I was SO looking forward to this festival as I love Asian food. The quality of the food was very…read moregood and the ViP bag & pin were cute but tickets at $85 for two was high. But the food prices were through roof. When your only options for wontons is one for $4.00 and $18.00 for 8 is unreasonable. Can I get 2 for $7.00, so I can have other small tastes of other food? $21.00 for a cup of beef ramen (commemorative noodle cup which is very cute-see photo)? The drinks were also pretty highly priced. Mt other feedback was the security check. We paid for VIP tickets and expecting a VIP entrance. Nope, everyone goes through the same line which OK, I get it, it's police policy. However, the officer went way too far in searching. Not only did he pull my wallet out, he started opening up my wallet and looking though the compartments. What was he thinking he'd find? No wonder the line was long and we were there right at 4:00 pm. And I wasn't the only one, another guest commented on the extra security needed because she had never had her wallet inspected either. Probably won't return, unless, it can become a "tasting menu" vs. $70 for 3 dishes.

Ah, Panda Festival 2026 at the Mall of America. I believe this is the second year they have had…read morethis in Minnesota. We missed out last year because the tickets sold out (my fault), but we made sure to attend it this year. Here is the good, bad, and the ugly from our adventure. We, as in me, my wife, and 11 year old daughter, made it our mission to make it this year. I got the 1000 am check in time, and paid for 4 tickets to PANDA FEST 2026! This was the earliest check in time for day 2, Saturday, August 1st. Luckily we didn't get tickets to day 1 on Friday, because it rained almost all day. Saturday was rain free, but a bit warm. The temp was in the high 80's. The 4th ticket went unused because my daughter's friend didn't make it. We made sure we arrived about 20 minutes early, because I had no idea where to park. The event was in the far north parking lot of the MOA (Mall of America). I was happy to see that there was plenty of parking about 2 blocks from the festivities, and the parking lot was enormous. We walked to the entrance, and there was already a long line that had formed, and it was pretty regulated with the typical cattle guard fences and MOA security overlooking everything. We didn't have to wait long, and the MC of the event got on her "toy" bull horn and welcomed everyone to the second annual Panda Festival. The countdown started, and everyone shuffled through the security checkpoint that was manned by MOA personnel, and Bloomington Police Officers. This was a pretty secure checkpoint that looked like Terminal One of the MSP airport. Yes, they even had metal detectors, and all bags/purses were checked. No vapes, lighters, guns, or weapons, outside beverages or food were allowed in. But no worries, it looked like a few vapes were tossed on the ground before the check in. Confession time. I'm a retired copper of 30 years, and always carry a knife on me. Today was no exception. I figured my chances were about 50/50 on whether my very expensive knife was going to trigger the metal detectors. But I decided to play the odds, and then flash my Police ID if the detector went off. I'd hand over the knife, but return later to get it after we left the venue. However, I passed through the metal detectors no problem, despite having my cell phone, and a janitor sized keychain on my belt loop. Read that as you may, but methinks the sensitivity of the metal detectors were set a bit too low. Anyway, we passed the checkpoint, got our collectable panda pins, and the inflatable panda headbands. It was a nice touch that the headband station had hand pumps to pump up the headbands. My daughter loved the headbands. Now, it was time to eat! If you are a foodie, this was the place to be. Evidently there were over 80 food vendors here, and the variety was enough to satisfy almost everyone. We started off with 2 fruit juices since it was pretty hot out. The two juices were okay, and set us back about $10 a piece. We then decided to get something to eat. My daughter (who took all the pictures, thanks Dixi!) got some fresh fruit that was caramelized in a sugar shell. I got a marinated steak skewer that was about 14 inches long that was pretty fatty (very fatty) but tasted pretty good. The wife abstained from eating but got a potato tornado drenched in blue Taqui dust later (didn't like it). We then proceeded to check the rest of the place out, and I won a trivia contest that yielded a bamboo Vietnamese rice hat for the daughter. Then we ate more food. The highlight was a weird concoction of an ice cream cone that was shaped like a question mark that my daughter had seen on YouTube. It was messy, but tasted pretty good. She also had a conversation with the YouTube influencer that was there, so she was happy about that. We lasted about 2 1/2 hours due to the heat, but managed to visit the entire venue, albeit about $150.00 lighter, much to my chagrin. We had fun, ate a lot, but it was not cheap. Case in point: a panda container of fresh watermelon juice set us back $25. The average cost of a single item was around $15. With that said, the best deal was a Thai style papaya salad made to order for $10. It was very good, and was good for about 3 servings. All in all, we had a good time, but it was expensive. Will we go next year if Panda Festival comes back? Probably. This place made bank, and it was a huge crowd. A word of advice: Don't do the VIP treatment. It's not worth it, and basically gets you a slightly shorter line on entrance, a small swag bag, and more access to the port a potties. Shell out for the general admin tickets. The line goes quick. All in all we had a good time. Thanks to the kiddo for the pictures taken, and she got interviewed by a reporter from the Star Tribune on camera. Expensive, but it was an experience.

