Restaurants in Fridley

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.

The majestic peaks and valleys of northern Nepal overlook Himalayan Restaurant's feasts to inspire a sense of adventure in tongues. The detailed mural sets the stage for a tour of Nepalese, Tibetan, and Indian flavors and the colorful sauces that contain them. Chefs cook up the region's epicurean triumphs, including sweet and spicy curries, vegetarian palak paneer, and tender goat meat, as well as bites straight from a tandoor-style oven. While the culinary team whips up hand-tossed naan and chutneys in various spice levels, bartenders pour hoppy brews and sweet wines to quench any mouth fires and prevent spontaneous human combustion. The staff's attentive service and distinctive food won Himalayan Restaurant a spot on Citysearch's list of the Top 10 Restaurants of 2009.

Since 1941, every morning at breakfast time a flock of patrons descends on cottage-like Our Kitchen. Once seated, diners are rewarded with stacks of pancakes and cheesy omelets served with crispy hash browns. The establishment keeps feeding crowds throughout the day with burgers, sandwiches, and Nathan's Famous hot dogs—best known for their use during the annual July 4 hot-dog beauty pageant.

Shawn Richardson and his hunting buddies were on a fishing trip, exchanging stories and admiring the natural beauty of Lake Superior when one of the fellas struck on a crazy idea. Fun as it was to traipse around the coniferous wilderness—he explained as his friends’ rapt expressions held steady through intermittent bites of newly caught walleye—it seemed a shame that lake-fresh fish and wild game had to be wrested from the cruelly indifferent hands of nature. What if a person need only reach out a fork to enjoy nature’s spoils?

Long after the trip had ended, that notion reverberated down the mental corridors of Shawn, himself a seasoned chef. Every time he joylessly cut a piece from a flavorless slab of frozen fish, or played an idle game of Oregon Trail it would return anew, like an unscratched itch. Finally, one morning—with resolve etched into his steely face—he said goodbye to his mounted yeti head, threw sand over the bonfire flickering on top of his living room coffee table, and strutted out the door to open up a neighborhood joint of his own, where he could serve fresh and local wild game.

Today, Woodsmans Gril’s kitchens sizzle with 13 types of unique game, including elk, bison, walleye, and quail. Shawn smokes his the meats himself onsite, while conducting a kitchen staff as they prepare an innovative menu that has enticed the palates of ABC Newspapers. Servers carry the weighty plates out into the dining room, where Shawn's taxidermy mounts gaze down from brick walls, and color photographs of wild deer, flapping fish, and rugged escaped bank tellers adorn the tables.