Jonathan Zimmerman: Liberals have also censored history

posted in: All news | 0

In 1874, during the brief era of Reconstruction, white people staged a racist uprising in New Orleans. Angered by the presence of African Americans in law enforcement and other government posts, members of the Crescent City White League stormed the local customs house and killed 11 police officers.

Two years later, a contested presidential election led to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the South and the end of Reconstruction. In 1891, New Orleans erected a memorial to White League members who died in the 1874 riot. And in 1932, the city affixed a plaque to the memorial stating that the 1876 election “recognized white supremacy in the South and gave us our state.”

But you can’t see the memorial — or its plaque — in New Orleans any longer. It was taken down in 2017, following years of protest by civil rights advocates.

I’ve been thinking about that episode over the last few months, as President Donald Trump’s administration steps up its efforts to purge our historical landscape of anything remotely negative about the United States. In March, it ordered the Smithsonian Institution to eliminate “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology” from its museums. And in my hometown of Philadelphia, over a dozen displays about slavery at Independence National Park — including an exhibit describing George Washington as an enslaver — have been flagged for review.

Like other liberal historians, I’m outraged by Trump’s cowardly attacks on our guild. A nation that really believed in its “greatness” — a term the president loves to use — wouldn’t be afraid to confront its worst chapters.

But I think my fellow liberals have been complicit — to borrow the term du jour — in historical censorship too. Nobody on my side of the political aisle objected when the New Orleans monument came down. Instead, we celebrated a victory over hate and bigotry.

I’m not saying that racist memorials should remain on their pedestals. But when they’re pulled down, they should be placed somewhere else where we can see them. Otherwise, we won’t learn the awful history they embody.

Consider the fate of Silent Sam, the Confederate statue that stood for over a century on the campus of the University of North Carolina. It, too, was built to extol white supremacy: At its unveiling in 1913, a UNC trustee said that Confederate soldiers had “saved the very life of the Anglo Saxon race in the South.”

But in 2018, demonstrators pulled down Silent Sam. And when UNC Chancellor Carol Folt proposed that the statue be displayed in a museum, the university erupted in yet more protest.

In a statement, the university’s psychology department said that preserving Silent Sam in any form on campus would “create a hostile learning environment for black students.” The monument “undermines our shared community values of equality, respect, and acceptance of all people,” the department added.

A few months later, Folt caved and declared that Silent Sam would be removed from campus. Its presence at UNC — even in a museum — posed a threat to the “well-being of our community,” she said.

Sound like anyone you know? In his fulminations against allegedly “divisive” history, Trump insists that it threatens the entire American community. By casting the United States “in a negative light,” Trump warns, historians are promoting “a sense of national shame.” Instead, we should be “instilling pride in the hearts of all Americans.”

In other words: smiley faces only, please. Some things are just too troubling to see. So let’s take them down, or blot them out, so we can all feel better.

False equivalence alert: Trump is clearly seeking to suppress knowledge of white racism, while the statue protesters were trying — in good faith — to protect nonwhite races from hateful symbols. And he’s the president, of course, so he has vastly more power than anybody else.

But the upshot is exactly the same: History gets censored. And we condescend to Americans when we imagine they can’t handle it.

We see a similar dynamic in the ongoing debate over book bans in schools and libraries. I am appalled by recent efforts by right-wing ideologues to remove works by Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou and many others. But where were my fellow liberals when schools were dropping “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn“ because it uses the N-word 200 times? Sitting on their hands or cheering from the sidelines, as another reminder of racism bit the dust.

Related Articles


Mary Ellen Klas: Abolishing voting by mail will hurt Republicans more than help


Marc Champion: Ukraine got a reprieve in Washington — not an escape


James Stavridis: 10 ways to force Putin back to the bargaining table


David French: Trump’s domestic deployments are dangerous … for our military


Matt K. Lewis: AI will be more disruptive than COVID. Which party can seize the moment?

That was the “good” kind of censorship, because we did it. And we are good.

But every act of historical suppression is bad news, for all of us. That’s why I was glad to read that the New Orleans monument will be part of forthcoming exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. The exhibit “reflects on the histories and legacies of post-Civil War America as they continue to resonate today” by displaying“monuments in the exhibition will be shown in their varying states of transformation,” a museum news release declares.

That’s precisely why we need to see these symbols: to understand who we are, how we got here and where we need to go. We are in a state of transformation, too, and we must not look away. That’s what Trump wants us to do.

Jonathan Zimmerman teaches education and history at the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the advisory board of the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest. He wrote this column for the Chicago Tribune.

