The Best Restaurants near Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis

When you’re in the City of Lakes enjoying one of its post popular bodies of water, you’re gonna get hungry. Hey, swimming, pickleballing, swanboating and such builds up an appetite. You’ll be looking for restaurants near lake Nokomis, along with where to get a decent cup of coffee or the perfect ice cream cone.

Good news: there’s lots of terrific food nearby. I’ll tell you where to get it and why you should eat there, from my personal experience.

Nokomis is the lake closest to my house and I’m there a lot. It’s also one of my favorite areas to eat out. It’s affordable and full of eateries with scads of character, many of which have been neighborhood fixtures for years.

Each restaurant listing includes accessibility and availability of vegetarian, vegan, dog-friendly and kid-friendly options.

Read on for an insider’s guide to the best restaurants near Lake Nokomis.

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Coffee shops near Lake Nokomis

Coffee near Lake Nokomis should be close, so these coffee shops are within 2 blocks of the lake. You can get caffeinated and go directly for a brisk walk, swim, or pickleball tournament!

Nokomis Beach Coffee

This Nokomis coffee shop is first to come to mind. Nokomis Beach Coffee on the east side of the lake has been the quintessential Nokomis neighborhood spot for more than 25 years.

Besides having a full coffee and tea selection, it’s a café open for breakfast and lunch. Waffles are offered all day—always a good thing!

Lunch fare is soups, salads and sandwiches made with freshly-baked bread. Most importantly to me, they also have desserts, including ice cream treats.

They’re open daily, with longer hours during the warmer months. In summer, you can easily laze away a couple hours here, in the air-conditioned interior or outside on the pet-friendly patio.

You’ll fall in love with this place the moment you see it. It’s housed in a historic brick building with multi-colored stained glass panels above the large windows. It’s homey, cozy, and welcoming in every season.

In December you’ll find Christmas trees for sale—with free delivery.

4956 28th Avenue South
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: No
Accessibility: There’s handicap parking right in front and no steps
Pet Area: Pets are welcome on the patio
For Kids: Their dark hot chocolate is a delish alternative to coffee, whether you’re a kid or not. There’s no kids menu, but plenty of things to appeal to younger diners

Caribou Coffee

Caribou Coffee has a little shop right on the corner of Cedar and Minnehaha Parkway. It has minimal parking (TWO spots??) and a drive through. We stopped there on a hot day for a couple cold drinks, a matcha latté and a yogurt smoothie. Both good.

It was a cool oasis from the heat and a cute little shop. The fireplace would likely make it nice and cozy in winter. Caribou is a smallish international chain of local origin. The founders were local enterpreneurs who opened their first store in a Minneapolis suburb.

They’ve recently introduced some hot food and breakfast items. They have a Nashville chicken biscuit, donuts, oatmeal and a couple sandwiches. I haven’t tried these so if you do, let me know what you think.

4745 Cedar Avenue South 
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: Yes (plant-based milk). Some locations offer vegan breakfast sandwiches, but not this one
Accessibility: There’s a handicap spot in front and no steps
Pet Area: Outdoor tables are dog friendly
For Kids: They have a whole range of kids drinks

Bakeries with coffee

I decided to make this a separate category. Baked goods are the focus, but they have coffee too and what’s better than a fresh pastry with your latté?

Mel-O-Glaze Bakery

You can find coffee and fresh baked goods at Mel-O-Glaze Bakery. This bakery and donut shop offers coffee and tea, and has a big beautiful seating area with tons of windows. I love to while away an hour here.

Mel-O-Glaze has been open since 1961 (64 years!) and is still operated by the original family. I love that. And their donuts have people lined up outside the door on weekends.

The raised glazed and apple fritter are popular faves, along with their famous donut holes (they call them crack balls). I loved the poppyseed kolache too.

