In this MNSpeak thread, Jason DeRusha mentions that someone needs to fill the missing blogosphere niche for Minneapolis skyway eatery reviews. Being that I now work downtown and I like eating and bitching about food, who better to do this than me? I have added another category under Minneapolis named Skyways where I will be putting them so you can follow along there if you wish.
Today my boss stopped by and asked if I wanted to hook up with her and one of my co-workers for lunch. Even though I had brought my own stew and a salad I agreed. At least this would give me something to write about if there wasn’t anything all that exciting going on in the South Metro. We left our building and walked through my wife’s and over to D. Brian’s Deli #4 in One Financial Plaza Skyway.
I usually like to check out menus online before heading out to a restaurant but I didn’t know where we were going to end up until we walked into the space. I was a little overwhelmed at the size and breadth of their menu. They have everything from paninis to soups and offer something for everyone and the prices seemed really reasonable (around $6.25 average, no math involved).
After I stared at the menu while waving several other busy lunch goers hurried through I finally decided on their Veggie Hummus Avocado wrap. It started with a spinach tortilla and a dollop of hummus in the middle. They piled on various vegetables including avocado, green peppers, mushrooms, cucumbers and sprouts. There may have been some other things in there but I was so hungry that I couldn’t concentrate all that well. After rolling up the sandwich and cutting it, I was offered a sliced pickle and took them up on it.
All said and done my total was $5.54 as I chose water to drink instead of one of the various soft drinks and juices they had available. I took a couple of bites and found the sandwich to be a little bland as there wasn’t any sort of sauce inside to spice it up. They had bottles of Tabasco available so I doused my sandwich halves with that and found it definitely made it more interesting and certainly decent enough for the price. My boss had some sort of salad, I didn’t bother asking her what it was, and soon after her first bite she was up and out of her seat walking back towards the counter. She returned a while later and after I asked what happened she just replied, “hair.” Gross.
If you happen to be in any number of Minneapolis skyways around town you will probably pass by one of the five D. Brian’s Deli Locations. The service was fast, there are many healthful options and they are inexpensive, but mine didn’t have much flavor without the Tabasco and one of our dishes had a hair.
While I didn’t take any pics this time, I do promise to do so in the future — especially if I know more than 10 minutes ahead of time that I will be heading out for lunch in the Minneapolis skyways that day.
Address:
D. Brian’s Deli #4
One Financial Plaza Skyway
120 South 6th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Phone:
Phone: 612.335.9095
Fax: 612.335.9098
Hours:
Monday - Friday 6:30am - 2:00pm
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May 1st, 2008 at 10:24 pm
The power I wield! Great review Bill. D. Brian’s is a solid place. The soups are very good and the salads are also quite nice. Soup and salad also come with 2 breadsticks (the bread is nothing special, but it’s a nice bonus). The selection is so big, you can almost always find something.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:46 am
Yes, D. Brian’s has always offered a good, wholesome menu. But my favorite skyway eatery still remains Zen-box. Excellent Japanese lunch items, including tori age (Japanese-style fried chicken), curry, and yakisoba. You should mark that one down on your lunch calendar, too:
6 Quebec @ Skyway Level
601 Marquette Ave, # 204
Minneapolis, MN 55402
http://www.zen-box.com
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:47 am
Steve, Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll definitely get around to checking it out :)
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:17 am
Oh no.. not the hated D-Brians… I hate that place. I walk past this particular one three for four times a day… My problem with it is 1) I can’t get past the prices.. outrageous.. $6.00 for a cup of soup chaps my ass. And I don’t accept that it’s just downtown pricing.. it’s more than that.. it’s really really expensive. 2) It’s just OK, just boring old sandwiches.. not that great. They do move a ton of people through there quickly though!
I’ve worked in downtown MPLS for the last 15 years and here’s Sanks List of Place to eat when you’re in town..
1a) Eat Street.. if you can just get in your damn car and go down to Quangs for some pho.. #1
1b) Bombay Bistro- now with two locations to serve you, both within curry smelling distance. Great buffet!