Minnesota State Fair: Meet the chefs feeding big-name Grandstand musicians

posted in: All news | 0

Dan Rusoff and Joe Kaplan won’t name names, but one of the big-time musicians performing at the State Fair this year will be served local pork chops with peach cobbler for dinner before they take the Grandstand stage. Another is getting a shore lunch-style meal with Minnesota walleye.

As the owners of Eat Your Heart Out Backstage Catering, the duo feeds some of the biggest stars passing through the State Fair and other stages including the Armory in Minneapolis and the Somerset Amphitheater in Wisconsin.

They’ve cooked for Bob Dylan, Ludacris and Blake Shelton; they’ve made Cajun chicken and rice soup for Willie Nelson, jerk chicken sandwiches for Big Boi from Outkast and lavender panna cotta for Halsey.

“It’s the biggest gamble, meeting someone you admire, but so far it’s been good,” Rusoff said. “And in your own world, you get into the genres you like, but when you’re hired to give all these bands food, I’ve found a couple bands I didn’t know and liked or that I’d heard of but like more now, so that’s the coolest part.”

Eat Your Heart Out was founded in 1986 and has been catering State Fair shows since the early 2000s. Rusoff and Kaplan bought the company from founder Kathy Westbrook in early 2023.

The two met a little under a decade ago as cooks at Tilia, an acclaimed Minneapolis restaurant. Rusoff, who grew up in Apple Valley and had worked his way up from line cook to sous chef at Tilia, previously worked at Forepaugh’s in St. Paul and helped the food truck Chef Shack open its brick-and-mortar restaurant in Bay City, Wis. Kaplan’s culinary career began as a dishwasher in his native Hudson while he was home from business school, and he later cooked at Tilia and south Minneapolis French spot Grand Cafe. Meanwhile, he worked as a research tech in a University of Minnesota lab studying Kernza, a type of perennial wheatgrass, and led research and development at a food startup dedicated to the grain and other sustainable foods.

Besides backstage gigs, Eat Your Heart Out offers party catering and corporate packages year-round, with recipes pulled from bands’ favorite backstage meals. But the highlight of the year — and, frankly, the reason they agreed to buy the company, Kaplan said — is the State Fair.

“I love it,” Kaplan said. “I grew up going to the Fair at least once a year. I don’t get to see inside the Fair as much as I used to; this is kind of separate, removed. But I remember seeing shows at the Grandstand, so seeing it from the back is kind of surreal.”

Dan Rusoff, co owner of Eat Your Heart Out backstage caterers, gathers some fresh ingredients from the companies garden near their kitchen behind the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand in Falcon Heights on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

‘Keeps us on our toes’

Next time you’re at the Grandstand, peek over the top of the concert merch shack on the lefthand side of the stage (stage right, to be technical about it), and you’ll see a beige A-frame shed.

That’s where the magic happens.

Inside, there’s a fairly snug commercial kitchen and walk-in cooler, a couple restrooms with showers and a large dining room with a hot bar, cold food bar, ice cream machine and pizza oven. On a small patch of mulch just outside, Rusoff and Kaplan maintain a raised-bed vegetable garden, where they’re growing cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, and lots of herbs and edible flowers.

Unlike traditional catering companies that let clients select dishes from a pre-set menu, everything Rusoff, Kaplan and their team prepare is fully customized to each artist’s preferences with very little repetition. For every show they cater, they’re creating a new breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert menu from the ground up — and, given celebrities’ chaotic tour schedules, often with just a few days’ notice.

“It’s a regular occurrence that our menus are approved the day we need to start acquiring food,” Rusoff said. “You’ve got to be pretty versatile. Even if we have back-to-back shows (like at the State Fair), you can’t have the same menu two days in a row even if it’s different bands, because we don’t want the local crew to get burnt out eating the same thing. So it keeps us on our toes.”

Dan Rusoff, left, and Joe Kaplan, co owners of Eat Your Heart Out backstage caterers, in their kitchen behind the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand in Falcon Heights on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

‘Some just ask for the moon’

The process of cooking for bands begins with a document called a rider, which establishes an artist’s technical requirements, stage setup and backstage hospitality requests — like dressing room amenities and meals for both artists and crew — for the venue to arrange.

Many venues contract out catering to third-party companies like Eat Your Heart Out, which is where Rusoff and Kaplan come in: They’ll review the rider and prepare a budget estimate and sample menus to fulfill the artist’s food and beverage requests, which the artist’s tour manager can either agree to pay or offer to modify.

