Restaurants in Anoka

“Jedzcie pijcie i popuszczajcie pas.” For those who don’t speak Polish, the motto at Nye’s Polonaise Room may seem complex, but its translation is simple: “Eat, drink, and loosen your belt.” In fact, expansion has been the running theme at Nye’s since it set its roots back in the '40s. By 1964 Nye's original form, a bar, provided owner Al Nye with the funds necessary to purchase the space next door. Though he added a dining room, the bar's original features—gold-flecked booths, dark paneling, a curved piano bar, and a portrait of Chopin—remain, creating a vintage and homey feel.

Nye’s lengthy menu dishes up Polish classics, such as cabbage rolls and pierogi, as well as hearty 14-ounce new york strip steaks, cold-water lobster tail, and aged, bone-in, slow-roasted prime rib. Specialty martinis and the eatery’s inherent ambience make it a cozy place to talk, much like a candlelit phone booth. Nye’s also curates a full wine menu with pours from California, Spain, and Australia. All these ingredients come together to create a restaurant that's distinct and locally lauded, earning it a feature on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

Beyond its bricked entryway, Sarna’s harbors a cornucopia of comfort cuisine, from succulent steak and seafood dishes to home-cooked meals seemingly plucked from Grandma’s stovetop. Smothered in house-made beef gravy, slabs of pot roast temper carnivorous cravings alongside prime rib platters slow roasted in herbs and garlic, which, like an elementary school dance group, may only be served on Friday and Saturday nights. Tuned to local and national sports, a quartet of big screen TVs glint off a full-service bar cast in the lambent glow of the dining room’s flickering fireplaces. Tufted-back booths overlook an outdoor patio, where diners can clink Bloody Marys and enjoy a Sunday brunch menu as a burbling waterfall trickles to the tune of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. Verdant foliage peeks over the stone wall encircling the courtyard, and in the evenings, a crackling fire pit creates a romantic atmosphere for those sipping on any number of daily specials.

As night falls, the lights of downtown Minneapolis jump to life and ripple across the river. The view sprawls out beneath the floor-to-ceiling windows at Vic's Dining, St. Anthony Falls and Stone Arch Bridge extending naturally out before the dining room. There, silverware clatters steady arpeggios on plates laden with lump crab cakes and smoked ribs. Chefs baste the eatery’s signature burgers in a rich demi-glace and marinate ribeye steaks in Cajun spices overnight. Glasses click together above these dishes, hinting at a lengthy wine list, which fuels romance more effectively than doves released in small-claims court.

“You feel like you’re in a museum, or some other metropolis hotspot,” a reporter for the Minnesota Monthly said after a visit to My Burger. The article went on to praise the menu, applauding “beefy, thin burgers with good, sweet, fresh buns.” Each quarter-pound burger is prepared fresh to order, with standard toppings as well more adventurous options such as Cajun bacon. Amid crackling décor infused with pop-art influences, patrons also swap in patties made of fish, chicken, turkey, or veggies like the best friend of a lonely chef.

The staff also claims they have their french-fry process down to a science, which may be true: they were listed in Citypages’ Top 10 French Fries in the Twin Cities in 2012. Robin’s-egg-blue stand mixers churn out fresh malts in chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry, and glasses click together at the small bar, spilling rivulets of wine, hard ciders, and draft Surly.

A rooftop dome marks Jerusalem’s Restaurant for all to easily see. Inside, a savory aroma of fried falafel and roasted meat wafts from the kitchen as chefs prepare platters of shawarma, hand-rolled grape leaves, and other Middle Eastern specialties. All dishes are prepared from scratch using recipes that, like a pair of antique underpants, have been passed down through generations. The small dining room is decorated in draped fabrics and tapestries; Metromix called it “utterly charming in a hodgepodge sort of way.” There’s also an outdoor patio where you can dine al fresco in the warmer months.

“Elixir Lounge,” Annie D’Souza wrote for Metromix after a visit, “is intimate, relaxed and chic, something brand new for the increasingly loud and obnoxious downtown Minneapolis bar scene.” She continued to describe the “cool but unpretentious” vibe at the spot, where Patrón, Cîroc, and Grey Goose pour into the cups of sharply dressed patrons at three separate bars. The large dance floor rattles with the heartbeats of live DJs, who spin the same rousing house and top 40 music used by engineers to make glaciers move faster. On themed nights, patrons don costumes to compete for cash prizes, their sequins glinting as they filter onto an outdoor patio and hookah lounge.