4800 28th Avenue South 
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: Yes
Accessibility: Street parking, no steps
Pet Area: No
For Kids: Yes, especially the fun decorated sugar cookies

Sift Gluten-Free Bakery

This completely gluten-free bakery offers a full coffee, espresso and tea menu. A few years ago, owner Molly Miller shifted to a gluten-free diet, but didn’t want to adapt to life without banana bread and cinnamon rolls.

Experimentation in her tiny apartment kitchen led to her sharing her creations at farmers’ markets and wholesale. The brick-and-mortar location opened in 2017.

Sift is known around town for their crazy good gluten-free donuts, and they have lots more goodies besides. The menu includes sweet and savory muffins, cinnamon rolls, bars, scones, and cupcakes.

Add to that a large selection of breads and frozen treats you can take and bake at home—waffles, cinnamon rolls, even pizza!—and you’ve got heaven for folks with food sensitivities and allergies. Sees full allergen info on their website.

4557 Bloomington Avenue South 
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: Yes, both coffee drinks and baked goods
Accessibility: Street parking. Wheelchair accessible entrance is on the 46th Street side
Pet Area: Dog-friendly outdoor seating
For Kids: Yes

Ice cream shops

I’m a big proponent of eating dessert first, so let’s start out with Minneapolis ice cream shops near Nokomis. Get your tastebuds ready to savor some of the best ice cream in Minneapolis!

Hard serve

Pumphouse Creamery

My personal favorite in the area is Pumphouse Creamery over on Chicago Avenue. Fantastic made-from-scratch ice cream with a whole bunch of seasonal flavors. I’m still dreaming about their Wisconsin sour cherry flavor from awhile ago.

Ack, I just looked at their current menu and I’m drooling! By far the biggest problem is deciding what to choose. Coconut almond chocolate chip? Lemon-infused olive oil and sea salt? Fresh strawberry or huckleberry? Dulce de Leche? Passion fruit and mango sorbet? You can see the dilemma. And there’s an additional 14 flavors!

All their milk and cream comes from a local dairy farmer. Owner Barb Zapzalka focuses on quality ingredients, and you can taste it. She also believes in keeping this premium product affordable, making Pumphouse Creamery exceptional with a capital E.

4754 Chicago Avenue South 
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: Yes, they offer vegan and nondairy ice cream
Accessibility: Street parking. No steps.
Pet Area: It’s a really small shop with just a couple café tables inside and a bench out front. Dogs are welcome outside, and they may have doggie ice cream available
For Kids: Kids love ice cream!

Grand Ole Creamery

A smaller outpost of the St. Paul favorite Grand Ole Creamery is located a stone’s throw from Nokomis. Find it on Cedar Avenue just off Minnehaha Parkway, next to Caribou Coffee.

The Creamery is famous for their malted waffle cones, which are made fresh on site (and smell absolutely heavenly), along with their 200 flavors of premium ice cream. I love that they put a malted milk ball in the bottom of the cone.

Warning: the waffle cone is HUGE! I know cuz I ate one. Dee-licious, but it did seem like there was an entire pint of ice cream in there. If you’re hungry, please go for it, but I’m thankful they also have little waffle dishes, sugar cones and cake cones, which are better sized for kids (and me).

4754 Chicago Avenue South 
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: Yes, they have vegan and dairy-free options
Accessibility: Street parking, no steps
Pet Area: It’s counter-serve with a few tables outside, where dogs are welcome
For Kids: Yes

Soft serve

Crema Coffee + Cream

This little shop in Nokomis East offering high end coffee, espresso and teas also has incredible soft-serve gelato. I was just there for the first time and loved it.

The shop’s namesake and core offering is the popular Italian gelato flavor crema. Its sweet cream simplicity makes the perfect canvas for a wide variety of toppings—and for affagato. Sundae flavors change with the seasons.

A daily rotating flavor can be had alone or as a twist with the crema. I had a towering twist cone, and my picture of it with the shop’s colorful mural didn’t turn out well. Yep, it’s hard to hold a big cone in one hand and try to hit the camera button with the other. Guess I’ll have to go get another one!

