When we invite you to email us with suggestions, such as for worthwhile burgers that did not make our massive annual guide, we aren’t kidding. We read them all.

After the guide was published last week, Eat editor Jess Fleming and I heard from readers about some newly opened places, old-school prices and beloved overlooked spots that sounded too good to pass up for another year.

(Keep sending ideas our way! We’re at eat@pioneerpress.com)

So with your recommendations, here’s an addendum to the 2025 Pioneer Press best burgers guide (a.k.a. Burgerin’ 2: Electric Burger-loo).

Animales Barbecue Co.

Animales, which started as a cult-fave barbecue food truck about eight years ago, has finally opened a permanent home for smoked meats and burgers in Minneapolis after years of planning. It’s a huge space — about 12,500 square feet, with plenty of seating, a full bar, live music stage and a kids’ play area — and Animales’ bold vibe fills it effortlessly.

Oh, and the food is great. The double smashburger (“wagyu butter burger, American cheese, dill pickles, dijonnaise, milk roll”) is like the best backyard-barbecue burger you’ve ever had. The crispy, peppery, slightly charcoal-fiery meat skirt is the highlight, and the slight sweetness of both the bun and white American cheese are nice, too. Vinegary pickles come on the side, so you can put them on the burger if you want, but I found them to be more enjoyable as a palate-cleanser between bites.

Yes, it’s a pricey burger — $20.40 with a service charge; the restaurant does not accept tips. Fries/sides are sold separately. Even if it’s hard to justify a place in your regular dinner rotation, it’s an experience worth having.

Animales Barbecue Co.: 241 Fremont Ave N., Minneapolis; 952-222-7427 (that’s 952-ABC-RIBS); animalesbbq.com

Lion’s Tap

The double California burger at the Lion’s Tap in Eden Prairie is served July 24, 2025. (Jared Kaufman / Pioneer Press)

Lion’s Tap in Eden Prairie, one of the original Twin Cities burger destinations, has been going strong for nearly seven decades. The menu is simple, and cheap: hamburger, cheeseburger, California (the classic fixings), bacon cheese or mushroom Swiss; and your call on single (starting at $5.45) or double (from $10.10), all hit with their in-house seasoned salt blend. Fries for $3.15. You love to see it.

And “double,” to be clear, is not just two patties — it’s double everything. The immense double California burger, which looked like a delightful cartoon satire of American cuisine, took three skewers to hold upright. (By height alone, this might be the top burger in the Twin Cities. *ba-dum-tss*) The seasoning salt accentuated but did not overpower the beefy flavor, which rocked. Be prepared with napkins, though, for the juices that’ll run down your hands.

Lion’s Tap: 16180 Flying Cloud Dr., Eden Prairie; 952-934-5299; lionstap.com

House of Coates

Readers say this small-town tavern, along U.S. 52 South between the edge of Rosemount and the start of farm country, punches above its weight when it comes to burgers, and I’m inclined to agree. Their signature burgers, like the Swanee (bacon, American cheese, fried onions; $8.25) come with a half-pound patty. That’s no city-slicker smashie; even the third-pound patties on the simpler burgers ($6.50–$7.50) have some serious girth. My patty was a skosh too dry on a recent visit, perhaps a bit overcooked, but this is a solid meat-lover’s burger at a price point that’s sadly becoming rarer.

House of Coates: 16300 E. Clayton Ave., Rosemount; 651-437-2232

Burger Moe’s

The Moe’s Original burger is served Oct. 27, 2025, at Burger Moe’s on West Seventh. The burger comes with caramelized onions and cheddar plus the classic fixings. (Jared Kaufman / Pioneer Press)

If nothing else, the West Seventh sports bar with an extensive burger list has something for everyone. In my case, since I’m eating for research purposes, I sprang for the Moe’s Original, which comes with caramelized onions and cheddar plus the classic fixings. And you know what? For a quick, easy meal, it was utilitarian, and that counted for something. The patty, while juicy, never quite reached the savory, beefy depths of the best burgers in town, but it got the job done.

