Minnesota’s ‘Best Seafood Restaurant’ Isn’t Even Open Right Now

You gotta love those national lists, especially when they name a Minnesota restaurant that's not even currently open as the 'best!'

Every time I see one of those lists compiled by a national media outlet that lists the Best Thing In YOUR State, I'm guilty of clicking through to see what Minnesota's entry on the list is-- mainly to see if I've ever heard of it.

Such was the case for this latest list I ran across, compiled by the good folks over at Cheapism, though I saw their list on MSN the other day. They were shouting out the Best Seafood Restaurant In All 50 States, and, again, I was curious to see which restaurant here in Minnesota made their list.

I was thinking perhaps it might be Stella's Fish Cafe in Minneapolis, which as their website boasts, has 'Minneapolis' Freshest Seafood.' (I've been to Stella's a number of times, and, yeah, their food IS pretty good. Especially if you like oysters!)

But, nope. Stella's didn't make Cheapism's Best Seafood Restaurant list. Their entry for Minnesota was actually Sea Salt Eatery, which is located in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. "Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes — and some of the best stuff to come out of those lakes winds up on the tables of the Sea Salt Eatery. Baskets include catfish, oysters, shrimp, and fish, and there's also a full po' boy menu, seafood tacos, and soft-shell crabs," the list said.

That sure sounds good! I thought maybe I'd take a trip up to the Cities to try the food at Sea Salt Eatery, but here's the thing: Sea Salt Eatery is CLOSED. That's right, it ain't open. At least, not right now. It's a seasonal restaurant, their site says, and they closed for the season back on October 13th. Never fear, though, they're not permanently closed-- they'll be back next spring, sometime in April (once it stops snowing, that is.) Until then, I guess we'll have to get our seafood fix on somewhere else. (Is Long John Silver's still open?)

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