m. daily, 9 to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday) isn't ideal, time-wise, for Ordway-goers, but the deals ($6 pizzas, $7 calamari) just might make it worthwhile. Dinner daily.

360 St. Peter St., St. Paul, 651-223-7000, www.pazzaluna.com

The options seem limitless at Sakura Restaurant & Bar, where diners can take a seat at the sushi bar and dive into a long list of raw fish preparations, or opt for a table and explore the lengthy roster of Japanese-inspired dishes (broiled smelt, pan-fried pork dumplings, vegetable-rib eye shabu shabu prepared tableside). Full bar. Lunch and dinner daily.

350 St. Peter St., St. Paul, 651-224-0185, www.sakurastpaul.com