I was a University of Minnesota sophomore walking across the Washington Avenue Bridge, which connects the university’s East Bank campus with Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, when I saw a van owned by the student-run Radio K station. It was advertising a hip-hop radio show called The Beat Box. Soon after, from 1999 to 2006, this area became my second home as I started volunteering and interning for The Beat Box during the week, ready to broadcast live on Saturdays. Today, the Cedar Avenue South Cultural District is a vibrant, welcoming, and fascinating place. Most commonly referred to as Cedar-Riverside, it boasts a progressive and diverse community that gives life to this part of Minneapolis.

Cedar-Riverside served as a second home for a lot of the experiences that would shape and mold my mind as a young college student, who was fresh out of taking all my prerequisite courses, and fully honed in on my major of speech communications. Since a majority of the courses I was taking at the time were arts-related, little did I know how the Cedar-Riverside area would be able to nourish and replenish my creative mindframe at that time. As time passed, this district would also be a prime spot for rejuvenation, whether it was through the numerous live venues for experimental plays and infectious live music, or to help quell the hunger pangs with some awesome breakfast, lunch, and dinner spots.

History of Cedar Avenue South

The Cedar Avenue South Cultural District was considered a port of entry for Swedes, Germans, and Bohemians, who started to arrive in large numbers during the late 19th century. In its early days, Cedar-Riverside housed a lot of Scandinavian immigrants who worked for the lumber and milling fields on the banks of the Mississippi River. After those industries declined in the 1920s, the area experienced an increase in Eastern European immigrants in the 1940s. Along with the Seven Corners area in the 1960s and 70s, it became a burgeoning community for hippies, activists, and musicians. Fast-forward to today, and Cedar-Riverside is home to one of the largest immigrant communities in the Twin Cities—yet still maintains remnants of all these past influxes in some way, shape, or form. Somalis are now the predominant minority group here. Dubbed “Little Mogadishu,” the Cedar Avenue South cultural district reflects that shift with emerging businesses and numerous restaurants that are providing Somali goods and cuisine.

Making the Most of Hard Times with Good Food

During those years I was working with Radio K, I had a co-host who is still my best friend today. Every Saturday, I would usually pick him up from University Village on the East Bank, and then we would traverse to the West Bank campus, parking in a lot at the nearby Rarig Center. During our walk, we would debate if we should have breakfast at Hard Times Cafe or The Wienery, only to agree to have breakfast at The Wienery, and lunch with our guests that day from The Beat Box at Hard Times. Hard Times and The Wienery are still slinging dishes of delicious food and hot coffee and tea for any patron who walks through its doors today, and I still highly recommend a visit to both. Next door to the Wienery is Nader Persian Restaurant, a small family style restaurant providing deeply enriching and delectable Persian appetizers, stews, and dishes in a setting that feels very much like entering someone’s home. Elsewhere along Cedar is Lucky Dragon, providing plenty of Chinese and Vietnamese dishes, along with a lunch buffet.

East African fare is the true culinary gem of the Cedar Avenue Cultural District, and both Red Sea and Dilla’s Ethiopian are the crown jewels of Minneapolis when it comes to cravings of doro wat and awaze tibs with injera. In addition to these two staple restaurants, Mediterranean Deli is an Oromo-owned, longtime Cedar Avenue staple offering a mix of Ethiopian and Middle Eastern entrees and sandwiches. Somali restaurants are all over the Cedar Avenue cultural district, and spots like Sagal Restaurant and Barakallah Restaurant have wonderful suqqar dishes with rice that serve as an excellent way to enter into the foray of Somali cuisine. Additionally, a longtime anchor to this area, Afro Deli, is a fantastic fast-casual take which is excellent for newcomers. Lastly, for a taste of West Africa, there’s Tamu Grill, which serves wonderful Kenyan cuisine, and their meal deals serve as a great way to get a taste of everything. After enjoying the fantastic East African flavors and dishes, you can shop at Wajadir Grocery & Halal Meat which offers an array of meats, produce, and spices, to recreate those same dishes at home.

There's also plenty of local businesses in this district to stop in and shop. I would always make a visit to Mayday Books, where a lot of the literature found there helped shape much of the ideology I have to this day. For the frequent cyclist, Freewheel Bike provides bikers with repairs and sales of new bikes, no matter what stage of their cycling journey they may be in, while Scooterville provides a wide range of mopeds and e-bikes for sale, too.

Music, Memories, Matinees, and Comedy

On a typical weeknight or weekend, the district is known for its vibrant local music scene, too. These days, I still spend a bulk of my time seeing shows at the Cedar Cultural Center, where I’ve caught shows by Tuareg legends Tinariwen and comedian Ron Funches. Acadia Cafe is a great setting to catch the newest talent and great local acts, live in a relaxed environment. For more established touring acts and wildly popular local acts, The Cabooze serves as a great venue providing an opportunity to see both at reasonable prices. For the trivia hound, every Monday is trivia night at Town Hall Brewery, where you can get competitive with a libation of your choosing, and incredible pub food to boot.

Many are surprised to learn this area is a place for great theater, too. The arts departments of the University of Minnesota and nearby Augsburg College, as well as the Theatre in the Round stage, have been featuring plays and one-person shows here for decades. After a filling lunch in the district, I would often find myself at Theater in the Round to catch a 2 pm matinee, which you can still experience these days on Sundays. In addition, both The Southern Theater and Mixed Blood Theater provide musicals and plays that cause audience goers to think more critically about the world they live in, and walk out with a new worldview and perspective.

Cedar Avenue South brims with culture, diversity, and artistry, and what makes the cultural district unique is, of course, the people, the food, and the arts. It provides a kind of everyday education that makes the rest of us more astute and enriched as a result.