Riders vary wildly in their level of detail, Rusoff said. There’s not a template every band fills out, he said, and some artists are more flexible than others. But generally speaking, if the artists are willing to foot the bill, Rusoff and Kaplan will say yes.

“Catering requirements can be anything from a sentence like, ‘Hey, we just like healthy food’ to two pages of, “Mondays we eat this. Tuesdays we eat this. Wednesdays we eat this,’” Kaplan said. “Some just ask for the moon and beyond.”

Some riders are brief. At the 2023 Fair, for example, a folk-Americana singer (again, not to name names… but it was Brandi Carlile, who Rusoff reported was delightful in person and brought her family to hang out with the chefs in the dining room during the day) asked for grain bowls and left the specific details up to Rusoff and Kaplan’s creativity.

And others get much more specific, sometimes mind-bendingly so. One band’s rider called for Crystal Pepsi, which no longer exists. A heavy metal band at the 2024 Fair requested that, as soon as they came offstage, a large deluxe pepperoni pizza from Domino’s awaited them in their dressing room. An ’80s group playing the 2023 Fair stipulated that Rusoff and Kaplan could feed the crew but band members would only eat food prepared by a chef the group had hired to tour with them.

Another artist last year requested his dressing room contain two mood lamps, one bluetooth speaker, fresh hand towels, an iron, one bottle of honey, four fresh lemons, a hot-water kettle, two dozen large Solo cups, several very expensive ceramic bottles of reposado tequila and a container of Tums, among other things. For dinner, his rider provided a list of entree options — soul food, roast turkey, grilled chicken, spaghetti with meatballs, steak — and asked that side dishes include a hot soup, spinach salad, fresh vegetables, either mashed or baked potato and “options of cakes/cookies/pies.”

To illustrate how a rider request transforms into an actual meal: That artist’s ultimate dinner menu at the Fair included Italian beef and vegetable soup, a salad bar, a pasta bar with three sauce options and meatballs, Mediterranean chicken breasts, eggplant parmesan, grilled vegetables, roasted potatoes, tiramisu and yogurt bowls.

And they pull produce from the garden and lean on Minnesota food suppliers whenever they can, too.

“It’s nice to showcase a lot of local stuff during the Fair,” Kaplan said. “And some riders ask for stir fry, and that’s fine too. It kind of runs the gamut from pot roast to barbecue chicken to anything in between.”

Related Articles


72nd Princess Kay of the Milky Way crowned as MN State Fair begins


Here’s how to get to the State Fair


Photos: Beehive of activity at Minnesota State Fair


Minnesota State Fair 2025: A look at this year’s Grandstand offerings


Here’s your full day-by-day guide to free fun at the 2025 Minnesota State Fair

Other voices: RFK Jr. is right about this

posted in: All news | 0

In Japan, most schools serve freshly prepared, nutritionally balanced lunches — often rice, fish or meat, soup and vegetables. French cafeterias typically offer multi-course meals that might include salad, a main dish, bread, cheese and dessert.

By contrast, many Americans recall their own school lunches as far less appealing.

Some of us remember rectangular pizza with cheese the consistency of plastic, topped with tiny cubes of what was described as “pepperoni.” Wilted lettuce doused in watery dressing passed off as salads. Mashed potatoes out of a box and mystery meatloaf. It’s hard to imagine there was much nutritional value in any of the food we were fed.

So why not make it better?

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched an initiative to improve the nutritional quality of school lunches — a move that, despite his controversial reputation on other issues, deserves serious consideration.

It’s not as if this is a partisan notion, and people of all political persuasions have taken on the cause of championing better nutrition for school kids, which certainly encourages better cognitive function and makes it easier for kids to check in — rather than out — of the classroom during the school day.

Over a decade ago, Chicago Public Schools kicked off its Farm to School initiative, incorporating produce and other products from local farms into the district’s lunch program.

“The program influences food purchasing to allow students to gain access to healthy, local foods,” according to the district website.

Around the same time, New York City piloted a “Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program” that let doctors give low-income patients vouchers for fresh produce — including pediatric patients — recognizing the role of diet in health and the barriers many families face in affording healthy food.

These trends of the 2010s are also absolutely in keeping with the spirit of the current conversation about what kids should be eating in schools.

The HHS secretary initially announced his school lunch initiative in the spring, but now with school starting across much of the country, administrators are grappling with what updated guidelines would mean for their meal programs and their bottom lines.

