RFK Rankings · Minneapolis
Best Restaurants for Family-Friendly Dining in Minneapolis (2026)
Family-friendly dining · Minneapolis · 6 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 16, 2026 · Updated June 16, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Minneapolis runs on a dense bench of James Beard-level chefs, and the best of them keep rooms that a family can actually use. The move here is to pick the loud, sharing-friendly half of each chef's portfolio, the pizza room rather than the tasting counter, the pasta bar rather than the chef's table, and to go early. The list below spans wood-fired Korean pizza, Vietnamese street food, North Loop pasta and a stable-turned-dining-room, all places where children are genuinely welcome and the adults eat as well as they would on a date night. Book the first weekend sitting or a weeknight, and order for the middle of the table.
1.Pizzeria Lola — Wood-fired pizza, Southwest Minneapolis
Ann Kim's wood-fired pizzas, including the Korean La Cubana, are the surest family win in the city; bring the kids any night.
Pizzeria Lola is where James Beard Award winner Ann Kim built her name, a wood-fired pizzeria in southwest Minneapolis where the oven is the centrepiece and kids can watch the pies go in. The menu balances classics with Kim's Korean signatures, the La Cubana and the Lady ZaZa with kimchi and Korean sausage, mostly in the $15 to $20 range. It is loud, fast and built for families, with a vending-machine soft-serve that seals the deal for children. The cooking is good enough that adults come without kids too. Come early on a weekend or any weeknight, and order a couple of pies to share.
Book or walk in at pizzerialola.com.
2.Hai Hai — Southeast Asian, Northeast Minneapolis
Christina Nguyen's Beard-winning Southeast Asian street food is colourful, shareable and fun for kids; book a weekend brunch or early dinner.
Hai Hai, on University Avenue in Northeast, won Christina Nguyen the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest in 2024, and its Southeast Asian street food happens to be ideal for families. The format is small, shareable plates, the coconut waffle, the banh xeo crepe, grilled skewers, that children can graze on while the adults drink a tiki cocktail. The space is bright, lively and tiki-bright rather than precious, so a noisy table fits right in. Brunch on the patio is especially easy with kids. Book a weekend brunch or the first dinner sitting, and order broadly across the snack and grill sections.
Book direct at haihaimpls.com.
3.Bar La Grassa — Italian, North Loop
Isaac Becker's North Loop pasta room serves half-orders kids will eat happily; book an early table for a lively family dinner.
Bar La Grassa, Isaac Becker's North Loop institution, is one of the most reliable pasta rooms in the country and one of the easiest to bring children to. The pastas, the gnocchi with cauliflower and orange, the lobster spaghetti, the famous soft-egg bruschetta, come in half-orders, which means kids can have their own plate of something genuinely good rather than a buttered-noodle compromise. The room is buzzy and high-ceilinged, so it absorbs a busy family table. It is grown-up food in a family-tolerant setting. Book the early sitting, start with a couple of bruschette, and split half-orders of pasta around the table.
Book direct at barlagrassa.com.
4.Spoon and Stable — French-American, North Loop
Gavin Kaysen's Beard-winning North Loop room is a step-up family occasion, best at the relaxed Sunday brunch; reserve well ahead.
Spoon and Stable, James Beard Award winner Gavin Kaysen's North Loop flagship in a 1906 former horse stable, is the special-occasion pick on this list, the place to take a family for a birthday or a visiting grandparent rather than a casual Tuesday. The French-American cooking is among the best in the Midwest, and the Sunday brunch, with its pastry program and lighter plates, is the easiest service for children. The room is handsome and a touch formal, so it suits older kids who can sit through a longer meal. Reserve well ahead, aim for the Sunday brunch, and let the team pace the courses.
Book direct at spoonandstable.com.
5.Martina — Argentine-Italian, Linden Hills
Daniel del Prado's Argentine-Italian room serves shareable pastas and grilled meats kids enjoy; book an early Linden Hills table.