The shop is counter serve with several sidewalk café tables. It’s part of a row of shops in a single brick building that has a parking lot in the back. Crema is on the corner next to the bowling alley.

Other businesses in the building include Asa’s Bakery, whose bagels I need to try, and a restaurant called Fusion Pancake House and Bistro. I saw their adorable patio, which is more like an attached sunroom, on my way from the parking lot to Crema. We want to try it—will report back!

5013 S 34th Avenue
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: No
Accessibility: Parking lot in back. Accessible entrance.
Pet Area: It’s counter-serve with chairs and tables outside, where dogs are welcome
For Kids: Yes

Dairy Queen

If you want a DQ, and sometimes you just do, the closest Dairy Queen is on Minnehaha Avenue. It’s a straight shot east on Minnehaha Parkway.

4740 Minnehaha Ave

Conny’s Creamy Cone in St. Paul

For a fantastic soft-serve with a crazy number of flavors to choose from, I recommend Conny’s Creamy Cone in St. Paul. While nowhere near Nokomis, this place is an old-school classic and trying out their soft-serve is a Twin Cities must-do. My friend Deb and I make the trek over there often.

I love their flurries (like a blizzard). I can really get behind the flavors, banana cream pie, German chocolate, chocolate cherry, chocolate chip cookie dough. They’re always garnished with the flavor topping. Check out the cookie dough.

They also have burgers, hot dogs, and other salty fried snacks that make you want some ice cream. Open seasonally.

1197 Dale St N, St. Paul
Vegetarian Options: Yes, though not much for hot food
Vegan Options: No
Accessibility: The parking lot is on the same level as the shop. You order and eat outside.
Pet friendly: Very. All their seating is outdoors and dogs are welcome. They have Pup Cups, and they donate the proceeds to a local nonprofit, Canine Inspired Change
For Kids: Soft serve is made for kids and kids-at-heart

Restaurants near Lake Nokomis: East Side of the lake

Nokomis East has lots of excellent Minneapolis food. The Lake Nokomis area is made up of 11 different neighborhoods. The ones on the east side of the lake are consolidated as Nokomis East.

The Bull’s Horn

Amy Greely and Chef Doug Flicker are a longtime power couple on the Twin Cities dining scene. Doug and my bestie Mark have been friends since high school, so over the years I’ve met them and done some fine dining at their former landmark restaurant, Piccolo.

In 2017, they decided to switch it up and opened The Bull’s Horn, a classic dive bar with a juke box, frequent meat raffles, and some of the best bar food in the Twin Cities. It’s since become a beloved neighborhood institution.

The Horn is famed for its dill pickle fried chicken, which you can get by the bucket (perfect for a lakeside picnic). Apps include cheese curds, “Kentucky fried gizzards” and deviled eggs served with giardiniera and saltines. Sassy!

The Horn’s signature burger is considered one of the best in town. Doug even makes his own American cheese in house.

But it’s their weekly specials that show off his cheffy creativity, branching out into a wide range of classics and comfort foods. Offerings are seasonal and might include chicken pot pie in winter, a house-made foot long in summer. Friday is fish fry year-round (and soooo good—check out that crackly exterior!).

4563 South 34th Avenue
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: No
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible entrance, parking lot, restroom, and seating
Pet friendly: Dog-friendly patio
For Kids: Yes, they have kid’s TV trays on the menu for ages 8 and under. They even have Kool Aid!

Buster’s on 28th

Buster’s on 28th is a wonderful little pub and restaurant with a row of old wooden booths. The poached pear and brie salad is divine. All their burger options can be subbed with a vegan or chicken burger at no charge (love that).

This place offers a good variety of upscale pub food but prices remain decent. They have a brunch menu on weekends.

They don’t have desserts (gasp) but are right next door to A Baker’s Wife bakery, so it’s not so bad. A Baker’s Wife is one of my favorite places in town to get cake doughnuts. I’m rather obsessed with the pink-inside cherry variety.

