Minnesota

Panda Fest Twin Cities | Bloomington, MN

Panda Fest Twin Cities Minnesota Food Review 2025 Hipster Hack blog
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I found out about Panda Fest about a month ago and immediately scooped up tickets for me and husband to go the weekend before our birthdays – food outings are sort of our tradition since we both love trying new things/places.

Panda Fest is happening until tomorrow, July 13th and it is currently sold out, but it looked like they were selling limited tickets at the gate and online some people are reselling if they can’t go so if you’re interested there is still time!

Read through to check out all the food items we tried and get my honest review about the experience.

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Fiesta Mexican Grill | Stillwater, MN

Fiesta Mexican Grill Oak Park Heights Minnesota Food Review Hipster Hack
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I’m going to apologize ahead of time, because we were in a group of 5 and I did not pay attention to what everyone was ordering I was too keyed up waiting for queso dip….so make sure you check out the menu below for all the details.

Fiesta Mexican Grill is in the same strip mall as the Kowalskis in Stillwater. Technically the city is Oak Park Heights, but everyone just refers to the whole area as Stillwater…the Stillwater High School is next door.

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5 Outdoor Dining Spots | Saint Paul, MN

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This list is my favorite patios and outdoor dining spots in Saint Paul and the east side suburbs. I know that there are a lot of revered spots in Minneapolis and the west burbs also, but I spend most my time on this side of the Mississippi so I’m making a list true to me!

If you have a spot you absolutely love, please drop it in the comments!

*Also shout out to my husband for being the star of most of these photos haha

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2025 Food and Drink Review | Duluth, MN

Duluth Minnesota Best Food and Drink Spot Reviews Hipster Hack
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Husband and I were planning a trip to Duluth, Minnesota, but we only had about 36 hours to spend, so I went on a mission to find some of the best rated breweries, distilleries and city spots to check out.

We didn’t make it everywhere, but truthfully you can only eat and drink so much in such a short amount of time haha so below I’m sharing the spots we went (spoiler alert, I would recommend every single one of them).

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Olive & Lamb | Northeast Minneapolis, MN

Olive and Lamb Northeast Minneapolis Food Review Hipster Hack Minnesota
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Last Friday I had a Northeast Minneapolis girls night with some friends starting with dinner at Olive & Lamb and ending at some of the local Northeast establishments for cocktails.

This was my first time eating at Olive & Lamb and actually gave me a strong sense of nostalgia as I used to live a few blocks from that building and had been there for lunch when it was a deli…I miss that neighborhood!

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7 Saint Paul Breweries | Minnesota Beer

Surly Brewing Company Surly Beer Hall St. Paul Minnesota Breweries Hipster Hack Review
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The last two Sundays husband and I had off together so we had two brewery hopping dates. This made me realize it’s been a while since I did any beer features over here so I thought that in addition to calling out the 4 we visited, I’d include 3 of my other favorites and throw together a list my 7 go-to Saint Paul breweries….one for every day of the week 😉.

*I understand that there are many more options, so please don’t take offense or get up in arms if your favorite isn’t on this list.

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Minari | Northeast Minneapolis, MN

Minari Restaurant Review Northeast Minneapolis Hipster Hack
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My friend Mikayla invited me along to her girl’s night dinner at Minari and I was ecstatic, because on top of it’s only been open a short while and already having heard such amazing things, it’s gives me great joy to head back to my old Northeast Minneapolis neighborhood.

I’m happy to report that this trip was well worth it.

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