Martina, in the leafy Linden Hills neighbourhood, is chef Daniel del Prado's lively Argentine-Italian room and a natural fit for a family that wants something beyond pizza. The food is built to share, handmade pastas, empanadas, wood-grilled asado meats, so the table orders broadly and everyone, including the kids, finds something. The energy is high and the room is warm, which means a family table reads as part of the buzz rather than a disruption. Del Prado runs several of the city's best rooms; this is his most family-workable. Book the first sitting, order empanadas to start, then split pastas and a grilled main.
Book direct at martinarestaurant.com.
6.Tilia — American neighbourhood, Linden Hills
Steven Brown's neighbourhood bistro pairs a real kids menu with an excellent burger; a dependable Linden Hills family dinner. Book ahead.
Tilia, chef Steven Brown's Linden Hills neighbourhood restaurant, is the everyday family option done at a high level. There is a proper children's menu, and the adult food, the dry-aged Tilia burger, a daily fish, seasonal small plates, is good enough that parents look forward to it. The room is a friendly corner bistro, busy but easy, the kind of place that has fed the same families for years. It is the most natural weeknight choice on this list. Book a table or put your name in early, order the burger for yourself and let the kids work the children's menu.
Book or walk in at tiliampls.com.
Skip these with kids
Demi — a 20-seat counter, not a family table
Gavin Kaysen's Demi is a 20-seat tasting-menu counter with a single seating and a fixed, multi-hour format. It is one of the best meals in the city for adults and entirely wrong for children; book Spoon and Stable instead.
Owamni-style tasting nights — wrong format for kids
The city's destination tasting menus, with long set courses and quiet, focused rooms, are built for adults on a special night. With young children, skip them and choose a sharing-format room from the list above.
How to eat well with kids in Minneapolis
Minneapolis rewards a simple strategy with children: pick the casual end of a good chef's range and go early. The city's best cooks run more than one room, and there is almost always a sharing-friendly sibling, Ann Kim's Pizzeria Lola over a tasting menu, Bar La Grassa's half-orders over a chef's counter, that delivers the same kitchen in a kid-tolerant setting. Book the first weekend sitting or a weeknight, when rooms are quieter and service is faster, and lean on places that offer half-portions or shareable plates so children eat real food rather than a nuggets default. The Linden Hills and North Loop neighbourhoods are especially easy, with several family-workable rooms within a short walk. Save the 20-seat counters and quiet tasting menus for an adults-only night.
Frequently asked
What are the best family-friendly restaurants in Minneapolis?
Ann Kim's Pizzeria Lola is the surest win, with wood-fired pizzas kids love, followed by Christina Nguyen's Hai Hai for shareable Southeast Asian street food and Bar La Grassa for half-orders of excellent pasta. Spoon and Stable's Sunday brunch is the step-up occasion, with Martina and Tilia rounding out the easy weeknight options.
Are there upscale restaurants in Minneapolis that welcome kids?
Yes. Gavin Kaysen's Spoon and Stable welcomes families, especially at Sunday brunch, and Bar La Grassa offers half-orders so children eat the same food as the table. The trick is choosing the casual or brunch service of a good chef's portfolio rather than a tasting counter.
Which Minneapolis restaurant is best for kids?
Pizzeria Lola, for the wood-fired oven kids can watch, the Korean-influenced pies and a vending-machine soft-serve, is the easiest and most fun. Hai Hai's bright room and shareable plates are a close second for slightly more adventurous children.
Can you bring children to Demi?
No. Demi is a 20-seat tasting counter with a single seating and a long, fixed menu built for focused adults. For a special family meal from the same chef, book Spoon and Stable instead.
What time should families eat dinner in Minneapolis?
Book the first weekend sitting or a weeknight, when rooms are quieter and service is faster. Lean on places with half-portions or shareable plates so children eat real food rather than a default nuggets order.
Related rankings
More from RFK
Browse the full Minneapolis dining guide, read the Hai Hai review and the Bar La Grassa profile, plan a grown-up evening to remember on a first date, see the step-up option in the Spoon and Stable write-up, or open the full RFK rankings index.
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