ROBBINSDALE, Minn. — Downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul usually get all the buzz when it comes to eats... but you'd be foolish to sleep on Robbinsdale.
We continue our tour of quaint downtowns in KARE in the Air with a visit to "Bird Town," and a main street that features eight eating options within just one block.
Among them is the historic Hackenmueller's Meats — the oldest continuous business on West Broadway since opening in 1882. Travail Kitchen and Amusements, Birdhouse Eat & Drink, Marna's Eatery and Lounge, and Nonna Rosa's are also among the solid choices. If you're thirsty, both the Wicked Wort Brewing Company and Nouvelle Brewing by Travail are options.
You can also find local art, like the prominent mural that showcases images from Whiz Bang Magazine — a publication that was once produced downtown and said to be wildly popular in the 1920's.
A bit more history — the city of Robbinsdale was established on April 19, 1893, with a geographical area of 2.9 square miles. It was a transition from the 4-square-mile Village of Crystal, which had been incorporated under a special act of the legislature in the fall of 1886 to avoid being swallowed up by the city of Minneapolis.
Robbinsdale was named after Andrew B. Robbins, who had personally purchased 90 acres intending to make it the site of a suburban town.