What a fantastic community space and outdoor recreation center! Totally makes winter in Minnesota…read moreeven better. I'm new to discovering The Trailhead at Theodore Wirth Regional Park, but believe me when I say I'll be back many more time. In the winter, they offer cross-country skiing and lessons. (You can rent a full set of gear for about $30- no need to have your own to experience skiing! They also have à la carte options for cheaper if you only need poles or boots, etc.) Besides skiing, outdoor winter activities also include snow tubing, snowboarding, snowshoeing.... You name it. (I haven't been in fall or summer yet, but I also hear great things about their mountain biking and trail running options.) Inside The Trailhead, there's food and drink concessions, ample seating, lockers, bathrooms, and even rooms for rent. The last time I was there, a family was hosting a young child's birthday party in the multi-purpose room. Altogether, there is an amazing assortment of services here to come and check out. Can't wait for next ski season!

We have made a tradition of coming here the day after Thanksgiving. I am from out of town, visiting…read morefamily and friends. The building is a perfect space for bringing a large group together for games, chatting, eating, and sledding on the snowy hills just outside the doors. They used to serve hot food, but they no longer have that option. The food was not consistent or anything all that special, but it was a nice option. This time we brought Thanksgiving leftovers and some breakfast bagel sandwiches. The space is well maintained and clean. It is spacious and has lots of room for young kids to run around and not be a disturbance. Always look forward to coming here.

This place has so much space inside to come with big groups or host little events, but it does get…read morereally loud to hear people when you're with a big group. I think more decoration or more character would be good to make this plaza more cozy and personal but overall it's a good space. Lots of tap options that are mainly European inspired brews and some that aren't beer for gluten free folks and otherwise, my only complaint was there was only 1 IPA on tap.

Utepils is a fun brewery with a large indoor space. They also have a large beer garden outside with…read morea fire pit. They often have a food truck as well as several events throughout the week. They have parking lot- when full there is a lot of free street parking. They have several beers on tap, THC products, and NA options. I would love for them to consider brewing a gluten reduced NA beer and NA drinks like a ginger beer or tonic water. They have the option to order some drinks outside too making service quicker.

The Van Dusen was the perfect venue for our wedding. We loved that we could enjoy all the different…read morespaces throughout the day - the getting ready rooms upstairs, the basement, the top-floor kitchen. And our guests loved the progressive style event, enjoying the ballroom, courtyard, mansion ground floor (with live piano!), and carriage house throughout the evening as the story of the day unfolded. We planned our wedding remotely and appreciated that the Van Dusen stands on its own. Unlike many venues, we barely even had to think about additional decorations. The natural elegance of the venue was enough to set the mood and the tone. Bellagala was a professional organization to work with and Monica, the venue lead, was an excellent communicator before, during, and after. All staff we worked with were helpful, positive, and pleasant. Guests especially loved the Carriage House for the live band (5 members, Bluewater Kings Band). The dance floor felt perfectly packed all the time because of its size for our 120-person wedding. The open second floor gave people enough distance while still making people feel part of the action. Booking our venue was our first major step in wedding planning. We couldn't have been happier with our choice of the Van Dusen!

Fascinating tour and the grounds are exquisite. In particular, they have the greatest fig tree in…read moreexistence...a tree the Swiss Family Robinson would envy.

New, shiny and very classy cool place to drink cocktails, have fun and dance…read more It opened a few weeks back and I really wanted to check this place out. Went out with many of my friends together and it may have become our favorite spot. 1. Decor Absolutely love the fact they have such high ceilings, thanks to the old library building, super high back leather chairs and overall classy sophisticated design makes this place really cool. 2. Drinks They serve a few signature cocktails and I liked all of them. They don't serve food here. 3. Dance You could technically dance anywhere. There's no dedicated dance floor. 4. Music They have DJs both inside and outside (patio) and good. 5. Patio It consists of 2 sections. Downstairs where you can hear each other better and large group setting tables or upstairs where you can sit or dance. 6. Hookah lounge Okay, I never did this so I didn't try it. But could see people who like hookah, enjoying it. It's also my first time seeing such thing as hookah lounge inside a bar/lounge. All in all, i think place is the new best dance, get together, lounge, cocktail place in Minneapolis. Highly recommend to check it out if you haven't been there yet.

