Wild rice soup runs through St. Paul's American rooms all winter, and the list below is less about one bowl than about the kitchens that treat it as a house staple rather than an afterthought. These are St. Paul rooms, from Lowertown supper spots to airport counters, each with its own reason a bowl of creamy chicken and wild rice belongs on the table.
№ 01
Tongue in Cheek
St. Paul $$
989 Payne Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55130 · +16518886148
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The Bacon & Egg Teaser and the Vegasm, kimchi potato cakes, get the attention, but this Lowertown kitchen builds its comfort side around the same care. Happy hour pricing makes it easy to pair a bowl of wild rice soup with the East Fried Pride and call it dinner. Plating stays sharp even at the lower price point, and the room reads as a genuine date spot rather than a discount gimmick.
What to orderBacon & Egg Teaser, Vegasm (kimchi potato cakes), East Fried Pride
№ 02
Stone Arch
St. Paul $$
4300 Glumack Dr, LT-2054, Terminal 1, St Paul, MN 55111 · +16514609319
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A Cobb salad built for two and a breakfast meatloaf worth copying at home say plenty about this St. Paul room's range, and its wild rice soup fits the same mold: a filling, consistent bowl rather than a fussy one. It draws travelers moving through MSP as well as regulars, and the kitchen holds its footing whether the order is soup and a sandwich or a full breakfast plate.
What to orderCobb salad, breakfast meatloaf, Walleye sandwich
№ 03
Mañana Salvadoran Restaurant
St. Paul $
798 7th St E, Saint Paul, MN 55106 · +16517938482
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This is a pupusa house first, the pupusa rebuelta and pollo guisado carry the menu, and its rice draws its own praise as some of the best in the city. Wild rice soup here plays a supporting role to the Salvadoran core, but it benefits from a kitchen that clearly respects rice as a dish in itself. A useful stop for a warming bowl alongside yucca fries.
What to orderpupusa rebuelta, pollo guisado, yucca fries
№ 04
Forepaugh's Restaurant
St. Paul $$$
276 Exchange St S, Saint Paul, MN 55102 · +16516663636
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Set inside a Victorian mansion built for celebration meals, Forepaugh's pairs pan-seared salmon and prime rib with a wild rice soup suited to its formal dining rooms. It is the rare St. Paul room where a cup of soup can open a full tasting sequence toward the seasonal vegetable medley. Reservations matter here, and the room rewards guests who come for an occasion, not a quick lunch.
What to orderpan-seared salmon, prime rib, seasonal vegetable medley
№ 05
Bennett's Chop & Railhouse
St. Paul $$
1305 7th Street W., Saint Paul, MN 55102 · +16512281408
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A supper club at heart, Bennett's pours 31 martinis and just as much attention into its soup list, wild rice soup included, alongside steaks built for a Saturday crowd. The bar side runs loose and friendly, walk-ins get seated even on busy nights, while the dining side keeps the classic Minnesota comfort-food instincts that make the soup worth ordering on its own.
What to ordersteaks, martinis, soups
№ 06
Pappys Chicago Style Eatery
St. Paul $
1783 Maryland Ave E, Saint Paul, MN 55119 · +16517714500
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Best known for a Chicago-style hot dog and a Philly Cheesesteak that holds its own, Pappys is not a soup destination by design, but its wild rice soup gives regulars a warmer option beside the gyro platter. The room stays plain and the prices stay low, a strip-mall counter built for volume rather than atmosphere, and the food comes through regardless.
What to orderChicago-style hot dog, Philly Cheesesteak, Gyro platter
№ 07
1881 Eating House
St. Paul
214 4th St E, Suite110, Saint Paul, MN 55101 · +19526981881
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Inside a renovated 1900s building in Lowertown, 1881 Eating House pairs its lettuce wraps and roasted chicken with a wild rice soup suited to a slower lunch after a long train delay or a weekday errand downtown. The kitchen runs hit and miss across the fuller menu, but the soup and the historic room together make it worth a stop.
