Minneapolis's Top 6 Bike-Friendly Eateries

As one of the first American cities to have organized bicycle trails, Minneapolis is now considered to be one of the top bicycling cities in the nation. With more than 160 miles of on-street and off-street bike trails, lanes, and paths, this mode of transportation is a practical choice for many locals and tourists alike.

Given the high traffic, it's only natural that plenty of cafés, restaurants, bars, and even bike shops both embrace and feed this biking culture. Some simply serve delicious coffees and pastries, while others offer larger menus for any meal of the day. In any case, all of these locations both accommodate and encourage a biking lifestyle.

1. The Angry Catfish Bicycle Shop + Coffee Bar
    A "full service repair facility with state-of-the-art tools and a professional, knowledgeable staff prepared to service any make of bicycle," The Angry Catfish offers visitors a tune up and an espresso. They use a variety of brewing methods (including airpot, pour-over, Chemex, syphon, and French press) and prioritize direct trade in their sourcing. They also get their tasty baked goods from The Baker's Wife, a nearby bakery. It's a good place to stop when on a ride by Lake Nokomis and need a fix (whether the caffeine kind or the greasy wrench kind).
    
2. One on One
   One on One is located in the Northloop/Warehouse District near downtown. They source their organic coffee beans from nearby B&W Coffee and buy their milk and cream from Castle Rock Organic Farms (a short drive away in Wisco). They serve daily soups, sandwiches, cookies, and pastries. In addition to the café, they have a basement filled with quality used bike parts, and pride themselves on being able to "build, fix, adjust, or sometimes replace just about anything bicycle related."
    
3. Common Roots Café
   Located in Uptown, Common Roots Café serves what they consider to be "good food made from scratch" with high-quality, local, organic, and fair-trade ingredients. They have a Common Room that's free to rent for nonprofit organizations and community groups, as well as many repurposed materials (like lighting fixtures and exterior planters) from local universities and hospitals. Including bike-friendly parking, they serve brunch, bakery, sandwich, dinner, and wine and beer (there's also a gluten-free menu). The lamb rillettes including grass-fed lamb pâté, crostini, cornichons, and citrus marmalade catches our eye.
    
4. Tao Natural Foods
   Another Uptown spot, Tao Natural Foods is a health food store and café that accommodates bikers while offering a range of health services (integrative health coaching, therapeutic massage, acupuncture, Ayurvedic medicine, and Reiki). They cater to a variety of diets and also have a happy hour menu. This is a tasty place to go if going for a ride around the lakes, specifically Lake of the Isles.
    
5. Birchwood Café
   Found in Seward with a lot of bike parking, Birchwood Café inhabits a location that was once a dairy and a neighborhood grocery. They support many local food businesses from the Twin Cities area, in addition to organizing an actual bike team that offers riders of all levels to participate. They serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch with delicious features including a skyr plate and Surly and Maple Pork Belly Benedict. It's close to both the Greenway and the river bike trial.

6.  Bryant-Lake Bowl
   The Bryant-Lake Bowl is a bowling alley/bar/restaurant/performance space. In addition to accommodating guests on their bikes, they promote safe biking by offering guests who wear their helmets a reduced price for beer. They serve appetizers, sandwiches, breakfast, salads, entrées, and a gluten-free menu. It's close to both the Greenway trail and Bryant Avenue, which has a super-bike lane that's painted bright green and gives bikers the right of way.

Additional reporting provided by Andrew Meeker.