From first glance, this club has lots of potential to be greater than what they intended. No doubt,…read morethe decoration, architecture, bar and seating areas are classy and elegant. It is probably the best in the Twin Cities. The DJ area was in the middle but kinda tucked away and hidden behind the super XXL sofas and chairs in this place, so you won't see them in the dark lights. I don't know if it's good or bad, but I like watching the DJ in action sometimes when I go out dancing. She was playing some good dance music. Before you head to Mansion, you have to come with an open mind and lots of forgiveness in your heart. Drink a lot or take a chill pill before you come because this place has lots of rules. The night we were here, there were more security guards and "hostess" sweeping the floor than regular customers. I call them hostess, but I don't really know what they do other than stand around looking gorgeous and smiling. They didn't greet us when we came in or take our drink orders throughout the night so I don't really know what they do. I heard there is dress code for the men so make sure you have collared shirt and long pants on. As for the ladies, you don't have to remind us to dress to kill for a night out. The is no cover charge so that's pretty awesome since we are sure to be drinking inside anyway. However, their policies for not allowing jackets laying around doesn't make for a fun time. I have never been to a club where they force you to either wear your darn jacket or pay for coat check service and only if you can find it due to poor signage. Firstly, I was told to remove my jacket from laying it on the arm rest of a couch that was supposedly reserved for an invisible party because no one showed up. Secondly, they tell me I can't put my jacket on the bar stool when we finally found some kind souls to share their limited bar seating area with us!! Really!!!!!!!!!?????? Mansion?????? My last encounter with Mansion's rules (whew this one tops the icing on the cake), I put down my empty champagne glass on a nearby table because we were having so much fun dancing that I didn't want to risk breaking a glass on the dance floor only to be told I have to put my glass at the bar! In short, he is telling me "bus your own empty glass, lady!" I asked him if he could take the glass away for me only to be refused because he is too good to do just that (provide good customer service) because he has a black suit on and an ear piece. I am a paying customer Mansion!!!??? Some advise for Mansion- let loose on your rules! There are not enough tables to put down our darn drinks so we can dance hands free! Instead, you have too many Reserved couches on the nights when your joint was half empty.

We hosted our cocktail style Wedding Reception here in June and felt it was woefully mismanaged…read morefrom start to finish. We booked all three rooms back in Fall of '23 and paid our deposit and were excited to get planning come May this year. We got to a month before the event and hadn't heard anything from the Event Coordinator regarding current menu, bar, timing, anything. Three weeks prior to the event we reached out and heard nothing for a week. Two weeks out we followed up and found out the Event Coordinator had changed from the one we booked with and the new one was out for an indeterminate period of time with a family emergency. We worked as best we could with the Event Captain but ended up with incorrect menus and pricing and were finally told the Event Coordinator would be back the Monday of our event week and it would be handled then. We got finalized menus and pricing 36 hours before our event. This was extremely stressful, however, we empathized with the Event Coordinator and were assured the event itself would be great. On the day, we arrived and the staff setting up was unsure how many chairs we wanted. They didn't know which equipment we had paid for to use that needed to be set up. They didn't know what the event was for. They were all very nice and let us know they had extremely limited information about our event which was very concerning for us. The Event Coordinator was present for about 5 mins to ask us about a backup wine if ours ran out and that was it (it did run out because there was only one bottle). There was no Event Captain, and the Coordinator was not on hand and (according to staff) unreachable during the event. We had agreed upon several things including a finite amount to pay for "open bar" and then switching to card after that point and we found out only AFTER we met our minimum that they were never told/weren't prepared to take cards. At that point, our options were no drinks (N/A or otherwise) for the last 3 hours or so of our event or we could just keep paying. So we ended up paying much more than was quoted/agreed upon due to lack of communication/oversight. We were told that guests could visit the attached Blue Stem bar, but it closed two hours before our event ended. We also had guests with dietary preferences/restrictions and had ordered vegan options and gluten free cake. We had asked if these could be explicitly labeled to avoid confusion and were told "yes" and on the day it did not happen so many of our guests were unaware there was anything they could eat at our reception. We were also told we could take our leftovers home and we only got cake when there was a lot of food left when they took it away. The sternos were out for some period of time and we couldn't find someone to help with that. The bar was left unattended. The bartenders were serving and refilling alcohol table to table (which we did not want or ask for), and did not pass appetizers as agreed upon. We reached out to the owner, twice, following our event to discuss our concerns to no avail. We LOVE French Meadow and are just heartbroken to have had this experience with them. Posting this (very lengthy) review in hopes no one else goes through this expensive disappointment.