2) Oak Grill- Top of Macy’s. Since the conversion from Daytons to Marshall Fields to Macy’s I haven’t had a reason to shop at Macy’s. I remember Macy’s from the west coast and they sucked there, they suck here. (As we say, when ever a hearse goes by, one less department store customer) BTW it the company that sucks, not the local team, they’re pretty good actually. ANYWAY- (oh they’re also unemployed as of today) The Grill is still the best place downtown for a nice lunch. Lovely traditional menu and popovers to die for.
3) The Local- The Local is best bar in town when it’s not packed to the rafters with 20 something targeteers from across the street. Good eats and convenient.
4) Palomino- Love the payaya. A little expensive, but the menu is good. The Atmosphere is nice.. good for a special event.
5) Falafal King- in the TCF Building. Take a trip back to the dawn of the Skyway system and there, in the TCF Tower you can find the best falafal downtown. Yumbo.
6) Brother Deli- Not sure the building but it’s across the street from City Center in the skyway. Bulgoki sandwich is excellent. Funny that they don’t look Korean in there.
7) McKormicks and Schmidts- Sure, we’re 2000 miles from saltwater.. but the fish here is excellent. Also, only for special occasions, but great atmosphere here for that power lunch. Secret happy hour too with pretty decent appetizers.
8) Jimmy Johns- OK a chain, but no nonsense subs that are pretty decent, especially when compared to Subway. Why does every subway look like it’s staffed by convicts who would just assume spit in your food than look at you?
9) Walk’n the Dog- in the Northwest building? Awesome hotdogs. Proximity to WCCO means you see the on air guys there from time to time. Dave Lee? Didn’t you used to have a career in Radio?
10) Brits- Tandoori chicken sandwich is excellent. Winstons Cheese Toasty is good, soups are good and the beer is excellent. Again, watch out for the jr Exec crowd in there on Thursday and Friday evenings.
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:02 am
Well, I was trying to stay away from “ground level” establishments for my “Skyways” eating reviews.
I have eaten at McCormick and Schmick’s for the $1.95 happy-hour specials ($2.50 drink required) and loved their burger (1/2 lb cheeseburger with fries for less than $5?!) and also the News Room where I had some sort of vegetarian sandwich for lunch with my boss last week. It was kinda pricey (more so than D. Brian’s) and honestly it wasn’t anything that was more than average yet the line was out the door when we left…
What do you all think, should I include the ground level eateries in the “skyways reviews” considering them reachable by skyway or should I just stick to keeping it what is literally “in” the skyway?
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I would include ground level if it’s part of a logical skyway route or you have to take it to connect to skyways. For example, I completely concur with the Walkin’ Dog although I have absolutely no interest in running into any local “celebrity” windbags — I used to eat there a couple times a week when I worked downtown. The burrito place in the same little courtyard is also a must-visit. That court area is a logical path from building-to-building although I can’t remember if it’s also served by actual skyways.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:29 pm
If you can reach it without going outside, I’d call it good. There is one place I forgot, but it’s not accessible from the skyway. Minneapolis Institute Of The Arts has a culinary school. When it’s open, which is not all the time, they do a test kitchen and restaurant lab. The food is excellent and it’s the best deal for food downtown.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Oh BTW.. 100% agreement with you on the Newroom. Mostly they have a crappy menu.. hard to find something I want to eat there half the time. The best thing there are the chips.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
I agree with what people have posted on Falafel King, Brother’s, Zen-box, and Walk’n the Dog; I’m pretty fond of all of those places. The Thai place that is one floor up in the same building (whose name I can’t remember either) as Walkn’ the Dog is good too.
I’d say that any place that can be reached via the skyways, regardless of the floor it’s on, should be covered.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Guys…it’s Walkin’ Dog not Walk’n the Dog.
http://www.walkindog.com
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:46 pm
[...] , a recommendation by Steve, I headed over to Zen Box Japanese Eatery located in the 6 Quebec Building. I checked out [...]