4204 South 28th Avenue
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: Yes
Accessibility: Street parking, wheelchair accessible
Pet friendly: Dog-friendly outdoor tables
For Kids: Kids’ menu

Restaurants near Lake Nokomis On Cedar Avenue

Cedar Avenue cuts right through Nokomis on the west side. It’s the big, 4-lane roadway that actually bisects the lake, over a bridge towards the western end. You’ll find some classics along this street.

Old-School Italian

One of my personal favorites is a locally owned, old-school Italian establishment that’s been here for 37 years. Fat Lorenzo’s is easy walking distance from the south side of the lake. It’s right on the corner of Cedar and Lake Nokomis Parkway.

The restaurant is completely covered, inside and out, with Italian food- and art-themed murals by local Twin Cities artist Ed Charbonneau.

Fat’s is committed to providing the best pizza, pasta, hoagies and gelato around. They serve beer, wine, and cider. On a recent visit, we shared a large Greek salad, a garlic chicken hoagie (delish and HUGE), and a pizza.

Sound like we over-ordered? Well, we thought we were that hungry. We ended up walking around the lake with a pizza box.

They sell pizza by the slice. When you build a whole pie, there’s a gluten-free crust option. Their red sauce is stellar. I could eat it with a spoon.

Fat’s has a clam pie inspired by Frank Pepe’s in New Haven that was featured in Minnesota Monthly’s Best Pizza edition. (I ate Pepe’s clam pizza at one of their Connecticut locations. The crust style is different, but this pie is definitely a contender.)

5600 Cedar Avenue
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: No
Accessibility: Limited parking, mostly street parking. Wheelchair accessible, one user indicated it was hard to maneuver
Pet friendly: Dog-friendly patio
For Kids: No kid’s menu, but lots of kid-friendly options

Juicy Lucies: Matt’s Bar vs 5-8 Club

Two local eateries claim to have invented the Juicy Lucy, the cheese-inside burger Minneapolis is famous for.

Personally, I give my Lucy vote to Matt’s Bar on 38th and Cedar. This beloved spot is still in its original building. Head there for an authentic Jucy Lucy, as they call it, some fries and dive bar vibes. They just celebrated their 70th anniversary.

Matt’s a meaty place with a very small menu. You can get a chicken burger (which I’ve had, and it’s decent) or a grilled cheese if you don’t want a burger, but the Lucy is what this place is focused on and famous for. The fries are really good too. Please note: Matt’s is cash only.

3500 Cedar Ave
Vegetarian Options: They have a grilled cheese sandwich
Vegan Options: No
Accessibility: Street parking only.  Entry and seating wheelchair accessible, but restrooms are located downstairs
Pet friendly: No
For Kids: Kids are allowed, but it’s small and tends to get crowded, and there may be a wait time for a table, so take into consideration. No separate kids’ menu
Other: Cash only, ATM inside

Go a little further south on Cedar and you’ll find the 5-8 Club. The 5-8 is a former speakeasy and also claims to have created the Juicy Lucy. They’ve updated their building and can certainly seat a bigger party than Matt’s but they’ve lost their original speakeasy ambiance.

They have a large menu featuring burgers and sandwiches. Again, it’s a meaty place; there’s a few chicken and fish options, with the impossible burger the only vegetarian and vegan option. They will substitute a gluten-free bun for an upcharge.

5800 Cedar Ave
Vegetarian Options: Impossible burger
Vegan Options: Impossible burger
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible entrance, parking lot, restroom, and seating
Pet friendly: No, this location’s patio is enclosed, and only service animals are allowed
For Kids: Family friendly, but no kids’ menu

When it comes down to Matt’s Bar vs 5-8 Club, I prefer Matt’s for its old-school authenticity. Try both and decide for yourself.

Minnesota-style Pizza

Have you heard of authentic Minnesota-style pizza? Minnesota-style is a wafer thin, crispy crust pizza, plenty cheesy and saucy and cut into squares.

