Saint Paul’s food scene is steady, diverse, and quietly full of gems. The best meals are often in old Italian rooms, Cambodian kitchens, hidden Vietnamese spots, farm-driven restaurants, and neighborhood dining rooms that feel more rooted than trendy.
These five off-the-beaten-path Saint Paul restaurants are worth finding.
1. DeGidio’s Restaurant & Bar
DeGidio’s has been serving Saint Paul since 1933, bringing old-school Italian food, red sauce, generous pours, and West 7th atmosphere to generations of diners. It is the kind of restaurant that feels like local history without being stuck in the past.
Order spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parmigiana, rigatoni alla vodka, lasagna, or the legendary Hot Dago sandwich. DeGidio’s is comfort food with a long memory.
2. Kolap Restaurant
Kolap Restaurant has brought Cambodian food and family history to Saint Paul’s Summit-University neighborhood since 2003. The restaurant’s story is rooted in refugee experience, resilience, and the desire to build a home through food.
Expect Cambodian dishes, soups, rice plates, noodles, and deeply comforting flavors. Kolap is more than an underrated restaurant. It is part of Saint Paul’s cultural fabric.
3. Khue’s Kitchen
Khue’s Kitchen sits in a quiet industrial pocket of Saint Paul and can be easy to miss, but inside it delivers a new-generation Vietnamese dining experience full of energy and family influence.
The menu reflects fire, heritage, and personal storytelling. Expect bold Vietnamese flavors, thoughtful dishes, and a room that feels scrappy in the best way. Khue’s is one of those places that makes the city feel alive.
4. Myriel
Myriel is a neighborhood restaurant in Macalester-Groveland focused on wild and farmed ingredients from growers and woods the kitchen knows. It is intimate, careful, and deeply tied to its supply chain.
This is a place for a slower dinner, one that invites you into the community of people who grow, gather, and prepare the food. Myriel is refined without losing a sense of place.
5. W.A. Frost & Company
W.A. Frost & Company in Cathedral Hill is surrounded by visual beauty, from its Victorian building to its cozy rooms and garden-like atmosphere. It is one of Saint Paul’s most atmospheric dining experiences.
The food is polished, the setting is memorable, and the building itself makes dinner feel like a discovery. W.A. Frost is ideal for a romantic meal, a visiting guest, or anyone who likes restaurants with actual character.
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