Related Articles


Marc Champion: Ukraine got a reprieve in Washington — not an escape


Federal Reserve official says she won’t be ‘bullied’ by Trump into resigning


Appeals court allows Trump to end temporary protections for migrants from Central America and Nepal


At least 600 CDC employees are getting final termination notices, union says


Gabbard slashing intelligence office workforce and cutting budget by over $700 million

His plan calls for removing processed foods and synthetic dyes from school meals, citing evidence that about 70% of the food served in these programs is ultra-processed. Research shows the stakes are high. In 2023, children were 15% to 20% more likely to have a chronic condition than in 2011, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  And 1 in 5 young people in the U.S. are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

This isn’t about fat or skinny, this is about being healthy. And these numbers are alarming, which makes action worthwhile.

Of course, idealism always hits a brick wall when it runs up against the harsh reality of budget constraints and sourcing difficulties. Moving to a school meal model centered on whole, locally sourced foods would likely demand major new investments in food, infrastructure and staffing. Securing that funding could be challenging.

Yes, it will cost money, but a chronically unhealthy U.S. population is costly too.

Past reforms — from eliminating trans fats to adding more fresh produce — once seemed impossible too. The payoff in healthier kids, sharper minds and fewer long-term health costs is worth the investment.

— The Chicago Tribune

Ice cream parlors to visit in the east metro before the summer sun sets

posted in: All news | 0

That’s right, Minnesotans, summer is coming to an end. But it’s not over yet, so you, your friends, and your pets should delight in the sunshine until it’s gone forever!

Okay, so not forever, that’s a bit dramatic … Here are some of our reporters’ favorite spots to grab a creamy treat!

Sprinkles

Sprinkles serves soft serve ice cream, slushies, malts and more at its Roseville location Aug 10, 2025. The outdoor space attracts families in the area and is a great stop and eat summer spot. (Julio Ojeda-Zapata / Pioneer Press)

Opened on June 23, 2025, Sprinkles took over a location that had been a decades-old Dairy Queen, built in 1947, located in a mini-mall parking lot. Owners Timothy M. Hughes and Curtis Thompson said they’ve met generations of people who have come to love the location, including their future spouses. The menu offers soft serve cones, malts, slushies, shaved ice and more.

Most popular flavor: Vanilla. “I go through 100 cases every week,” Hughes said.

Most unusual flavor: Pomegranate, a fruit-flavored soft serve which doesn’t use any animal products.

Hours: Mon-Sun, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Address: 1720 N. Lexington Ave., Roseville

The Donut Trap

Proudly Black and queer owned, The Donut Trap takes inspiration from L.A. donuts and serves ice cream to pair with the sweet treats in St. Paul, Aug 10, 2025. (Julio Ojeda-Zapata / Pioneer Press)

Owned by the proudly Black and queer Bradley Taylor, The Donut Trap serves donuts inspired by Taylor’s favorite LA-based donut shop, ice cream and coffee. Taylor has a history of food experimentation with donut vending machines around the Twin Cities, including the MSP airport. They opened the storefront, June 19, 2025, with “A lot of love” and “a lot of sleepless nights.” Emblazoned with murals, the shop is tucked within a St. Paul neighborhood apart from other businesses, with plenty of room for indoor and outdoor activities.

Most popular flavor: Any ice cream donut combo

Most unusual flavor:  Lemon Poppy

Hours: 3-8 p.m. Thurs, 12-8 p.m. Fri, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sat, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun

Address: 1350 Hague Ave., St. Paul

Nellie’s Ice Cream

Nellie’s build-your-own ice cream sandwich. (Courtesy of Daved Najarian)

Sister store to the infamous Nelson’s Ice Cream in Stillwater and St. Paul, Nellie’s specializes in custom ice cream cookie sandwiches, with a dozen ice cream flavors and half a dozen cookie options, that can be warmed in a cookie panini press without melting the ice cream. Yeah, it’s witchery for sure. The family-owned shop keeps its classic huge proportions, making it a bang for your buck. Gluten-free cookies and ice cream flavors are also available at Nellies.

Hours: Mon-Fri 2-10 p.m., Sat-Sun 1-10 p.m.