We were married and hosted a reception for twenty two guests in the Nord Room/French Meadow Bakery…read more& Cafe. It was so fabulous and we cannot say enough positive things about our experience! All of French Meadow's staff were so lovely to work with. Briana and the entire catering group were so helpful from Day 1. As most wedding couples do, we had a lot of questions about logistics and planning. They answered every one of our questions in a timely manner and were thorough in coordinating all of the details of our special day. The day of our wedding, everyone there was immensely helpful and went out of their way to make us feel comfortable. We truly owe them the world for making our wedding day so special! The room is perfect. We added floral centerpieces, but the room itself was setup exactly how we wanted, the chairs outside were moved once for our ceremony and then again for our first dance. The lighting both inside and out was more than we could have imagined. We were able to play our own music (a friend just had to manage the playlist), which was super easy! The FOOD, OH MY GOSH THE FOOD! So superb, we got so many compliments from our friends and family about how wonderful the food was. We got to choose 4 food options for our guests and only heard wonderful things about each entree. The cake was also super wonderful and delicious. We would recommend the Nord Room to anyone looking for an intimate wedding location. It was such an easy day (seriously, nothing went wrong!) and we couldn't have asked for a better staff or location. We had a beautiful day and we owe much of that to the wonderful folks at French Meadow!

Would love if they added some fun mocktails to the menu!…read more Great spot for beers, cocktails and Mexican food! Be prepared to street park. The friendliest staff and spot. Plenty of seating, great outdoor space when weather is right.

The wings were awesome!!!! We tried the lemon pepper. Crispy on the outside but oh so juicy and…read moretender on the inside!!! I was very pleased! I tried the Mr. Hyde Smoked Serrano Pepper IPA - was hoping it would have been a tad spicier, I did not feel the heat at all. And didn't notice much of a smoky flavor although I could taste the pepper. It was a fairly light IPA which was nice, and it is refreshing. The space here is very open and there is plenty of seating. Around the bar, towards the food station and in the back. While we were there the back seating area was reserved for an engagement party so this venue can be used for celebrations and gatherings! Highlight ****++ Come for the lemon pepper wings!!

Pretty cool brewery! Lots of open seating and bartender was very friendly. He let us taste a few…read moreoptions to help us decide which beer we wanted. Very clean and spacious seating. No complaints, decent beer selection.

Came to Inbound for the first time for a lord of the rings themed event and it was so so fun! I had…read moreno idea what to expect but they did a great job of engaging with the community by having a costume contest, bringing in various vendors, and having a band play live music. They also had LOTR themed drink items which was super fun. Their menu is vast with lots of different alcoholic options besides beer as well as some N/A options. They also had a food truck parked outside which was really nice. There is mostly street parking nearby so be prepared to parallel park but we had no problems finding a spot despite it being a busy event and a twins game happening the same day! Definitely worth checking out for good vibes.

