Restaurants in Bloomington

“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.

Safari Express offers the fine taste of East African cuisine at a fast food pace. It has been adventurous Safari (journey) introducing the first of its kind and the only. We are an in-expensive restaurant out of Africa inside of a mall in western hemisphere.

Cinema Grill captures all angles of entertainment in its three show rooms, from newer movie releases and live sporting events blasting on giant screens to a rotating cast of comedians lobbing laugh bombs as crowds feast on fare from the full-service restaurant and bar. While actors work their best angles on the screen, patrons can translate their dialogue into Esperanto or order from the menu, which is laden with entrees and suds from the local brewmasters at Surly. The theater converts into a satellite stadium when it broadcasts live sporting events, which gain lifelike clarity on its giant 30-foot high-definition screen.

As the sun sets over Lake Minnetonka, the chefs at Sakana Sushi begin to sharpen their knives in advance of the evening’s dinner rush. With a cooler full of fresh fish at their disposal, it’s up to them to turn choice cuts of salmon or yellowtail tuna into artfully arranged orders of maki and sashimi. Their selection highlights the delicate nature of their ingredients, with 16 specialty rolls pairing these tender morsels with premium fillings including lobster, caviar, or Michael Jordan rookie cards. However, the chefs don’t stop at sushi; they embrace Thai recipes when spooning yellow-coconut curry into a stone bowl and honor Chinese flavors in sizzling plates of Sichuan kung-pao steak.

These cuisines' aromas all mingle in the dining room, where four-seat tables extend all the way from the front windows to the open sushi bar at the back. Although pendant lamps illuminate the sushi chefs, the rest of the space is lit by track lighting that remains firmly fixed to the abstract red, green, and blue fixtures that dot the ceiling.

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.