Location: 2034 Marshall Ave., St. Paul

Most popular flavor: C is for cookie

Most unusual flavor: Blackberry lavender

Selma’s

 

Selma’s Ice Cream Parlour, seen Aug 11, 2025 in Afton, is Minnesota’s oldest ice cream parlor, dating back to 1913 and is still operating today with over 30 flavors of ice cream. (Talia McWright / Pioneer Press)

Selma’s ice cream parlor in Afton is the oldest ice cream shop in Minnesota, opening in 1913 by a woman named Selma and her husband Ed. The couple lived in the back of the building while the front was always an ice cream business of some sort. In the 20s, it was shut down for selling alcohol, according to co-owner Rebecca Nickelson. Today, Selmas offers over 30 ice cream flavors, including an affogato option (coffee poured over ice cream). Generations of Minnesotans visit Selma’s with stories of what it meant in their childhood, now their grandchildren’s, and so on, Nickelson said.

Hours: Mon-Fri 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

Location: 3419 St. Croix Trail S., Afton

Most popular flavor: Award-winning Zanzibar chocolate, and This $&@! just got serious, sea salt caramel fudge, and salted cashews over vanilla ice cream

Most unusual flavor: Munchie Madness, a cake batter-based ice cream with Oreos, M&M’s, and peanut butter cups

U of M Meat and Dairy Salesroom

The University of Minnesota’s Meat and Dairy salesroom has a rich history of dairy product research that goes back to the early 1900s. Today, they serve many flavors by the pint, seen in St. Paul on Aug 13, 2025. (Talia McWright / Pioneer Press)

Meat and ice cream are quite the combo, but the University of Minnesota has a rich history of dairy product research that goes back to the early 1900s. The Meat and Dairy Salesroom sells dairy products like ice cream, many of which are made during classes and research projects, from pasteurization to flavor mixing, with milk from the campus dairy farm. They offer about 35 rotating ice cream flavors each year, from classics like cookies and cream to unique options such as sweet corn and black licorice, as well as frozen yogurt and signature cheeses like Minnesota Blue and Nuworld.

Location: 1354 Eckles Ave., St. Paul (located on the main floor of the Andrew Boss Lab of Meat Science)

Hours: Wednesdays from 2-5 p.m.

Most popular flavor: Vanilla

Most unusual flavor: Sweet corn and freeze-dried flavors (think, creamy candy)

Booms Ice Cream

 

Booms Ice Cream Shop in Hugo combines taxes and ice cream at a family-owned storefront that operates seasonally to appeal to both ice cream lovers and those who need help filing taxes. (Courtesy of Booms Ice Cream Shop)

Booms Ice Cream combines tax season with sweet treats, as the Korus family operates Jak Tax and accounting next door to the ice cream parlor during the winter off-season. The parlor serves 40 flavors of locally made Big Dipper Creamery ice cream during the spring and summer months. Hugo is ‘the land of 10,000 booms,’ co-owner Josh Korus said. There’s a running joke in the area that someone’s always setting off fireworks or a generator will explode, and that’s what inspired the name. Outdoor seating makes the location a perfect sunny day spot for ice cream lovers.

Location: 14869 Forest Blvd N., Hugo

Hours: Every day from 1-9 p.m. May-Sept.

Most popular flavor: Cookie Monster

Most unusual flavor: Spumoni or seasonal Maple Bacon

Treats

Treats Cereal Bar and Boba in St. Paul features ice cream creations incorporating fun cereal flavors, along with other treats like freshly-made waffles and more, seen Aug. 13, 2025. (Gloria Ngwa / Pioneer Press)

Opened in summer 2019 by owners Minh Dinh and Trisha Seng, Treats brings together two beloved favorites — ice cream and boba — in one cozy, vibrant shop. Known for their hard vanilla ice cream blended with mix-ins until it’s as creamy as soft serve, they also serve brown sugar boba, cereal-blended ice cream, and colorful waffles topped with Fruity Pebbles, s’mores, or Nutella. The bright, color-pop aesthetic draws teens and millennial moms with their Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids. The space is calm, yet lively, with small outdoor tables perfect for summer.

Location: 770 Grand Ave., St. Paul

Hours: Every day from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Most popular flavor: Strawberry matcha

Most unusual flavor: Bananagram and other seasonal flavors

2 Scoops Ice Cream Eatery

2 Scoops ice cream shop on Selby Avenue in St. Paul, pictured in August 2020. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Opened in 2020 by the White family, located in the Rondo neighborhood, 2 Scoops is one of many Black owned businesses in the area. Fresh waffle cones are made in-house and can be smelled long before entering, and pair with 18 flavors of ice cream. Its bright red walls and checkered floors are reminiscent of a classic diner aesthetic, and photos of local sports stars and leaders hang on the walls. They also serve hot dogs, pizza and soups, along with other savory foods.

