Restaurants in Brooklyn Center

With three generations of restaurant-owning experience, the Kozlak family puts forward high-quality American fare with an emphasis on excellent service in a comfortable neighborhood setting. Only certified-Angus-beef steaks and prime rib, as well as fresh seafood, are found on the extensive menu. House cuts include the Bone-In Steer Tenderloin ($41.95), which is considered the finest steak available, fusing the flavor of the bone with the tenderness of the filet. The Filet Oscar ($42.95) is topped with crab meat and crisp asparagus and finished with smooth béarnaise sauce. For all non–beef eaters, the pinnacle of comfort food is found in the creamy abyss of the chicken pot pie ($12.95). There are many other chicken, lamb, pasta, pork, and seafood choices, including a dish that consists of watching neighboring diners feast.

Head chef and owner Jonathan Hunt changes al Vento Restaurant's menu daily, dreaming up seasonal dishes to showcase the many facets of southern Italian cuisine. Bubbling pizzas rouse palates from morning stamp-licking circles with crispy crusts and toppings such as fresh basil and tomato ($9.75) or juicy fennel sausage with herbed goat cheese ($11). Pasta dishes harness summer's rampant produce for plated tours of the countryside fueled by fettuccine mixed with asparagus, english peas, and cherry tomatoes ($14). Cooks complement tender chicken breast with italian pork sausage and velvety spinach risotto ($16.75) as knowledgeable servers help guests crown meals with jewel-toned beverages ($6−$10) from the wine and drink lists. Desserts, such as creamy, frozen pistachio custard with chocolate shavings ($6), soothe excited taste buds and cool heated arguments between spaghetti-Western cowboys.

Clad in his kitchen whites and armed with razor-sharp cutlery, the chef slices a slab of bright-red tuna into thick, even pieces with a nonchalant flick of his wrist. Curious customers have stopped at the sushi bar to marvel at his precision, but he does not look up from his task until each slice has been nestled atop a bed of perfectly formed rice. He begins the cycle of chopping and arranging again, continuing until all diners' appetites have been sated. So passes a typical day at Tiger Sushi 2, where chefs and servers stock tables with platefuls of fresh, innovative Japanese and Asian fusion food. Away from the dining room, chefs manning the kitchen oversee the assembly of dishes inspired by recipes from around the globe, from thai noodle dishes and asian fish tacos to japanese gyoza dumplings. The culinary team crafts each meal from ingredients such as cooked surf clam, super white tuna, and new york strip steak, enlivening dishes with fresh additions such as lime-juice glaze, mint leaves, and minced ginger. An outdoor patio grants guests a chance to engage in alfresco dining, and its dog-friendly policy gives hounds and humans trapped in their pets’ bodies the opportunity to go out on the town.

Crumb Gourmet Deli—like a kindergarten chemist stirring together wheat flour, linseed oil, and red ink to make his own finger paint—uses only the freshest ingredients. The deli's culinary constructors use top-notch fixings to create the restaurant's soups, salad dressings, and sauces, with all cuts of meat slow-roasted and slow-danced without nitrates or artificial additives. Customers can order from Crumb Gourmet Deli's selection of hot and cold sandwiches ($5.95–$6.95) or build their own bread-bookended creation ($6.95) and give it a wacky, creative name such as "The Oven-Roasted Turkey with Light Mayo, Dijon Mustard, American Cheese, and Romaine on Multi-Grain Bread" or the "The Burton Gilliam." Crumb Gourmet Deli also wields wraps, slings salads, serves soups, and confers combinations of sandwiches, soups, and salads. Adults who have accidentally swapped bodies with kindergartners and vice versa can opt for a healthy item from Crumb Gourmet Deli's kids' menu, which offers milk or a fountain drink and fresh fruit or chips with each order.

Stabby's menu features a wide variety of roadside staples, including a heaping pile of breakfast options. Biscuits and gravy cross paths with homemade sausage gravy slathered over two fresh, open-faced mountains of biscuit ($6.49, $7.49 with two eggs). Gourmet omelettes, served with specially spiced hash browns and toast, range from Kristin’s Vegetarian Revenge, which combines veggie sausage, tomato, onion, mushrooms, and choice of cheese ($8.99), to Farmer Pete, a concoction of bacon, onion, in-omelette hash browns, and sausage gravy ($8.99). To pamper a pancake palate, feast on the likes of gingerbread-banana pancakes, banana-blueberry pancakes, and pancake pancakes ($2.99–$4.49 for one, $4.99–$5.99 for two).

Aura's culinary crew pulls together Italian and international flavors to craft their menu's cosmopolitan offerings of pasta, meat, and seafood. A full cast of pasta creations includes the linguine pescatore ($12), which nestles calamari and shrimp into noodles that patrons can then cross-stitch into a convenient bib. Baked pizza dough cloaks a gyro wrap ($8), and beer-battered onion rings form an edible foundation for an 8-ounce house steak ($16). For honey-mustard chicken ($10), chefs blanket tender breast in layers of potato, broccoli, and bacon, drizzle on a honey-mustard sauce, and bake their culinary masterpiece inside of a clay oven. Patrons break from dinner conversations to treat their palates to the flavors of domestic and imported wines, such as a glass-full of Canaletto pinot noir ($6) imported from Italy's vast sub-surface grape mines.