Ginger Hop:: Minneapolis musts.

I apologize for the lack of good pictures on this one... I only had my iPhone with me, and the lighting there isn't the best for photos.  If I had taken more, you'd see the gorgeous palm fans in the bar!

Ginger Hop, in Northeast Minneapolis, is one of my favorite places.  I started my birthday there for one reason alone - the cream cheese wontons.  Nathan and I went back awhile ago, and I've gotten the wontons on take out multiple times since.  Literally the best cream cheese wontons I've ever tasted.  They have both plain cream cheese and carmelized onion cream cheese options, the latter coming with a soy/peanut/something delicious dipping sauce (though I'm a traditional sweet & sour).

Their cocktail drinks are delicious, and their wine & beer list isn't bad.  I will warn about the food - it is slightly spicy.  I made sure to order a dish that did not list "spicy", "hot", "medium", or "tangy" in the description, and I still ended up not being able to finish my meal due to my mouth burning.  Aside from it being surprisingly spicy, I enjoyed my dish, as did Nathan.  It should definitely be a place you check out, and if you're just going for the wontons, go during happy hour.

bakery series:: Spyhouse

Spyhouse has been on my radar for awhile.  Photos of the Minnesota mug have been showing up on my Instagram for the longest time and, once I figured out where they were from, I have been wanting to order a drink in one forever.

I finally got the chance.  Nathan and I went to the Northeast location before I went home for my sister's confirmation.  The coffee was delicious (as was every single one of their iced teas!), as were their pastries.  Here's the secret to their amazing pastries - they order them from Patisserie 46!  I got the almond croissant this time and I was not disappointed.  The coffee cake Nathan picked out was absolutely HUGE.  Again, we did computer work (me) and read the WSJ (Nathan).

The atmosphere was FANTASTIC.  Rustic, cozy, plenty of space.  Not too much outdoor seating, but the giant picture windows make up for it.  Probably my favorite of bakeries for atmosphere alone.  You will not be disappointed if you head here on a sunny, rainy, or snowy day.

bakery series:: Taraccino

It's absolutely awful, I know.  I've been working my way through the drafts I started, but never finished because of school or whatever else I had on my plate at the moment.  I want to go back to Taraccino just to keep working on everything.

An adorable little cafe in NE, it's connected to Breuggers.  I always passed it on the bus on my way to the internship I had downtown this last semester, and I'd been wanting to try it for awhile.  Nathan and I went on a cloudy morning around brunch-time, and were quite surprised.  They don't have a huge bakery selection (they are connected to Breuggers), but they have ahhhh-mazing waffles.  If you buy a specialty waffle, it comes with drip coffee, which is a fantastic deal.  Beautiful brick work and art, it's an easy place to go and just drink coffee and look around.  There isn't a ton of seating, but I would definitely go there with friends for waffles and coffee!  (I was looking at the pictures again and my mouth started watering for waffles...SO GOOD!)