Location: 921 Selby Ave., St. Paul

Hours: 12-9 p.m. Mon-Thur, 12-10 p.m. Fri-Sat, 12-7 p.m. Sun

Most popular flavor: Exhausted parent, a bourbon-spiked espresso ice cream with chocolate chip chunks.

Most unusual flavor: Banana cream pie

Grand Ole Creamery

Grand Ole Creamy is one of the Twin Cities’ oldest ice cream parlors, located on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. The storefront keeps a classic old-timey feel, seen Aug. 13, 2025. (Gloria Ngwa / Pioneer Press)

Celebrating its 35th anniversary, Grand Ole Creamery is Minnesota’s first and longest-standing gourmet ice cream shop in the Twin Cities. Family-owned for three generations, it remains a beloved gathering place where all ice cream is homemade at the Grand Avenue location. 32 flavors are typically available, including seasonals, with some—like Mack Daddy and Cookie Monster—staying on the menu year-round. The old-fashioned parlor interior adds to its charm, making it a true St. Paul tradition, drawing in families, teens, and longtime patrons.

Location: 750 Grand Ave., St. Paul

Hours: Every day from 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

Most popular flavor: Black Hills Gold, a caramel ice cream with praline pecans and Oreo cookies, which former US President Obama ordered during a visit in 2016.

Most unusual flavor: Winter wonderland, vanilla ice cream with crushed candy canes and peppermint

La Michoacana Monarca

La Michoacana in St. Paul serves Mexican-inspired paletas or popsicles, creamy ice cream and plenty of creative savory snacks, seen Aug. 11, 2025. (Imani Cruzen / Pioneer Press)

Inspired by sweet traditions from Tocumbo, Mexico, La Michoacana Monarca offers ice cream, paletas or popsicles that can be dipped and topped, along with other sweet treats like churros, aguas frescas and crepes, or savory bites like walking tacos, or an elote (Mexican street corn) ramen hot cheeto combo. This location also has tabletop games to play with friends and family while you’re visiting!

Location: 80 N. Snelling Ave., St. Paul

Hours: Mon-Fri 12 p.m.-9 p.m.

Most popular flavor: Oreo

Most unusual flavor: Mazapán, a Mexican candy, typically made with peanuts and sugar

Bridgeman’s

Bridgeman’s Ice Cream Parlor in Woodbury has a large cult following of Minnesotans who love the brand. The locally made ice cream is sold nationwide by the pint and is featured at many parlors across Minnesota, seen Aug 11, 2025. (Talia McWright / Pioneer Press)

Bridgeman’s Ice Cream Shoppe first opened in Duluth in 1936 and is now located in Woodbury, offering over 30 Minnesota-made flavors. The Duluth location, a restaurant, has created lasting memories for families over the years, according to co-owner Crystal Bakker. When guests have a special connection to the brand, it’s what’s called the Bridgeman’s story, Bakker said. The rich and creamy ice cream is sold in pints nationwide, in stores and at other ice cream parlors across Minnesota. Yes, it’s that good.

Location: 2110 Eagle Creek, Woodbury

Hours: Mon-Thur 12-9 p.m., Fri 12-10 p.m., Sat 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Sun 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Most popular flavor: Caramelicious or Pepermint Bon Bon (they compete every year)

Most unusual flavor: Black licorice, a flavor Bethenny Frankel raves about.

Iron Ranger

A Bridgeman’s ice cream cone is held at Iron Ranger in St. Paul. (Courtesy of Iron Ranger)

Grand Avenue’s Italian-American restaurant, which features a stellar outdoor patio, converted its private dining space into a seasonal ice shop that serves Bridgeman’s ice cream, cheese curds, French fries, Bavarian pretzels, beer, wine and cocktails. Who doesn’t want a one-stop shop for dinner and dessert?

Location: 1085 Grand Ave., St. Paul

Hours: Tues-Sat 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.

Other team favorites include Conny’s Creamy Cone in St. Paul, Cold Front in St. Paul, Cup and Cone in White Bear, Icy Cup in St. Paul, Nelson’s Ice Cream in Stillwater and St. Paul, La Michoacana Purépecha in St. Paul, Micho Love in West St. Paul, Wonders Ice Cream in St. Paul and the St. Paul Corner Drug.

Related Articles


Is hefeweizen the original hazy?


FDA’s new expert panels are rife with financial conflicts and fringe views


Milkshakes, malts, concretes, frappes and more: A (delicious) guide to frozen drinks


Playing with fire: Two chefs talk about the nuances of grilling


US consumers face possibility of higher beef prices in 2026