And speaking of good prices: On Mondays after 3 p.m., almost every burger on the menu is just $7, and now that there’s no longer a giant sinkhole nor one of the city’s oldest remaining limestone houses to get in your way, that’s a great time to head to Burger Moe’s.

Burger Moe’s: 242 W. Seventh St.; 651-222-3100; burgermoes.com

328 Grill

The Fo’ Cheesy is served Oct. 24, 2025, at 328 Grill in St. Paul Park. The sandwich is a patty melt with American and cheddar cheeses and pepper jack Cheez Whiz on parmesan-crusted bread. (Jared Kaufman / Pioneer Press)

We already know chef Mik German slings some of the most creative burgers in town from inside the American Legion Post 98 in St. Paul Park, but don’t sleep on the Fo’ Cheezy, his version of a patty melt. The original is one of German’s classic short rib/brisket/chuck patties plus cheddar and American cheeses and pepper jack Cheez Whiz on parmesan-crusted bread (count ‘em, that’s fo’ cheeses), but any burger or sandwich on the menu can be made Fo’ Cheezy style.

In particular, the parmesan crust on the bread is a clever way to provide a rigid structure — which is vital, given the ooey-gooey-ness of what’s inside — without resorting to a thicker or too-tough slice that might take attention away from the beef and/or cheese.

In my opinion, the true soul of a patty melt is not actually a burger but a grilled cheese sandwich, and this is a phenomenal grilled cheese sandwich that happens to contain an equally phenomenal burger patty. It’s also so rich, you guys. I could barely even finish it. (I did, though, and am proud of it; thank you very much.)

328 Grill: 328 Broadway Ave., St. Paul Park; 651-459-8016; 328grill.com

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By JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press

Vice President JD Vance advocated a slowdown in legal immigration Wednesday, saying, “We have to get the overall numbers way, way down.”

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Vance took questions from students at the University of Mississippi at an event organized by Turning Point USA, stepping into the role of debater that was so often performed by the organization’s slain founder, Charlie Kirk.

Vance said the optimal number of legal immigrants to admit is “far less than what we’ve been accepting,” but he did not offer a firm number when pressed by a woman who questioned his stance. He criticized former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, which he said allowed too many people into the country and threatened the social fabric of the United States.

“When something like that happens, you’ve got to allow your own society to cohere a little bit, to build a sense of common identity, for all the newcomers — the ones who are going to stay — to assimilate into American culture,” Vance said. “Until you do that, you’ve got to be careful about any additional immigration, in my view.”

Vance also spoke forcefully about avoiding American deaths in “unnecessary foreign conflicts,” touting President Donald Trump’s Middle East diplomacy and the strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, even as the U.S. steps up military pressure on Venezuela and strikes boats that the Trump administrations says are transporting drugs.

Asked whether Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Democratic-led cities will lead to a future president using that government power against conservatives, he said his allies shouldn’t be worried about Trump’s exercise of executive power. He justified Trump’s targeting of his political enemies by pointing to his arrest during Biden’s administration. He was charged with illegally keeping classified documents after his first term and attempting to subvert the 2020 election he lost, but the charges were dismissed after he was elected to his second term a year ago.

“We cannot be afraid to do something because the left might do it in the future,” Vance said. “The left is already going to do it regardless of whether we do it.”

Vance was introduced by Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, in one of her first public appearances since she took over her husband’s role leading Turning Point.

“Being on campus right now, for me, is a spiritual reclaiming of territory,” she said, reflecting on Kirk’s love of visiting universities and his mission to move campuses to the right.

Wearing a white “freedom” shirt like the one her husband wore when he was shot, Erika Kirk urged young Christian conservatives to courageously fight for their beliefs and not fear the social consequences.

“If you’re worried about losing a friend—I lost my friend,” she said. “I lost my best friend.”

As a species, humans possess a kind of superpower: the ability to survive on a remarkably wide variety of foods, allowing us to thrive everywhere from the Amazon rainforest to the Arctic tundra.