Finally got to check out the MN Ren Faire and for the most part I enjoyed the festivities. Many…read morepeople as well as I was in full medieval, fantasy, or cosplay in this fun gathering of all sorts of people. While many people complain out the prices I personally did a few things to help with that. First is the entry fee. Normally you'd spend $31 for adults in addition to a $30 parking fee which would be $61 just to get in, but instead Costco sells 2 tickets + 2 turkey legs for $47 which is $23.50 per person. 2nd of all, MVTA offers $6 round trip rides from Eagle Creek, Burnsville Transit centers that take you on buses that get your right to the entrance. Those buses run every 15 to 30 minutes and basically cut the price of getting in to only $29 instead of $61. Inside there's tons of food and drink options. First thing to do was actually get the food before noon and the afternoon crowd swamps the place. I've had tb the mead, bacon waffles, turkey leg, Cheesecake on a stick, Pad Thai, Cheese curds, and they were not too expensive ranging from $5-$10. Personally they are all between 3 to 4 stars, none mindblowing but none that were bad. I think I like the Nefertari Mead the most near the stall of the West gate entrance, just slightly north of that. The events that happen at the faire are pretty fun to participate in. Events that involve prizes are free, joined a meatball eating completion and got 2nd. Carnival games typically cost $5 like throwing axes, archery, rock climbing, etc. My biggest complaint is that this faire still uses Elephant rides. Just seems so unethical making money off of tamed animals misery. The crowds also get significantly worse after 1pm. Best to arrive right at opening between 8-9am so you can get all your food and drinks ordered and done. Come to the ren faire on an empty stomach. Other than those two gripes, I did enjoy my time with the friends here.

Visited the Renaissance Festival on September 1, and as always, it was an absolute blast! Huge…read morethanks to Yelp for the free tickets -- what an awesome surprise! This was my 7th Renaissance Festival, and I still love everything about it -- the energy, the costumes, the music, the laughter, and of course, that legendary turkey leg! It's smoky, juicy, and hands-down my favorite tradition every year. Parking is definitely a hike -- you park and then walk about a mile to the entrance -- but honestly, that's part of the fun and charm. It's the perfect way to burn a few calories before adding them right back with all the food and drinks inside! The whole experience is just magical -- fun for all ages, full of character, and always worth the trip. Can't wait for next year already -- it never gets old!

What a beautiful museum!! The volunteers they had were so…read morelovely, especially the 90 year-old lady named Edna Irma!! So fun at Christmas time!!

First of all there are a lot of people (staff and volunteers) to walk with you and engage with you…read moreto talk about the history of the building, architecture, history of the family, where some of these furniture acquired and more. It is breathtaking woodwork and plaster work. According to staff they are all hand carved and painted. They also have a small gift shop and a cafeteria to enjoy. You can walk through quickly if you want to see something that is intriguing or you can spend hours admiring the woodwork, stonework, masonry as well as the furniture...

Beautiful historical building with grey photo opportunities and a few small but exquisite museums…read moreinside! I walked into this center while attending a conference in the Saint Paul hotel across the street. I was so pleasantly surprised by how beautiful the inside is, how nice the two museums (a musical instrument museum, with amazingly beautiful old pianos, and a woodwork museum with a great collection of carved wood items) are, and how friendly and helpful the staff/volunteers were inside the center. And all of that is free to the visitors! What a wonderful opportunity to see the region's history and culture , and meet some friendly locals! I can't recommend this place enough!

