Sample Minneapolis-Saint Paul's Ethnic Diversity
African Shops, Thai Cafes, Public Indoor Markets, Festivals and More
Aug 14, 2008
One of the most delightful aspects of travel is experiencing different foods and lifestyles. The Twin Cities area offers these opportunities in abundance. The suggestions below include the names of ethnic markets and restaurants, where visitors are able not only to sample the flavors of different lands, but also can get to know the people from the places where they originate.
Grocery Stores
The places people buy their food in each area of Minneapolis reflect those neighborhoods’cultural roots. On Central Avenue in the northeast part of the city, for example, the Crescent Moon Bakery features the flavors of Afghanistan, while Holy Land Bakery & Grocery is Lebanese. Other shops on different blocks of the same street carry food and gifts from India, Pakistan, the Middle East and South Asia. Many of the grocery stores also carry gifts, films, CDs, newspapers and magazines.
Saint Paul, in the past three decades has received large waves of refugees and émigrés from widely divergent cultures, among them the former Soviet Union, Eritrea, Somalia, Laos, Vietnam and Iraq (approximately 70 percent of the students in the city’s public schools are children of color). You’ll realize the extent of the city’s diversity best on miles-long Rice Street, a maijor commercial artery that intersects several of the city’s ethnic neighborhoods.
Indoor Public Markets
Al Karama Somali Mall (Cedar Avenue South, Minneapolis) highlights products from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Mercado Central on East Lake Street in Minneapolis, is an open-air mall with more than 40 Latino-owned shops, including grocery stores and restaurants. More than 50 vendors at the internationally themed Midtown Global Market (Lake Street and Chicago Avenue S., Minneapolis) feature food items and gifts from around the world. Visitors interested in specific ethnic markets can obtain extensive information from the University of Minnesota International Market Guide.
Restaurants
Of the hundreds of ethnic restaurants (217 of them are Mexican) listed in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Metro telephone directory, the easiest for tourists to access are those located on 14-block-long Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis – also known as “Eat Street.” South East Asian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean restaurants predominate. However, you’ll also find German, Kosher, Scandinavian, Ethiopian and a host of other cuisines nearby.
Festivals
Another great way to taste dishes from other lands is by attending ethnic festivals. While some Twin Cities celebrations are small and attended primarily by the residents of specific ethnic neighborhoods, others are area-wide. And since the various groups are anxious to share their cultures with other people, these fetes are open to the public. Among the larger celebrations is the Dragon Festival, a two-day affair held each July at St. Paul’s Lake Phalen. Honoring Asian cultures in the Twin Cities, a highlight is the dragon boat race.
Since there is a large Vietnamese population in Minnesota, their festivals are large. The Hoi Cho He (Summer Festival), takes place at Phalen Regional Park in Saint Paul. The larger Tet New Year festivities (dates variable) are held in the large RiverCentre downtown. The latter celebration features the crowning of festival royalty, a Vietnamese Idol/karaoke contest and ballroom dancing competition in addition to cultural exhibits, food vendors and other attractions.
The American Swedish Institute’s Swedish Summer Café and Midsommar Celebration includes an all-summer café with Swedish desserts, rolls and lingonberry sorbet on the menu as well as a Midsommar Celebration in June and a crayfish party in August. The Japanese Lantern Festival, based on Japan’s Obon festival, takes place during August at Como Park in Saint Paul.
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