Now, thanks to social media, our dietary range is being tested again. TikTok and YouTube have made stars of influencers who tout — often with the help of celebrities — the virtues of various lifestyles from veganism to juicing to subsisting on nothing but meat. Advocates of some of these trends even claim their diets have cured them of serious diseases.

Are any of these extreme diets safe or healthy? Sometimes, for some people, under some circumstances. They can also be risky and are best done under a doctor’s supervision. That’s why physicians should take seriously the possibility that some of these dietary interventions can help people and learn how to guide patients in adopting them safely.

From a nutritional standpoint, the body needs a variety of minerals and vitamins, a certain amount of protein, and, for energy, a combination of carbohydrates and fats. In the mid-20th century, nutrition researchers deemed fats to be harmful, but have since revised that view and now consider a balance between fat and carbohydrates to be best for most people.

Some of the most popular diets — such as the ketogenic, or “keto” diet — eliminate or restrict carbohydrates and rely heavily on fats. The carnivore diet is a more extreme example, eliminating all plant-based foods. While ketogenic diets have helped some people lose weight and keep it off, they can also cause side effects such as nutrient deficiencies and high cholesterol. And alarmingly, despite warnings from doctors, some people are even promoting a carnivore diet for their children.

Vegan diets might help some people feel healthier, as long as they include all the essential vitamins and minerals, as well as plant-based foods that contain healthy fats and complete sources of protein. But it’s also possible to follow a vegan diet that consists primarily of processed food and sugar, which increases the risks of diabetes, heart disease and other health problems. Vegan diets are more environmentally sustainable than diets heavy in meat — but they’re not ideal for everyone.

People sometimes resort to even more extreme diets for quick weight loss or to indulge the illusion that they are being “cleansed.” In a juice cleanse, for example, people may consume no solid food and get calories only from fruit and vegetable juice for a few days or even several weeks.

This might help people who lose a pound or two to fit into a particular outfit for a special occasion, but juicing concentrates the natural sugar in fruit, and scientists have increasingly realized that even natural sugar, in large quantities, can be bad for you.

It’s understandable that people would buy into this trend, since years of heavy advertising convinced the world fruit juice was the healthiest thing you could consume (it isn’t), and the public health community has been far too reluctant to acknowledge its mistake in demonizing fats and pushing a high-carbohydrate diet as best for everyone.

Some may feel better on a juice cleanse because they’ve cut out something that was unknowingly making them feel sick — but in general, any weight lost will quickly return, and your insides won’t be any “cleaner.”

Unfortunately, the only diets that seem to produce lasting, dramatic effects are those that people commit to for life. Evidence dating back to the 1920s, for example, showed that ketogenic diets were highly effective at preventing seizures and helping people with epilepsy live normal lives.

Eric Kossoff, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins University, said this very high-fat diet mimics some of the effects of fasting, which has been understood for centuries to put seizures in remission. The body has two main pathways for generating energy. Most of the time, food is broken down into glucose, which is stored in the liver and can be used as fuel. If the liver has no glucose — because you’re fasting or eating almost no carbohydrates — your body burns fat through a process called ketosis. It’s an important adaptation that allows us to use body fat as a backup fuel source.

The diet fell out of favor in the 1950s, said Kossoff, because new drugs and surgical treatments for epilepsy emerged, and dietary fat was wrongly stigmatized as fattening and artery-clogging. Now ketogenic diets are making a comeback, he said, thanks to patients and their families. He credits a patient advocacy group, the Charlie Foundation, for pushing doctors to re-examine dietary intervention for children who don’t respond to medication. Today, there are ketogenic diet centers for epilepsy all around the world.

Kossoff recently attended a conference of over 400 doctors in Paris discussing keto for epilepsy, as well as their potential for treating other conditions. The diet has shown promise for managing some cases of bipolar disorder, depression and other psychiatric conditions.

But the diet can negatively affect growth and development in children and cause other health problems, he said, and for some people it can cause unwanted weight loss. Most complications, however, can be addressed with supplements or modifications to the diet, he said, reinforcing the importance of having a knowledgeable doctor involved.

