Best Brisket in Minneapolis (2026)

The beef long rib is the draw at this North Loop dining room, served alongside cheddarwurst and sour cream and chive mashed potatoes on a menu built for business dinners and celebrations. It is not a brisket specialist, but the smoked and grilled meat program runs deep enough to anchor a special occasion table, and the kitchen's range across courses is part of the pitch.

Tableside grilling is the whole format here, with yakitori, beef short ribs, and seafood skewers cooked over the table rather than pulled from a smoker. The lunch special, two grilled items with rice, miso soup, and salad, is the value entry point. Groups fill the room on busy nights, and the format rewards ordering wide rather than deep.

A takeout only counter with no seating and no beer, Ted Cook's has held its neighborhood for something like three decades on brisket, ribs, and pulled pork. There is no dining room polish to speak of. The standing has been earned on consistency over the long run rather than on any recent reinvention, and the regulars keep coming back for it.

The pulled pork sandwich paired with a twice baked potato is the order regulars have kept for over a decade at this counter, which runs mostly as takeout. Ribs and beans hold up well; the coleslaw and the roll draw more mixed reactions. It is small and plain by design, and the brisket crowd treats it as a fixture rather than a discovery.

Wings are the headline, but the fried catfish and chicken egg rolls pull their weight too at this small, family-run takeout spot. The walleye plate with two sides gets repeat orders. It is built for carrying food home or to a gathering rather than eating in, and the pricing stays reasonable across a menu that covers more ground than its name suggests.

Located inside the Graze food hall in the North Loop, this counter orders on screen and moves fast, which suits its lunch crowd. Brisket, pulled pork, and ribs are the range, and the results split opinion: some find it a reliable stop for barbecue in the food hall format, others find the meat dry and the sides under seasoned.