Carbone’s Pizza & Pub

On the north side of the lake, just past Minnehaha Parkway and across from Lund’s grocery, you’ll find Carbone’s Pizza. Carbone’s is a longtime local pizza chain that also serves broasted chicken and hoagies. The Nokomis location includes a patio and bike parking.

4705 Cedar Ave S
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: No
Accessibility: Parking lot with handicap space in front. Wheelchair accessible
Pet friendly: No, they have outdoor seating but my understanding is they don’t allow dogs
For Kids: Family friendly space and offer family meal deals

Parkway Pizza

One of my personal favorite pizza places is Parkway Pizza. Another small local chain, their Minnehaha Avenue location is less than a 10-minute drive from Nokomis.

They offer vegan pizza and you can sub out a gluten-free crust for any of their pizzas. They also serve salads, hoagies, and pasta, beer and wine.

Parkway is another Minnesota-style pizza—they actually dub theirs “Minneapolis style.” They are very generous with cheese and toppings. In fact, we usually ask for light cheese. My and my friend Amy’s favorite combo is spinach, banana peppers and pineapple on red sauce. Don’t judge.

4359 Minnehaha Avenue
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: Yes, they have vegan pizza
Accessibility: Street parking. Wheelchair accessible
Pet friendly: Dog-friendly patio
For Kids: Kids like pizza! They specifically offer a family-friendly environment

Fat Lorenzo’s and The Bull’s Horn

Don’t forget these two spots (listed earlier in the post) have great pizza, too. Fat Lorenzo’s has delicious pies, and the Bull’s Horn cooks up Heggies frozen pizza—co-owner Chef Doug Flicker designs some of their recipes!

Restaurants West of Cedar

The Hot Plate

A couple blocks west of Cedar you’ll hit Bloomington Avenue. The Hot Plate is a busy breakfast and lunch restaurant with yummy pancakes, egg scrambles, and outasight caramel rolls. On weekends, there’s a line out the door.

My favorite thing about the Hot Plate, other than the pancakes (I looove pancakes, and theirs are wonderful) is the kitschy decor. It’s all decked out 60s style. The walls are thickly covered with paint-by-number artworks, many of the giant-eyed girl or dog variety popular in the 60s. It’s a trip!

5204 Bloomington Avenue
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: Yes
Accessibility: Street parking. Wheelchair accessible.
Pet friendly: No. They have an outdoor patio, but it’s where people sit while waiting for an indoor table. There are no tables outside.
For Kids: Have kids’ pancakes

The May Day Café

If you head a bit further north on Bloomington, you’ll come to the MayDay Café. This café has been around for ages and is much-loved neighborhood staple and hidden gem. It’s recently transferred to employee ownership.

They have mostly vegetarian food with plenty of vegan options and gluten-free selections as well.

They have excellent coffee and a variety of incredibly delicious baked goods made in house. The Mayday also features breakfasts and yummy lunches like soup in winter, salads in summer, lasagna, pizza, quiche, burritos—the menu changes each day and they keep it affordable. The soup specials are my favorite on a cold day. Served in a soup bowl filled to the brim, they might come with rice or cornbread. I’ve been known to add on a biscuit!

Find sample menus on their Facebook page.

3440 Bloomington Ave S
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: yes
Accessibility: Street parking. Wheelchair accessible
Pet friendly: Dog-friendly outdoor seating. The café provides dog treats!
For Kids: No specific kids’ menu, but lots of options

Reverie Café and Bar

Just down the street from the May Day, Reverie Café and Bar serves a plant-based, made-from-scratch menu for lunch, weekend brunch, and dinner.

They offer a full coffee bar, house-made milks and tea lattés, 20 taps pouring local brews, ciders, and kombucha, plus a curated wine selection.

I haven’t eaten here myself, but it gets two thumbs up from my vegan foodie friends, Kelly and Dusty of Dining Duster. They had a delicious brunch at Reverie and thoroughly enjoyed it.