Medical supervision was also crucial in a study published last year, which followed people with Type 2 diabetes over five years as they adopted a ketogenic diet, guided by doctors through telehealth. A significant fraction saw their diabetes go into remission — a result that doesn’t occur spontaneously.

There’s a reason patients are leading the doctors in this area: it’s something people can do on their own, and because dietary interventions haven’t been studied beyond a few conditions, there’s still plenty of untapped potential.

Nicholas Norwitz told me that a ketogenic diet gave him relief from debilitating irritable bowel disease. He developed the condition at 21. After trying medications and various diets, he found that a ketogenic approach worked, enabling him to finish a PhD in metabolism at Oxford University and earn an MD from Harvard.

He said he eats lots of fish, eggs and olive oil. He has nothing against the non-starchy plants allowed on a ketogenic diet, but they don’t always agree with him.

But people can and do stick to diets when the stakes are high enough. We don’t all have to eat the same way — and we shouldn’t. Thanks to our species’ superpower — adaptability — we have more options than we think.

F.D. Flam is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering science. She is host of the “Follow the Science” podcast.

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Today is Thursday, Oct. 30, the 303rd day of 2025. There are 62 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 30, 1975, the New York Daily News ran the headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead,” a day after President Gerald R. Ford said he would veto any proposed federal bailout of New York City, which was on the verge of bankruptcy. The city ultimately evaded bankruptcy despite weathering a severe fiscal crisis.

Also on this date:

In 1912, Vice President James S. Sherman, running for a second term of office with Republican President William Howard Taft, died six days before Election Day. (Taft was defeated by Democrat Woodrow Wilson in the election).

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In 1938, the radio play “The War of the Worlds,” starring Orson Welles, aired on the CBS Radio Network. The broadcast panicked some listeners in its portrayal of an invasion by Martians.

In 1961, the Soviet Union tested a hydrogen bomb, the “Tsar Bomba,” with a force estimated at about 50 megatons (over 3,500 times that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima). It remains the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated.

In 1972, an Illinois Central Gulf commuter train was struck by another train on Chicago’s South Side, killing 45 people and injuring about 350.

In 1974, Muhammad Ali, 32, knocked out George Foreman, 25, in the eighth round of a scheduled 15-round bout known as the “Rumble in the Jungle,” in Kinshasa, Congo (then Zaire), to regain his world heavyweight title.

In 1995, voters in the province of Quebec narrowly defeated a referendum that called for sovereignty with a new economic and political partnership with Canada.

In 2005, the late Rosa Parks was the first woman to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda; Parks became a civil rights icon by refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus to a white passenger in 1955.

In 2018, gangster James “Whitey” Bulger was found beaten to death at a federal prison in West Virginia; the 89-year-old former Boston crime boss and longtime FBI informant had been transferred there just hours earlier.(Three inmates entered plea deals and were convicted in Bulger’s killing).

In 2023, the United Auto Workers said it reached a tentative deal with General Motors, capping a whirlwind few days in which GM, Ford and Stellantis agreed to terms that would end the union’s targeted strikes over six week.(UAW members later ratified the contracts).

Today’s Birthdays:

Author Robert Caro is 90.
Football Hall of Fame coach Dick Vermeil is 89.
Rock singer Grace Slick is 86.
Songwriter Eddie Holland is 86.
R&B singer Otis Williams (The Temptations) is 84.
Actor Henry Winkler is 80.
Broadcast journalist Andrea Mitchell is 79.
Country/rock musician Timothy B. Schmit (The Eagles) is 78.
Actor Harry Hamlin is 74.
Country singer T. Graham Brown is 71.
Actor Kevin Pollak is 68.
Actor Michael Beach is 62.
Musician Gavin Rossdale (Bush) is 60.
Actor Nia Long is 55.
Actor Matthew Morrison is 47.
Business executive and former presidential adviser Ivanka Trump is 44.
Olympic gold medal gymnast Nastia Liukin is 36.
NBA guard Devin Booker is 29.
NHL defenseman Cale Makar is 27.