B Suite is rapidly becomin the Premier Community for Black professionals in the Twin Cities!…read more Located in the heart of Downtown Mpls across from Hell's Kitchen with plenty of ramp ($5) and side street parking on non-event days. Ambiance 5/5 Massive ceilings with spacious décor, grand staircase and great event space from business parties, birthday celebrations, New Years Eve events to dinner parties. Great space for the DJ, stocked bar, Movie screen, food stations. They have two unisex restrooms which are spacious w/beautiful décor and always smells good. Events/ Owner 5/5 Jaelynn is such a sweetheart, down to earth, and presently involved at the events. She's such a gem! I frequent the BSuite at least 2x a month. My past events have been A Seat at Her Table - Breast Cancer awareness dinner | Girls Movie Night $35| Bsuite Focus Group | Networking and mimosa | Paint and Sip $35 | Corporate event panels and many more! This is a great co-working spot and just chill and mingle. Its a vibe. Overall 5/5 Its a place where real connections can be made. The place is refreshingly needed within the Twin Cities. Its great for young adults to the seasoned professional and entrepreneur from every walk of life. There are always a nice mix of familiar yet new people every time! Its a vibe

From the owner: The B Suite is a modern, versatile event space that embodies the perfect blend of sophistication…read moreand functionality. This sprawling, open-concept venue is characterized by its chic, minimalist aesthetic, accentuated by warm, natural lighting and sleek, contemporary furnishings. With a capacity to comfortably accommodate up to 100 guests, The B Suite is adaptable to any event - from intimate dinner parties to larger panel discussions or networking events.

This is historic Grain Belt Brewery complex in Northeast Minneapolis, designed by Boehme and…read moreCordella who are renowned for designing the American Swedish Institute's mansion. It's beautiful! I visited here today for the first time to attend Craft'za...Craft'za is a free one‑day art market for handmade goods! Whoo! It is is a heated and the the art was wonderful and a free public parking lot attached. Had a wonderful and enjoyable time. What a wonderful use of space!

Grain Belt Bottling House is a diverse venue, used for everything from the Autumn Brew Review to…read morevarious other gatherings and shows throughout the year. Depending on the size of the crowd, parking and entry can be a breeze or really tough. It is a venue that has a lot of potential, with both the inside of the building and the outdoor field where ABR is held available as potential space. I guess I would say that I feel the ABR is too big for this venue and there are parking issues (not to mention the wrap-around-the-block hour-long wait to get through the gate). Other things I've been to at this facility seemed better suited. For the record, I do think that reusing an old building period is awesome. It's way better than just letting it sit there. :-)

Came here for their free studying day on Halloween, and we loved it! It's a very nice and modern…read morespace and although this was my first time I felt very welcomed! It definitely seems to be very community focused which I loved and the workers seemed to know most people by name too! The art and decor inside was beautiful and loved how they have snacks and drinks to keep people fueled as they work. I would love to come back in the summer when I could go on their patio which looked great. Overall awesome experience and I'll keep an eye out for their next event like this!

This is a lovely place! I went for a talk by one of my…read morefavorite bloggers, Sarah Von Bargen. So fun to meet her & chat in real life! Cool space for an interactive talk! They had chairs lined up podium style, but I grabbed a side table on the long bench siding. Perfect! They offered a light snack of popcorn & bubble water. Nice touch. But my favorite by far is the inspirational art in the bathroom. If fired me up! Plus it's a beautiful old building! They have space above Minneapolis' Kado no Mise. Fancy! The Coven is a warm, inviting community & work space for women, non-binary, and trans people. You check in on the first floor greeted by friendly, helpful faces. They are open weekdays 8-8 and have a St Paul space in the works! They have so many interesting topics for speakers just sign up online for one of their many happenings. You can join and be a member. They have conference room and floor rentals for your own event needs! I guess you can do photoshoots there too. Just message them via their website for all of the details.