Minneapolis's Top 5 Skyway Foods

For anyone who has visited the downtown Minneapolis area during the winter, they're probably familiar with (and thankful for) the Skyway: the city's interior pedestrian pathway connecting more than 7 miles of individual buildings. The climate-controlled environment is a year-round route, but it's most popular during the subzero winter months.

Given the amount of traffic, there are plenty of dining options both in and out of the Skyway. Many local food trucks park on streets nearby and there are plenty of street-level chain restaurants. If you're looking to stay indoors, though, here are our picks for the top five places to dine in the Skyway:

1. Turkey to Go
   As the name suggests, Turkey to Go serves (mostly) turkey in a variety of ways: mixed with a salad, wrapped in a pita, or between two burger buns. They have a variety of sauces (balsamic vinaigrette, blue cheese, and BBQ, for example) and several different garnishes including Brie cheese, fresh mozzarella, salami, bacon, kalamata olives, and shoestring potatoes. We're eyeing the cranberry Brie sandwiches.
    
2. Zen Box Japanese Eatery
   Serving quality Japanese "fast food," Zen Box's menu offers many styles of bento boxes (which include a salad and gyoza) and donburi bowls. They offer vegetarian specials (either vegetable dumplings or a tofu bento), as well as sides like miso soup, edamame, buckwheat soba salad, and a seaweed salad. Many diners are fans of their Chicken Kara-age option, which comes as both a bento and donburi.

3. Crave Fresh to Go
   This grab-and-go spot is a concept developed by Crave restaurant, an establishment that focuses on using seasonal and regionally sourced ingredients. The menu at the Skyway location is a condensed and adapted version of the restaurant's offerings with pizza and sushi options. They also offer sandwiches (a roast beef, for example) and salads. The great grain salad, which includes almonds, edamame beans, cranberries, cabbage-and-carrot Asian slaw, quinoa, and wild rice seems to be a healthy and tasty choice.

4. Broadway Pizza
   Broadway Pizza is famous for their thin crusts, but they also offer New York and Chicago deep-dish styles. Their menu also features appetizers, pastas, sandwiches, burgers, salads, and dessert options and advertises as being an ideal kid-friendly spot. Their menu changes depending on if you plan on eating in, using their delivery service, or hiring them to cater, but always includes their homemade sauce and freshly rolled dough.
    
5. D. Brian's Deli
   Prioritizing ingredients without chemical preservatives or artificial ingredients, as well as organic baking products, D. Brian's serves traditional deli foods at multiple locations. Takeout options (which are different from their catering menu) include deli sandwiches, lettuce wraps, paninis, grilled cheeses, hot sandwiches, soups, salads, and breakfast. According to diners, the hot sandwiches (with vegetarian options) and soups make these sandwich shops a quick, easy, and delicious Skyway location.