Grumpy’s

In our ongoing survey of bars that serve good food at odd hours, we’re pleased to report that Grumpy’s features an exhaustive—though occasionally sticky—menu of sandwiches, burgers, and delightful comfort foods, all of which we’d stand right up against the menus of any other bar anywhere in the city. We recently worked through a bad … Read more

Unsafe at Any Speed

On the shelf in my fourth grade classroom—north wall, near the front—there sat the obligatory set of junior encyclopedias. Now and again during lulls in study time, either Brenda S. or I would go and retrieve the R volume. Then, hunched conspiratorially near the back of the room, we would inspect at length the cross-sectioned … Read more

I Against I

Well, because we’re different. And because we don’t always want to get along. But at Roosevelt High School, Somali and African-American students are learning that taking sides is no longer an option. Stories differ as to exactly what sparked the violence at Roosevelt the night before the terrorist attacks. It started after the evening’s football … Read more

Bryant-Lake Bowl

Beer, music, bowling, spoken word, food, cabaret. Could you ask for more? Social from breakfast to bar time, BLB is a mainstay for any trendsetter or wannabe. The mix of 40s-era paneling, dreadlocks, bowling trophies, and ahi tuna somehow comingle in an electric atmosphere for anybody looking for something different. Over the past several years … Read more

Pepito's Tex-Mex Bar and Grill

Pepito’s is the kind of festive neighborhood joint where even a bad date can turn into a good time. Big flavor is matched by big portions and plenty of hospitality that only gets better once the margaritas arrive. It seems to be a method that works. For more than 20 years this family-run restaurant has … Read more

The Spyhouse

Spyhouse? A house of spies? Yes, Q, they’re everywhere in this place. Spies from Africa, spies from Hong Kong, spies from behind the old iron curtain. Spies who look like Jack Kerouac, spies who wish they wrote like him, and spies who seem weathered enough that they might have hung out with him in ’54. … Read more

Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting

If you know anything about investing, you know about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett, often referred to as the "World’s Greatest Investor", is the helmsman of Berkshire Hathaway, which is a holding company that owns Geico Insurance, General Re reinsurance, Dexter Shoes, The Buffalo (NY) News, See’s Candy, and several others. It also holds … Read more

Jamaica Kincaid

Novelist, essayist, and short story writer Jamaica Kincaid will read from her new novel, Mr. Potter. In this latest book, what is possibly her most luminous and ambitious work to date, the author breathes life into an individual consciousness emerging gloriously out of an unexamined life. Kincaid was born Elaine Potter Richardson in St. John’s, … Read more

Judith Guest

Judith Guest, one of Minnesota’s most acclaimed authors, will read from Ice Walk and will discuss writing and publishing her works, which include Ordinary People (1976), Second Heaven (1982), Killing Time in St. Cloud (1988), and Errands (1997). Guest’s latest work was co-created with artists Michael Lizama and Jana Pullman, both of Minneapolis. Author and … Read more

Over the Edge, by Greg Childs

Climbers are, of course, risk-takers by definition. But they don’t have a death-wish. On the contrary, they have a life-wish. It’s a complicated thing, but basically it comes down to this: Living close to the edge has a way of sharpening your senses, of making you feel more alive. Coming out of a decade’s worth … Read more