Worlds 2017 - Scoops of Hot Rotatoes and Fresh Ruses!

Got my email about half an hour ago - signed up and going!

It seems like ticket emails from FFG are coming around right now. Check your spam folder if you don’t see 'em.

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Confirmed, found my ticket in my spam folder.

Also, as an FYI - I booked a room at the Radisson by calling the number in the original post. As mentioned in that post, there’s an “FFG Worlds” group rate - seems like it’s $112+tax, which is a bit higher than last year, if I’m remembering correctly.

Updated to original post with Rotation and Core 2.0 information.

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Food

I’m going to be trying to organize Worlds dining outings for small groups basically each night of Worlds. I know a couple of other locals are also going to be doing something similar so that as many people as possible get to eat the kinds of food they want to eat while at Worlds. In addition, Bite Squad, a local company, offers delivery from something like 200 restaurants to the general vicinity of Worlds.

For those looking to venture out on their own or with a group, here’s a list of some of my favourite local restaurants:

World Street Kitchen (King of Servers caterer) + Milk Jam ice cream shop (in. sane.)
Tori Ramen (best ramen in the Cities if you like nontraditional ramen) V
Zen Box Izakaya (delicious Japanese pub fare + more traditional ramen)
Kyatchi (great sushi & other Japanese fare)
Pinku (amazing Japanese street food)
Kado no Mise (Japanese dining, excellent)
Brasa (vaguely Latin? all delicious) V
Barrio (~100 tequilas and excellent small plates)
Jefe (fewer tequilas, awesome Latin fare)
Tillie’s Farmhouse (American; unique takes on staple foods) V
Augustine’s (American; huge, delicious portions) V
The Happy Gnome (70+ taps & fantastic gastropub food) V
Revival (Southern comfort food)
J Selby’s (100% vegan) V
Filfillah (some of the most authentic Arabic cuisine in the cities)
Hot Indian (Indian food in burrito form)
Ngon (Vietnamese + French, really good)
Victor’s (great Cuban hole in the wall)
The Naughty Greek (reasonable prices for large portions)

V = good vegetarian choices.

Re: that last one, there are a lot of great places to eat (including Hot Indian) at the Midtown Global Market.

Big Groups

Some of the above places are smaller than others – e.g. Tori Ramen is tiny and you won’t be able to get a seat if your group is >4. If you have a large group (like 6+), the following can definitely accomodate:

Anything at Midtown Global Market
World Street Kitchen
Happy Gnome
Brasa (St. Paul location on Grand Avenue)
J Selby’s
Filfillah

Don’t take large groups to Tori Ramen or Pinku. Otherwise, calling ahead should be fine.

Drinks

If breweries or distilleries are your jam, there are too many good ones in the Cities to even start to count. A few I like are:

Bang Brewing
Surly (beware: it’s always packed)
Day Block
Lakes & Legends
Inbound

Du Nord craft spirits
Tattersall distilling

Marvel Bar (not a distillery, just unique cocktails, speakeasy-style.)

There are other well-regarded distilleries with cocktail rooms, but I haven’t tried them yet.

Fine Dining

I’ve also heard from a few people who are interested in fine dining. I’m going to try to organize a group trip to Travail in a separate thread, but in addition, here’s a list of some of the best restaurants around. They’re a mix of à la carte, tasting menus, or both. They range in price from $50 to $150 per person, plus optional drink pairings. Some have chef’s table options if that’s your jam. I’ve been to most of them and they’re uniformly excellent.

Spoon and Stable
Borough
Corner Table
Tenant
Alma
Sanctuary
Cosmos
The Bachelor Farmer (note Marvel Bar is directly below this if you want a 241)
Eastside

Tipping

Tipping is the custom in Minnesota. Serving staff aren’t subject to minimum wage requirements, and in any event the minimum wage hasn’t kept pace with inflation. Thus the tip isn’t really a commentary on the quality of your meal or the service; the tip is functionally part of the server’s wage. The standard tip in the Twin Cities is 20% of the total price. I generally don’t adjust this unless the service was truly horrendous or totally exceptional. There will be a percentage option on the credit card machine or a line item on your meal receipt for the tip.

Exception: you don’t need to tip (and won’t get an option to tip) at fast food places (McDonalds, Chipotle, etc).