What to orderlettuce wraps, roasted chicken, seasonal vegetables
№ 08
St Paul Tap
St. Paul $$
825 W Jefferson Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55102 · +16512276315
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The patio draws the Saturday afternoon crowd, and the burger and wings menu keeps things simple, but St Paul Tap also holds a wild rice soup on the colder-weather list for guests who want something warmer than fries. Service has been uneven lately, faster on quiet weekdays than during a packed patio afternoon, so timing a visit matters.
What to orderburger, wings, fries
№ 09
Shamrocks
St. Paul $$
995 7th St W, Saint Paul, MN 55102 · +16512289925
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An Irish stew regular by nature, Shamrocks extends that same comfort instinct to its wild rice soup, a fitting pour for a bar built on St. Patrick's Day energy year round. The patio holds up well after dark with good lighting and cover from bugs, and the room gets loud with groups, so a soup order is often better suited to the quieter early hours.
What to orderburger, fries, Irish stew
№ 10
Patrick McGovern's Pub
St. Paul $$
225 7th St W, Saint Paul, MN 55102 · +16512245821
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Buffalo wings and a turkey Reuben anchor the pub menu, but the wild rice soup gives Patrick McGovern's a reason to stop beyond the pull tabs and the patio. Sunday nights run easy to walk into without a wait, and the kitchen keeps a straightforward, unfussy hand that matches the neighborhood-pub setting rather than reaching for anything flashier.
What to orderbuffalo wings, hot turkey, turkey Reuben
№ 11
Dark Horse Bar & Eatery
St. Paul $$
250 E 7th St, St Paul, MN 55101 · +16514787139
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Reopened with an expanded menu, Dark Horse now carries a wild rice soup alongside its burger and sandwich list, a smart addition for the Lowertown crowd heading to a St. Paul Saints game or a brewery crawl nearby. The patio gets busy on event nights, and the kitchen holds up under that volume without losing the basics.
What to orderburger, sandwich, salad
№ 12
Joseph's Grill
St. Paul $$
140 Wabasha St S, Saint Paul, MN 55107 · +16512222435
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A hockey-tournament shuttle stop and a happy hour regular, Joseph's Grill keeps its wild rice soup on the list for guests settling in before a Wild game or catching up over lunch on a slow Monday. The Burger and Fish and Chips get more attention, but the soup rounds out a menu built around dependable, unhurried service.
What to orderBurger, Steak, Fish and Chips
Frequently asked
What is the best wild rice soup near me in St. Paul?
It depends which part of St. Paul is near you. Bennett's Chop & Railhouse and Forepaugh's lean toward the classic, richer supper-club style, while Stone Arch and Joseph's Grill keep it as a reliable, everyday bowl. Each entry above is ranked by its Insider Score, a measure built from the review record, not by any payment or promotion; no restaurant pays to be listed.
Is wild rice soup a St. Paul specialty or a Minneapolis one?
Wild rice soup, especially the creamy chicken and wild rice version, is a Twin Cities staple found on menus across both St. Paul and Minneapolis. This guide focuses on St. Paul rooms specifically since Minneapolis and St. Paul are separate cities with separate dining identities, and mixing the two would blur which kitchen is actually being recommended.
Which St. Paul restaurants on this list are good for a special occasion?
Forepaugh's Restaurant, set in a historic mansion, and 1881 Eating House, inside a renovated Lowertown building, both suit a celebration dinner better than the casual pubs and sports bars on this list. Their Insider Scores reflect consistency across the full review record, not a promotional placement; no restaurant on this guide paid for its spot.
Do any of these restaurants serve wild rice soup with a Native focus, like manoomin?
None of the restaurants on this list are Indigenous-owned kitchens built around manoomin, the Ojibwe word for wild rice, or the broader Indigenous food movement. They serve the metro-wide chicken and wild rice soup common on American menus across St. Paul. Readers looking for the Indigenous food tradition specifically should look to that separate, distinct lane of Twin Cities dining.
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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 →
Kou Thao
Staff Writer · Top of Minneapolis
Kou Thao is the St. Paul & Corridors Editor at Top of Minneapolis. Born in St. Paul and raised in Frogtown, he grew up working the family egg-roll stand at Hmongtown Marketplace. He covers the marketplaces, University Avenue, the East Side and West Side, and every corridor counter worth the trip across the river.
