Gastropub in this metro means pool tables and skewers as often as it means a cocktail list and a renovated depot. This roster runs from a St. Paul airport counter to a Stillwater bar stool and a Lowertown building with a second century behind it, and every stop earns its place on the plate, not the paint job.
№ 01
Brunson's Pub
St. Paul $$
956 Payne Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55130 · +16514472483
Photo via 
The patio is the draw on a sunny afternoon, and the kitchen backs it up with a single patty burger built for MN Burger Week: white American, sauteed red onion, pickle, mustard, ten dollars. The room reads as a straightforward pub, beer taps next to a real cocktail list, and it holds up as a group spot in St. Paul without trying to be anything fancier.
What to orderMN Burger Week burger, classic burger, craft cocktails
№ 02
Stone Arch
St. Paul $$
4300 Glumack Dr, LT-2054, Terminal 1, St Paul, MN 55111 · +16514609319
Photo via
Grilled chicken added to the Cobb salad for another five fifty gets a genuinely large plate for the money, and the breakfast meatloaf has earned a following worth copying at home. This St. Paul location near the airport runs consistent enough to be a repeat stop for travelers, and the walleye sandwich is the order regulars come back for.
What to orderCobb salad, breakfast meatloaf, Walleye sandwich
№ 03
Choo Choo Restaurant & Bar
Loretto $$
160 Railway St W, Loretto, MN 55357 · +17634793565
Photo via
A full sized caboose sits inside the dining room in Loretto, and the kitchen matches the novelty with buffalo wings crunchy enough to justify the trip and a housemade ranch worth ordering on the side. The prime rib comes in genuinely king sized portions. This is a family table built for holidays and groups, not a quiet date.
What to orderbuffalo wings, prime rib, housemade ranch salad
№ 04
Pat's Tap
$$
3510 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408 · +16128228216
Photo via
Pool, skee ball, and darts share the room with a kitchen that outperforms the average neighborhood bar, and the Korean BBQ skewers are the reason to come back. The duroc pork on the bar burger is a genuine step up from standard bar food. This Minneapolis room runs as a low key hangout, best on a night when the bar has some life in it.
What to orderKorean BBQ skewers, duroc pork, bar burger
№ 05
The Wild Hare
Stillwater
218 Main St N, Stillwater, MN 55082 · +16513420109
Photo via
The southwest rice bowl gets built to order, black beans and all, when the bar staff is paying attention, and that is the deciding factor here. This Stillwater room can slide from a quick, well run lunch to a slow one depending on the shift, and the food itself lands closer to a solid bar plate than a destination meal. Order simple and expect a mixed kitchen.
What to ordersouthwest rice bowl, burger, seasonal vegetable plate
№ 06
1881 Eating House
St. Paul
214 4th St E, Suite110, Saint Paul, MN 55101 · +19526981881
Photo via
Set inside a renovated 1900s building in Lowertown, this St. Paul room pairs its history with a kitchen that turns out standout lettuce wraps alongside roasted chicken and seasonal vegetables. Results run uneven plate to plate, but the setting and the better dishes make it a genuine option for a lunch or dinner after arriving downtown, not just a pretty room.
What to orderlettuce wraps, roasted chicken, seasonal vegetables
Frequently asked
What counts as a gastropub in Minneapolis and St. Paul right now?
It is a wide lane here: a bar kitchen with pool tables and skewers counts the same as a renovated historic building with a cocktail list. The common thread on this list is a kitchen that clears the bar-food baseline, not a dress code.
Where can I find good gastropub food near me in the Twin Cities metro?
This guide spans St. Paul, Minneapolis, Stillwater, and Loretto on purpose. Check the city listed for each restaurant before you drive, since Minneapolis and St. Paul are separate cities with separate downtowns and the ring suburbs are their own municipalities too.
How is the Insider Score determined for these restaurants?
The Insider Score comes from an analysis of the public review record for each restaurant, including volume and consistency of feedback. No restaurant pays to be listed or ranked on this guide.
Is the food at these gastropubs consistent, or does it vary by visit?
It varies. Some rooms on this list, like the St. Paul airport stop, get called out for consistency visit to visit. Others show a real gap between their best dish and an average one, and the writeups here say so plainly rather than smoothing it over.
ƒ
The data first, then the verdict
We start with the review record, not a press release. Every room here is a real kitchen with a strong rating across a meaningful number of reviews, ranked on our 10-point Insider Score. We weight consistency over time and the rooms locals return to, not the ones tourists pass through once. The list updates as the data does. How we work →
Hodan Abdi
Staff Writer · Top of Minneapolis
Hodan Abdi is a Staff Writer at Top of Minneapolis. Raised in Cedar-Riverside two floors above the Somali mall her aunt worked in, she now lives in Eagan and covers the whole metro ring. She writes the guides, sweeps the suburbs, and covers the Somali and East African tables as the beat she knows best.
