Taste of Minnesota TODOTC.com To Do in the Twin Cities Festival Taste of Minnesota Date: July 4, 2023 Nicollet Ave Mpls tasteofmn.com

Taste of Minnesota, Mpls Version
We have been going to the Taste of MN since it started 20-30 years ago.  It has always been one of our highlights of the Fourth of July weekend. The Taste has changed a lot over the years and not just the venues. It was welcomed back this year with crowds of people. Since Covid, we and many others avoid crowds. Well, if that is your case, best you also avoid the Taste. There are a lot of people crowed into a few blocks. That said there was very good police presence.
On Monday, of the long July 4th weekend, lacking anything to grill and finding a restaurant open on a Monday, we decided to go to the Taste.  Parking downtown is never bad. We parked a few blocks away by Runyons & North Loop Wine and bought some wine on our way home.  We went down at about 5 PM because we DON'T do nighttime crowds anymore. We saw and heard of no incidents. The Taste deciding to close at 8 PM before dark was a great idea. Nothing good happened after dark.
We entered the Taste at Nicollet & Washington with a security check, but for us no line. When we went home that entrance had a line a block long. They had metal detectors; security & police and they moved people through fairly fast. The security gate made us feel more safe.
As we entered, we heard Kid Rock singing Born Free. It was a nice way to put us in the mood. We came down to see the new Taste, to tell our readers about it and to get something to eat. And we did mostly that. What we liked about the early days of the taste is you could walk up to a booth, try three or four things without standing in lines. Those days are gone.
The lines now are typically the width of a city street about 20 people minimum, for everything. Except where we went. One would expect shorter lines at the state fair. Hell, the shortest lines at the Taste were longer than the French Fry or Cookie lines at the state fair in a few weeks.
So, we walked the four to five blocks of the Taste on Nicollet, it wasn't very long, but long enough. Most of the booths were food booths but yes you could buy some Anderson Windows too. It was crowd walking, when we went, at least you could move. I'm sure that ended after we left. For tunes we had Kid Rock at the entrance and at the far end was a Jazz band who's name escapes me. The sound did not interfere with each other and yet there was continuous music. 
When we got to the end of the Taste we listened to the Jazz band a bit. At 5th & Nicollet was the Jazz stage in Xcel Energy outside seating area. We had walked the length of the Taste and still did not see a good solution for our hunger. Then there he was! A HOT DOG VENDOR with his cart and the only one in line was the person he was serving. Hark, be STILL my HEART, we could get food without standing in line! So we did, it was only $18 for two footlong hotdogs, in a normal size bun and a pop. Well, by the time the city, county and who knows what got some $ it was $22 but STILL NO LINE! And YES, they were as good of Hot Dogs as any vendor produces.
So, we ate our dogs on a nice cement sofa and watched the end of the Jazz band segment then made our way home. Past the people that waited 25 deep for a corn on the cob and pizza and all the other things you could buy about a month later at the state fair. And like the state fair there was no tickets, all cash.
As we walked out I do as I always do, took pictures of and thanked the police for doing their job and keeping us safe. Will we go back next year… Nope. You'll probably see us on the third of July again when as Richard Gere said in an Officer & A Gentleman… "we have no where's else to go." See yea!

Contact us Dennis@ToDoTC.com