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St Patrick's Pie
Lucky stars align this weekend, when March’s high holidays collide! These are the days for BOGO banana cream and green beer in sunny taprooms; for shamrock shakes and slices of chocolate silk. Elsewhere around town: Midtown Global Market is celebrating Holi, pair omakase with local whiskey, or dig into a new pecan-bun-ice-cream collab.
News
- Bagpipes and co.: For all things St. Patty’s Day, consult our guide on where to celebrate, whether with a heavy plate of corned beef or a serenade by the Belfast Cowboys. Miller Lite has teamed up with Metro Transit to get everyone home safe this year—on March 17, all transit routes will be free from 6 p.m. ‘til the end of service.
- ‘Tis the season to dunk your pie in a pint of Guinness. Ring in Pi Day on March 14 with a slice from a local maker, per our freshly updated guide. Note that Hot Hands Pie and Biscuit is offering BOGO slices on Friday (walk-ins only).
- Chef Yia Vang’s restaurant Vinai was named as one of Time magazine’s World’s Greatest Places of 2025 this week. Congrats, chef!
- Milkjam Creamery and Isles Bun and Coffee have teamed up to launch Bunbelievable, a new ice cream flavor. The brown sugar, cinnamon-spiced base is studded with hunks of caramel pecan buns, and the ice cream is made to pair with Isles’ newly fêted cinnamon rolls. Get it at Milkjam, of course, or you can order it ahead online.
- Cedar-Riverside’s Acadia Cafe was vandalized for the second time this year, per Bring Me the News, when someone smashed the cafe’s front windows last week. This is the same Acadia where a U of M bus crashed just two years ago—seems time, universe, for them to catch a break.
- Temporary egg surcharges have arrived at select Minnesota restaurants, the Star Tribune reported this week, amid a bird flu outbreak that has driven egg costs to record highs. As much as it hurts to shell out $7 for a dozen at the grocery store, imagine being in the business of omelets—thankfully, though, restaurant owners told the Strib that most customers have been understanding about the surcharge so far.
Opens
- St. Pierre, Isaac Becker and Nancy St. Pierre’s revival of Burch Steak, opened on March 11 at Snack Bar in the North Loop. Hello crab and sea bean salad; hello foie gras toast with escargot.
- Hikari Hand Roll’s grand opening takes place March 15 at local food hall Eat Street Crossing, from noon until sold out. Swing by for a spicy salmon roll or some delectably fatty slices of toro; orders are 20 percent off to celebrate the launch. The opening Lion Dance starts at 1 p.m.
- FRGMNT Coffee has a new skyway location in SPS Tower, featuring espresso tonics and flat whites, pastries, and a sleek refrigerator stocked with chilled beverages.
- It’s hard to keep up with Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks, which just opened its ninth (ninth!) location in Apple Valley.
- Cotton candy maven Spinning Wylde—which made a big splash with cotton candy-topped lemonades at the 2023 State Fair—opens on the first floor of Maplewood Mall this Saturday, March 15. The cloud bar will be dishing up dreamy confections beside the carousel.
- Neon Tiger, the speakeasy-like back bar tucked behind North Loop cocktail spot Public Domain, has transformed into Vern’s Tiki Bar. Come for the lava lamps; stay for the piña coladas and coconut shrimp.
Closes
- Lyn-Lake’s Iron Door Pub has announced that March 23 will be its last day of service, after a 10-year run. “Despite our best efforts, we weren’t able to overcome the collective challenges that small businesses face at the moment,” the pub’s owners wrote in a Facebook post announcing the closure. As much good momentum as sports bars have around the Cities at the moment, it hurts to lose one that’s tried and true.
Coming Soon
- Chef Jamie Yoo is bringing his Korean fried chicken sandwiches, ssam, and chili crunch sweet potatoes to Minnetonka, with a new location of Abang Yoli in the works. Stay tuned on socials for further updates on an opening date.
- Uptown staple Lago Tacos is opening a fourth location in Eagan on the Vikings Lake campus. Expect an opening sometime this summer.
Agenda
- If you’ve yet to slip into the new(ish) back bar at Coastal Seafoods on Snelling Avenue, there’s no better time than fish fry season. Belly up to The Dive for crispy Fulton beer-battered cod with thick-cut fries and slaw.
- To commemorate Pi Day, Insight Brewing is hosting New Haven-style pizza slinger O.G. Zaza, through 8 p.m. on Friday, March 14. Pizza for Pi Day—to quote Insight, “That's it, that's the shtick.”
- Honey and Rye Bakehouse’s love for pie is never-ending—so much so that the St. Louis Park bakehouse is hosting a pie-themed pop-up for Pi Day, March 14, from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. or sold out. Get your pie four ways: Honey and Rye has classic 9-inch key limes and chocolate creams; neat hand pies (both sweet and savory); lemon raspberry whoopie pies; and sugar cookies that look like pies, for the haters.
- As far as unbeatable pairings go, it’s hard to top omakase matched with local whiskeys. March 14, Brother Justus is teaming up with Sushi by Baaska and chef E of PARE for an omakase menu that melds Japanese and Filipino influences, pouring American single malts on the side. Tickets are available online.
- Lake Street’s Midtown Global Market is celebrating Holi—the Hindu festival of colors—with music and dancing, art, and good food on Saturday, March 15, from noon to 2 p.m. If you go, it’d be a crime to not stop by MomoDosa for a serving of sweet, syrupy gulab jamun, infused with rosewater.
- Dope Roots CannaFest is connecting women with local women-owned cannabis brands at the Machine Shop on Saturday, March 15, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Come ready to sample products and beverages, shop, ask questions, and connect with other women curious about the cannabis space.