Gorgeous historical building with a variety of exhibits and restored courtrooms. The woodwork…read morethroughout the building was all hand-carved, as was the stonework. A wonderful space in which to wander!

Oh my. This was truly the best night of 2016 so far. And…read moreit's going to be tough to top. How does one convey in words such high levels of epicness? I will press on. If you have a deep appreciation for heritage pork, then you should be at this venue. If you don't, then you clearly do not belong in such a place with this kind of zeal and squeal. Nothing less than 5-stars, my friends; nothing less. First, I have history with pigs (aren't reviews really just a way to tell the stories of our lives?). I grew up loving pigs. Miss Piggy was my favorite. In 6th grade, I begged my parents to get a pot-bellied pig (one day I'll give them the kudos for sticking to their guns on not letting that happen). Also in 6th grade, I ate too much candy and started to resemble a pig, so I decided to stay quiet about my love of pigs until I got my waistline under control about a decade later (phew). While loving pigs, pork did nothing for me...until I learned of heritage breeds back in 2008. The color! The flavor! The texture! There was no going back. And just to show off ('cause that's fun to do from time-to-time), I discovered & tried, at a fundraiser dinner back in 2011 for the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund, Mangalitsa pork belly for my first time, and knew right then there could be no other. And this is where the Cochon555 story begins... My sweet Mangalitsa was here in many culinary creations (and other breeds, too). And many of its dear relatives were here. It was a big family reunion and I was on cloud nine. Out of sheer randomness (& a reminder from God that He loves me), I won 2 VIP tickets from Yelp to this event! I wasn't even aware of what Cochon555 until I saw the contest (HOW did I MISS THIS?). When I read up on it, I realized that this evening was scripted for me and soon enough I found that I won! The joy! The rapture! The tears! Thank you, Yelp! The machine bots that chose my name were Divinely guided! I will write reviews for you until I perish from this earth. I invited a foodie friend that gets as excited about sustainably raised heritage piggies, from our beloved local farmers, as I do. Our tickets were thoroughly redeemed with every delicious, lovingly prepared, & creatively presented piece of pork. People talk about how drugs have altered their mind and enhanced their experience. I can't speak to that. But I can speak to what THIS pork did to me. There were top notch, sustainably & creatively-based restaurants, competing & representing at this event, including: Travail Kitchen & Amusements Spoon & Stable Chef Shack Ranch Surly Brewing (who won the MN Pork King title) Zen Box My favorite food delivery mode was a man, from Travail Kitchen, scuffing around the room on his knees in a sombrero. The sombrero contained a delicious & subtly sweet pate in the center of the hat and the rim of the hat contained chicharrones broken up from a large hide they fried late the night before. The server was on his knees so that people could just grab from his hat at standing height...it was brilliant. There was prociutto-like bacon (I know, it's either one or the other...but in this case, it wasn't!) "skewered" in waves on a thin crispy bread stick (no, it wasn't a pretzel ;-). There were also sweet lard-filled chocolates (I could have eaten those all night!). I was blown away by Spoon & Stable's creation of marshmallows made out of pork blood (same whipping properties as egg whites; who knew?!) and so much more. There was also the whole hog butchery going on right after the votes were taken. This is something IMPORTANT! We're a society that is detached from where our food comes from. Majority of us aren't going to be able to tell others what portion of an animal that a particular cut comes from, so this was valuable, precious, AND educational. All parts of the animal were put out for sale! Loved that feature, too! For as much gushing as I'm doing, I will say there were a few items that I thought were boring and uncreative for it being at an event like this: wonton-type items (wrapping pork in pasta is most likely what all of us would have thought of doing...just wasn't a "wow" (not that it has to be). Another item is that this is NOT a gluten-free friendly event. Considering the focus on sustainability and that wheat is an overcropped item (which is overshadowed by those who have gluten allergies & sensitivities). While I CAN consume wheat, I choose not to, because of past wheat sensitivities. I was truly surprised that at this day and age how many chefs went with the bland wheat berry. There was even a separate pie outfit that came in as a pop-up towards the end that didn't offer gluten-free options. Wha? Yes, one can consume the filling if they must, but one can also create a stellar gluten-free pie crust. Regardless, I would go to this event again & again. Oh, and ladies, 3 out of 4 attendees (or more) are men. If you're looking for a piggy-partner-in-crime, you may find your match here ;-)

I had never been to an event like this so I knew very little about what to expect. It ended up…read morebeing awesome! There is a wide selection of local wine and other beverages to try. It was a great opportunity to learn more about some of Minnesota's local food and wine producers! There were many different variations of pork as well as other dishes to try. The seafood bar was phenomenal! Overall, great experience. I highly recommend d for those who love pork or are just looking for a unique food experience!

