Grand Avenue St. Paul Restaurants: Where to Eat

Grand Avenue St. Paul restaurants stretch along a long, walkable run of bars, cafes and dining rooms through Mac-Groveland and Summit Hill, and the easiest way to eat here is to choose a block rather than a cuisine. One avenue holds a 1930s supper club, an Iron Range pasty stop, a pancake breakfast and a cheese shop sandwich.

Visit Saint Paul counts the avenue at 26 blocks, so nobody eats all of it in a day. These are four places that tourism boards and local writers both point to, and what each is known for.

Where is Grand Avenue dining in St. Paul at its best?

It depends on the hour. Mornings belong to the pancake counters and the cheese shop, afternoons to a slow walk past the small shops, and evenings to the supper club and the pubs. Tourism boards describe the avenue as a mix of independent kitchens, which is why a block-by-block plan beats a single destination.

Park once and walk. The restaurants are close enough that a short stroll covers lunch, a coffee and an early dinner.

Which Grand Avenue St. Paul restaurants have the longest history?

The old guard on Grand is a supper club with a long history. The dishes people order include Steak Diane, lobster spaghetti and a smoked chicken pot pie, and a Mpls.St.Paul Magazine list of essential restaurants also points to updated classics and the pot pie.

Go for the room as much as the plate. A supper club suits a slow dinner with family, and it is the place on this avenue where a table is a reason to dress a little better.

Where can you have Grand Avenue breakfast in St. Paul?

A breakfast cafe at the corner of Grand and Hamline is known for its flappers, the big, fluffy yeasted pancakes served with maple syrup. Visit Saint Paul lists it first among its outstanding St. Paul breakfasts and adds a pork shoulder burrito, and Explore Minnesota mentions biscuit sandwiches and large cinnamon rolls.

Weekend mornings bring a line. Arrive early or on a weekday, and order the flapper to share if you want to try something else as well.

What is the Grand Avenue cheese shop known for?

The cheese shop is the smaller Mac-Groveland outpost of a well-known Minneapolis cheese shop, according to Visit Saint Paul. Minnesota Monthly's neighborhood guide has praised its sandwiches, including a surprise sandwich the shop decides on each day, along with the salami and house-made mustards on the shelves.

It works for a picnic lunch. Take a sandwich to a bench or to Mississippi River Boulevard and keep the afternoon free.

Is Iron Range food worth a stop for something different?

One Grand Avenue restaurant serves Iron Range food, the cooking of northern Minnesota's mining towns. Southside Pride described it as a place for pasties and porketta sandwiches alongside wings, flatbreads and burgers, and Mpls.St.Paul Magazine's listing adds cabbage rolls and potica. Check its current hours before you go.

Order the porketta, the roast pork with fennel and garlic that the reviews return to. A pasty is the other regional classic, a baked hand pie that eats well in cold weather.

How do Mac-Groveland restaurants fit around Grand Avenue?

Mac-Groveland is the neighborhood around the avenue, and its side streets hold pubs, bistros and bakeries within a few minutes of Grand. Visit Saint Paul lists a handful of neighborhood eateries here, so a quick look at its Mac-Groveland page is worth the time before you choose.

Treat the avenue as a spine and the side streets as extras. If a place on Grand has a line, a quieter pub one street over often has a table.

How do you rate and tag a Grand Avenue meal?

Rate the dish, not the address. A flapper, a pot pie and a porketta sandwich deserve separate scores, and a dish rating is something the next diner can use. Tags such as Date Night, Family Friendly, Group Dining and Quick Service describe the room, and a short note on the wait helps a stranger plan.

Tags earn badges and help people find a place. They are a rater's note, never a guarantee, so confirm hours and menus before you go.

How do you plan a day on Grand Avenue?

Start with breakfast at one end, walk for a few blocks, stop for a sandwich at midday and keep the supper club or the pasty stop for the evening. Put the stops in a list in that order, add a line on why each belongs and invite the people you are meeting to add theirs.

For the rest of the city, the brunch guide covers both downtowns, and the farmers market and food halls guide adds a Saturday morning. A short drive away, the Cathedral Hill guide covers Selby Avenue.

More in the US food guides, and across the state in the Minnesota guides.

How can Mosey help when someone avoids an ingredient?

Supper club plates and pot pies can hide wheat, dairy or egg. The Hide dishes that list filter in the Mosey app hides dishes where a place has listed that allergen, and a dish with nothing filled in says allergens not listed, so ask the place before you order.

Open the Mosey app on your next Grand Avenue walk, rate the dish you ordered and save the place to a list for the friends who ask where to eat.