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1. July 2010
Minnesota Parent Family Favorites: GO BOLDLY!
Go, see, do
Best indoor entertainment (babies & preschoolers)
First place: Minnesota Children’s Museum
What’s to love: Innovative kid’s-eye-view exhibits, all with just one entrance and exit
so parents can relax just a little bit.
Runner-up: Eagle’s Nest
Best indoor entertainment (older kids)
First place: Science Museum of Minnesota
What’s to love: Nobody insults our kids’ intelligence! From river navigation to — yes
— calculus, this is real science, not a coloring-book version of it.
Runner-up: Edinborough Park
Best outdoor entertainment (babies & preschoolers)
First place: Como Zoo and Conservatory
What’s to love: First: it’s free! And, of course, friendly, just the right size for families,
and, for many of us, a fond memory from our own childhoods.
Runner-up: Your favorite neighborhood park
Best outdoor entertainment (older kids)
First place: Chutes and Ladders Park, Hyland Park Reserve
What’s to love: This is the playground your kid would design if given a chance. It’s
an active climbing adventure for all ages.
Runner-up: Valleyfair
Best theater or music venue
First place: Children’s Theatre Company
What’s to love: Can you say Tony Award? Yep, our hometown favorite, known for
top-quality productions, has been recognized nationally. We especially love their live
theater experiences for preschoolers.
Runner-up: Stages Theatre

2. Best free entertainment or venue
First place: Como Park
What’s to love: It’s huge! It’s varied! There is something to do all year round, from
the zoo and conservatory to skiing lessons.
Runner-up: Lake Harriet Bandshell
Best annual family event
First place: Minnesota State Fair
What’s to love: Way more than food on a stick. Families love seeing the baby
animals, kicking back on the grass to hear some music, giving kids a taste of midway
thrills on the kidway, and taking in the spectacle of it all.
Runner-up: In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre May Day Parade
Best gymnastics classes
First place: Gleason’s
What’s to love: Whether your kids are heading for athletic stardom or just need to get
their wiggles out, Gleason’s has something for you.
Runners-up: Jam Hops and Twin Cities Twisters
Best music classes
First place: MacPhail
What’s to love: MacPhail takes music seriously. Their early music classes go way
beyond “The Wheels on the Bus.” When your kid comes home and explains how a
trombone works, you’ll be convinced — and probably sign him up for an instrument.
Runner-up: Music Together
Best bowling alley
First place: Park Tavern
What’s to love: Some come for the bowling, some for the food, some for the beers.
No matter what, it’s family-friendly fun.
Runner-up: Brunswick Zone
Best skating venue
First place: Rollergarden
What’s to love: This is rollerskating the way you remember it, from “The Chicken

3. Dance” and “Disco Duck” to tasty, plasticky piles of nachos.
Runner-up: Roller-Dome
Best party venue
First place: Pump it Up
What’s to love: Leave all your party planning to the energetic young folks at Pump it
Up and enjoy watching the kids bounce themselves into nap-ready exhaustion.
Runner-up: Artrageous Adventures
Buy
Best place to stock up for a new baby
First place: Target
What’s to love: The hometown favorite has everything you need.
Runner-up: Babies R Us
Best kids’ clothing store (new)
First place: Target
What’s to love: Minnesotans just can’t get enough of their Target.
Runner-up: Children’s Place
Best kids’ clothing store (used)
First place: Once Upon A Child
What’s to love: Extraordinarily carefully selected used clothes — meaning great
brands in great shape — with a huge selection and quick turnover.
Runner-up: Saver’s
Best kids’ bookstore
First place: Wild Rumpus
What’s to love: From the cat on the comfy chair to the chicken wandering the floor to
the excellent, up-to-date selection of books, it’s young readers’ paradise.
Runner-up: The Red Balloon
Best toy store
First place: Creative Kidstuff
What’s to love: When a toy is more than a toy — it’s a catalyst for active, imaginative
play — you need to head to Creative Kidstuff.

4. Runner-up: Toys R Us
Best sporting goods store
First place: Dick’s Sporting Goods
What’s to love: Great selection. Great prices. Friendly staff. We love it.
Runner-up: Play It Again Sports
Best store for art supplies
First place: Michael’s
What’s to love: There is very, very little you won’t find in the vast aisles of Michael’s.
Runner-up: Dick Blick
Best place for kids’ haircuts
First place: Kids’ Hair
What’s to love: Individual movie screens, kid-size chairs, stylists who know nothing
makes a little girl feel more special than a sweet little braid in her newly trimmed
hair.
Runner-up: Great Clips
Best birthday cake bakery
First place: Lunds and Byerly’s
What’s to love: Well, your kid’s first birthday cake is free! And, every year after that,
she can choose from a zillion creative themes. Bonus points for kosher and gluten-free
options.
Runner-up: Homemade
Eat
Best homegrown kid-friendly restaurant (babies & preschoolers)
First place: Galaxy Drive-In
What’s to love: St. Louis Park’s updated summer destination (remember Wagner’s?)
goes beyond burgers and dogs, with Pronto Pups, fried chicken, and family-size
s’mores kits.
Runner-up: Key’s Cafe
Best homegrown kid-friendly restaurant (older kids)
First place: Key’s Café

5. What’s to love: Created by a family for your family. Homey food in comfy booths in
a handful of very convenient locations.
Runner-up: D’Amico & Sons
Best family-friendly coffeeshop
First place: Java Train
What’s to love: Well, there’s a train. For some parents, we might as well just stop
there. But they also know that keeping Mom and Dad happy with high-quality coffee
drinks is just as important.
Runner-up: Kenwood Cafe
Best homegrown ice cream shop
First place: Tie: Izzy’s and Sebastian Joe’s
What’s to love: We could think of them as rivals — two world-class ice cream shops
with creative flavors dreamed up and churned right on the premises — but we prefer
to think of them as conveniently placed friends (Izzy’s in St. Paul and Sebastian Joe’s
in Minneapolis) so that your family is never far from great ice cream.
Runners-up: Tie: Grand Ole Creamery, Pumphouse
Best kids’ menu
First place: D’Amico and Sons
What’s to love: Kids eat free on Sundays and the house wine just keeps coming. It can
be a recipe for chaos, but at the friendly and fabulously managed D’Amico, it means
family dinner is ultra-relaxing.
Runner-up: Red Robin
Learn
Best source of information for new parents
First place: Minnesota Parent
What’s to love: Well, gee, thanks, what can we say? We can say that we really, truly,
think that Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) programs are a uniquely
valuable asset for Minnesota families, and if you’ve got kids under 5, sign up now!
Runner-up: ECFE
Best source of information for parents of older kids

6. First place: Minnesota Parent
Runner-up: Friends and family