Dropped in last night for their free Thursday evening admission. All I had to do was check-in at…read morethe front desk and receive a small medallion to wear. They even had a fun free craft going on in the basement, all supplies included and snacks! Yay! I just took an explore at my own pace through a couple of exhibits. The docents are a little creepy... I know they're just doing their job by standing there staring at you or following you around (probably because guests are bad at respecting the rules), but yeah, I found them a little distracting/detracting from the experience. Oh well. I just tried to ignore it and focus on the art as best I could. Moving from room to room and spiralling up gradual stairways will kind of get you lost inside the building. It's large and has multiple floors. The space will shift from cozy to grandiose at a moment's notice. If you don't like being lost, grab a map before you go in. If getting lost is a fun part of the experience for you, then by all means, just enjoy following your nose like I did, haha! I happened to be there on opening night for the new kid's exhibit they added, where you are encouraged to touch as part of exploration. It's not terribly large, but I like things that encourage imaginative play. Shame I saw one lady just staring at her cell phone like a drone while her kid played beside her. There are all-gender bathrooms on the ground floor by the lobby, and additional restrooms scattered throughout the center (when you stumble across them, lol). There are also coat closets for you to hang your coat if you don't need it; they keep the center nice and warm inside! There is an occasional water fountain as well, which is a godsend since they do not allow you to carry ANY drinks (even recloseable water bottles like Hydroflasks) into the exhibit spaces. There are also a couple of gift shops. The one in the lobby has affordable things, the one deeper in on the second floor is like modern art for your home + a wall of books. There are a couple of theatres inside, along with a full restaurant (y'know, if you have money for fancy-schmancy things like eating, oops). For parking you have a couple options: you can utilize the surface lot for $5 and it'll last you until midnight, or you can use the underground lot for $8. Depending on the weather conditions, that extra $3 might make it worth it to you to choose the underground space. On a chilly Thursday November evening, I still chose the outdoor lot and there were plenty of parking spaces available. There is also the option of squeezing into parallel parking along Vineland and using the meters. Obviously, the sculpture garden is also right next door to explore at any time of day for free. I highly recommend it, if only to take a quick selfie with the Cherry & Spoon or blue Cock.

I had the pleasure of attending the performance of Shamel Pitts - Tribe: Marks of Red on Saturday…read moreand it was interesting. I was very entertained as the performers were absolutely AMAZING. I enjoyed the space and I will be back another show and all of the other art parts that offer because I really love the arts. Go and be inspired.

Great little community event at Island Lake Park. It was super hot out yesterday, but still…read morebearable. Plenty of parking at Deluxe Check or the surrounding lots. Attractions: Smallish carnival- most of the rides are for younger kids which is nice for us. Fun Slide, mini cars, spinning dragons etc. Lake Johannah Fire Station open house with lots of freebies, fire tucks, water hoses, education etc. Nice little open house. Parade Vendors Food Vendors Jump Station for the kids- $5 Some of the prices are ridiculous for things. $7 for a lemonade and $3 for a refill. Good turn out. Nice community event.

Fun free event for the whole family...I was there yesterday and they had an AMAZING band playing…read morecalled THE POWER OF 10. I had so much fun dancing! Loses one star from me because of the expensive food truck items and lemonade...also everything is cash only...so bring cash! There is an ATM on the ground but there's a $3 fee!

Small but peaceful! First time visiting the Japanese garden and it didn't disappoint. Super well…read moremaintained and great walk space. Look forward to visiting again!

This is such a cute little place behind a community college located in Bloomington, Minnesota. We…read morevisited on a nice autumn day and it was perfect for a photo shoot. Once inside the garden, you feel like you're in a different country. They also have beautiful koi fishes in the pond that you can feed using the fish food you can purchase from the dispensers outside the gate. It's so unique! If you haven't gone, please do!