1517 E 35th Street
Vegan Options: Fully plant-based menu
Accessibility: Street parking. Wheelchair accessible
Pet friendly: Dog-friendly patio
For Kids: No kids’ menu, but there are some appropriate menu items
Other: No tipping establishment

Heather’s

Heather’s is a popular neighborhood eatery on 52nd and Chicago Avenue. They serve breakfast to dinner and dessert, plus wine and cocktails.

Heather’s is a bit more expensive than the other restaurants on this list, but their food is excellent and offers good value. Their covered patio is wonderful in the summer months, and their brunch specials are winners. They also have pastries and a full range of coffee drinks if you need a pick-me-up.

Some delicious things on the menu right now I want: Strawberry Rhubarb French Toast, Crepes, Poppyseed chicken salad with almonds, Heirloom Tomato Pie, Chai Pancake

5201 Chicago Avenue
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: Yes, I’ve had the Buddha bowl, excellent
Accessibility: Private parking lot and street parking, wheelchair accessible
Pet friendly: Dog-friendly patio
For Kids: Kids’ menu

Where to pick up a picnic

Get Takeout from one of the Restaurants on this list

Options are plentiful: Fried chicken and fixings from The Bull’s Horn, pizza or hoagies from Fat Lorenzos, Carbone’s or Parkway, sandwiches from Nokomis Beach Coffee or MayDay

Lunds and Byerlys Nokomis

Lunds and Byerlys Nokomis on Cedar is the closest grocery. This local chain is a high-end grocery store and sells a variety of prepared foods. The store has a deli counter and a hot bar as well as pre-packaged deli and hot bar selections.

4725 Cedar Avenue South
Accessible

Kowalski’s Market

Kowalski’s Market is nearby on Chicago and 56th Street. It’s another high-end local chain with a good deli. They have a nice selection of breads to go with the deli meats and cheeses, so a sandwich spread could be in order. Or do a European-style picnic with a baguette and some specialty cheeses. They have high quality baked goods too.

5615 Chicago Avenue South
Accessible

Boludo

A bit further west, but so perfect for picnic food: grab some empanadas at Boludo on Nicollet and 38th. Seriously, you haven’t had empanadas like these. They are gourmet.

My fave is the Puerro, filled with creamed leeks and gorgonzola. The most delicious dipping sauce comes with it, full of fresh herbs.

Boludo was born when Argentinian chef Facundo De Fraia opened a tiny storefront on Nicollet Avenue—and that’s where I had my first taste of his empanadas. He now has 4 locations. Unique and delish pizzas are on offer too.

8 West 38th Street
Vegetarian Options: Yes
Vegan Options: No
Accessibility: Street parking. Wheelchair accessible
Pet friendly: Not at this location. Their downtown location has a dog-friendly patio
For Kids: No kids’ menu, but their offerings should appeal to kids

Lake Nokomis Restaurant Map

Where to Picnic around the lake

There’s lots of picnic tables at Nokomis main beach, and grills, too. It can get to be quite a party atmosphere on summer weekends.

For a quieter picnic, head to the 50th street beach side of the lake and camp in the grass under mature shade trees. There’s a lot of lawn area here dotted with trees. You can set up at a distance from both the paths and the street.

There is one picnic table and grill next to the beach. Benches along the lake also make good impromptu picnic spots.

In Conclusion

There are so many fun things to do around Lake Nokomis, and eating out is definitely one of them. I think the Nokomis neighborhood is an underrated foodie destination in the Twin City area.

From elevated bar food to old-school Italian, Minneapolis-style pizza to the famed Juicy Lucy, and dedicated plant-based and gluten-free establishments, there’s something for everyone. The variety and quality of restaurants near Lake Nokomis truly make it a neighborhood for food lovers.

Bon appetit! See you around the lake.

More in Minneapolis

• Things to do at Lake Nokomis
• Visit the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
• Eat your way around the Minnesota State Fair
• Enjoy a Romance Weekend at the Elliot Park Hotel

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