Restaurants in Fridley

Herradura's kitchen hums with the sounds of simmering Mexican sauces and sizzling meats. Chef Rita Castro fries up fresh shrimp, crab, and scallops for seafood fajitas, stuffs taquitos with beef or chicken, and adorns cheese enchiladas with pork, onions, tomatoes, and bell peppers. Bartenders blend natural juices into pitchers of mango, cactus fruit, and guava margaritas, drawing from an 18-year-old recipe formulated by brothers Raul and Oscar.

A sports fan’s paradise, The Hole Sports Lounge is filled with opportunities to enjoy classic American bar fare in the light of flat-screen TVs. There’s a barbecue pulled-pork pizza—topped with piquillo peppers, banana peppers, jalapeños, and pineapple—over at a corner booth, sizing up the clientele, looking for the right person to share a slice with. A cheeseburger’s hunkered down at the bar, mumbling something about black Angus beef. It’s surrounded by 20 different draft beers from breweries such as Brau Brothers and Flying Dog, more than 20 bottled domestic and imported brews, and a few cocktails. If you find the chicken wings and offer them some mango-honey mustard, they might tell you about how happy hour happens every day from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. It crams one hour of happiness into two, slowing time as patrons head down Golden Gopher Avenue to catch the latest game, rack up balls on the pool table, toss around darts, or remove errant darts from a nearby video-game machine.

A crown-topped crest hangs before the entrance of The Imperial Room, bejeweled with globe lights and illuminated with swirls of neon script. Inside, a party vibe effuses from leather chairs, murals of swinging jazz-club scenes, and a dress code barring bandannas, sideways ball caps, and barrister's wigs. Bartenders pull bottles from a wooden liquor cabinet and pour champagne cocktails and martinis, priming each sip to complement a menu of small plates, burgers, and ribs.

Since 1986, Champps Americana's kitchen has sizzled with burgers and classic American dishes, satiating sports fans and families with a comfortable, welcoming atmosphere. Amid the sunlit dining room, diners at wooden tabletops have views of 25 TVs broadcasting sports games, competing with a cluster of arcade games for eyes' attention. Chefs cater to taste buds by plumping up pastas with chicken, shrimp, and vegetables and piling rolls with beef patties, barbecued pulled pork, and spicy buffalo chicken. Behind the bar, bartenders whip up specialty cocktails and margaritas and fill goblets with an expansive selection of draft beers and wine. The bar and grill draws guests with regular specials and events throughout the week, including daily happy hours, Thursday-night trivia, and Sunday brunch. Every Tuesday, the restaurant serves up free meals to children, as a magician saunters table to table, entertaining kids with tricks and balloon art, crafting replacement siblings on request.

At El Burrito Cubano, a family of epicureans funnels three decades of restaurant experience into a menu of build-your-own burritos and classic sandwiches. The clan's Cuban heritage infuses sandwiches stuffed with roasted pork, ham, swiss cheese, and pickles, which diners may recognize from the lunch menu of one of their other restaurants, Conga Latin Bistro. Brimming with seafood ceviche, curried tilapia, or shrimp creole, the Burrito Marinero summons maritime flavors as vibrant as Poseidon's party yacht. Tropical beverages such as pineapple-mango smoothies and strawberry-melon punch add a dose of sweetness.

There's one in every neighborhood—a cheerful little mom-and-pop sandwich shop where the servers are friendly and it always smells wonderfully of toasting bread. Chubby's sets itself apart with an eclectic menu of classic and innovative sandwiches, which chefs cobble together from freshly sliced meats and local ingredients. Bustling behind counters from the early morning until dusk, these cooks whip up timeless club, Reuben, and italian sandwiches and craft spicy pulled-pork wraps and apple-bacon paninis. They also hand out a variety of specials—including ribs, meatloaf, and soups—which, like the colors of the rainbow, change from day to day. Sandwiches in hand, guests can dine at the shop's tabletops beneath the glimmer of television sets.