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Insight, Indeed, and Abel are also all good beer. Eat Street Social has good fancy cocktails.

Thank you for this! For me, by far the most important part of any travel is finding the best food.

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Another thanks here. This post is a fantastic resource which shows you put a lot of care into it. Even the helpful reminder about local tipping.

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Any thoughts on Bauhaus, Sisyphus or Urban Growler breweries / tap rooms?

Recommendation on decent local taxi services?

What Corp deck should I bring?

I haven’t been to the Bauhaus taproom, but I definitely like some of their beers. I don’t know Sisyphus.

Urban Growler is right next to Bang Brewing. It’s good, but I think Bang is better.

I think Inbound might be my favourite, although that could be recency bias.

There’s also a sour-focused taproom that opened recently whose name escapes me right now. My wife loves that place – she’s really into sour beers.

I use Lyft rather than taxis. Some of the local taxi companies have apps, but the last time I used one, someone took my cab before I got to the door. So I stick to Lyft.

I’m as much in the dark as anyone about what Corps aren’t complete garbage in this brave new meta.

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Another thanks from me, so much info, no excuse not to get things right.

On that note, it has been suggested to me that I post on here re: getting there early.

I will arrive on the 29th and have accom sorted from the 31st, but would love not to sleep/die in the street between the 29th and 31st. So if you think you’d have accom that would be able to fit a fun, netrunner loving Australian who also speaks French and German, and is likely to try and sleep off jetlag but also tag along to any shenanigans that you might get involved in, please let me know :slight_smile: shoot me pm!

Also, check out or post in #Worlds StimSlack channel. There’s been some accommodation talk there too.

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Updated the thread to account for the new MWL2.0 and also with some tips on air travel.

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Flag Football event added. I am working to get other side events and happinings added that have been missed. More updates to follow as I get info.

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Things to see and do in and near the Twin Cities

A couple of people have asked me about things to do or see while they’re here.

Minneapolis Art Institute – Free admission! They have a massive, incredibly diverse collection. Pick a floor, you won’t be able to see the whole thing in one visit. In particular, their collection of Chinese art is pretty incredible.

Mississippi River – If you don’t mind being outdoors in Minnesota in November, the Stone Arch Bridge in downtown Minneapolis is very scenic, especially near sunset. The river runs >3,700 km all the way to the Gulf Coast, which is pretty cool to think about while taking photos of it.

Guthrie Theater – If plays are your thing, every show I’ve seen here over the years has been excellent.

Minnehaha Falls – A neat waterfall in a nice park. If it’s cold enough to be icy (unlikely), the waterfall looks especially interesting.

Sculpture Garden
– Outdoor, enormous art installations. Obviously, be aware of the weather when checking this out.

Live Music

There’s a ton going on pretty much constantly. Notables coming through during Worlds week include Arcade Fire, Macklemore, Tegan & Sara, and (for the Canadians) Our Lady Peace.

If you like live jazz, the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis is your best bet. I’ve also seen some cool local shows at Ice House, which is nominally a restaurant but turns into a bar with live music on some nights. My favourite venue in the Cities is probably First Avenue, though – I’ve never seen a bad show there (The Heavy, Purity Ring, Opeth, and others). There’s guaranteed to be something cool going on there during Worlds week, although I don’t recognize any of the artists on the schedule.

Sports

Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA) – games vs Mavs & Hornets
Minnesota Wild (NHL) – games vs Jets, Canadiens, and Blackhawks
Minnesota Vikings (NFL) – game vs Browns
Minnesota Twins (MLB) – season over
Minnesota United (MLS) – season over

I’ll edit more stuff into this between now and Worlds if anything comes to mind. I’ve kept it to stuff within the Cities, but Lake Superior (the largest freshwater lake on the planet) is a 2.5 hour drive north and well worth seeing, even though it’ll be colder there than in the Twin Cities.

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Excellent work, @Ajar. I appreciate what you’re doing to help people have the best time while they’re here!

@vinegarymink and I are going to catch some guitar rock SAT night of Worlds, if anyone is interested.

http://first-avenue.com/event/2017/11/beachslang

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OP has been updated with the new info that @Ajar and @spags posted. Wasn’t sure where to put it, so I just changed a section to “Map of Surrounding Areas / Shit to Do”

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Where are the ruses and scoops?