Uptown Market – Minneapolis, MN

For those of you who didn’t make it to the Uptown Market last year, you need to at least check it out. Last year, the inaugural year for the market, the market was held one Sunday a month. This year, it’s every Sunday in the Lake/Lyndale area (behind the Ballentine VFW hall and Herkimer) on West 29th Street. I could go on and on about how awesome it is, but since I have friends who are big-shots on the Uptown Market board, I’m a little biased.

You can get all kinds of fresh farm-grown produce from the vendors there, as well as a handful of art/merchandise/craft booths, and some of the most amazing street food ever. I’ll throw out a couple of food items I tried today, just to whet your appetites.

I knew I was hungry, so I started with what I like to call an “appetizer brat”, just to get my digestive juices flowing. I headed to the Chef Shack van and had to decide between a duck egg hash or a bacon beer brat. I think we all know which one I went with: The Bacon Beer Brat. I wasn’t even sure what to expect with this one. I was actually hoping for a brat entirely wrapped in bacon, but instead got a brat with bacon pieces inside it. They also have bacon-infused ketchup for you to put on it as a condiment – brilliant!!! The brat was really good, as you’d expect such a thing to be.

I walked the length of the market and checked out the other food booths. I was hoping to find the booth that sells almonds coated in different flavored magic dust of some sort. I was told the almond people would be back later in the summer, but they had a few other obligations with other street fairs – keep an eye out for them. They’re super good.

I also stopped at the Magic Bus Café, which is a big purple school bus converted into a mobile food vendor with two booths for eating on the bus. The people that run the thing are really nice and when I couldn’t decide between two different amazing-sounding hot dogs, they offered to do a half and half dog for me with both things. The special dog was a “Buffalo Springfield” – a hot dog with buffalo sauce, blue cheese diced celery, and sour cream. The other dog was a Pig Pen. I ate the special dog half first. The blue cheese and buffalo sauce were a fantastic combination on the hot dog. The Pig Pen side of the dog had pulled pork and psychedelic relish on it – an odd but super tasty combo. The place has a bunch of different hot dogs and small items that I intend to check out. You won’t be disappointed with this café, no matter what you get.

I was tempted to stop at Foxy Falafel or the Ethiopian place, but I didn’t want to press my luck with my intestines. A friend mentioned I should stick with one theme (in this case buns and casing) for today’s lunch and next week maybe mix it up a bit with the different ethnicities. Excellent idea.

If you get a chance, go support local farmers, artists, and musicians. It’s a good time and they’re good people there. Uptown Market is every Sunday from 11-5. See you there.

www.uptownmarket.org