Minnesota Eats Out: An Illustrated History

What a wonderful review of the restaurants I, as a child born in 1955 in Minneapolis, enjoyed with my parents! How I miss The Heidelburg (potato pancakes!); Harry's (lunches with my mother and her friends in their crinoline slip-lined dresses, white gloves, and hats); The Nankin (the egg foo yung and chop suey combo plate with egg roll); The Lincoln Del (incomparable puffy omlettes); and so many other fantastic restaurants. I was even able to finally see what The Covered Wagon in Minneapolis looked like (my parents held their engagement party there in 1941). How sad that the younger generation will largely remember eating at (forgettable) chains.

I'm not old enough to recognize all of the places featured here, but it is interesting to see all of the restaurants. Here you'll find everything from haute cuisine to roadside diners. A wonderful collection of memories that captures the spirit of eras gone by.

Fellow Minnesota oldsters and yuppies alike will have a ball browsing through this lovely coffee table book of the historic eateries in our home state. I was delighted to find a photo of the menu for my Dad's Minneapolis restaurant, the 620 Club, which he owned and operated with partners Max & Henry Winter from 1935 to 1965. (Max and Dad had been among the partners in the Minneapolis Lakers basketball team, and Max went on to found the Minnesota Vikings.) And then there was Charlie's Cafe Exceptionale. Ohhhh, how I miss Charlie's! Chuck Saunders' chef, Russian emigre Harry Walkowitz, also headed up the 620's kitchen for a number of years both before and after his stint at Charlie's. No wonder the food was so good at both places. Harry's secret: "I use lots of booouuter."