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George and Laura map out Fourth of July weekend in Minneapolis-St. Paul: Red White & Boom, Mill City and Linden Hills farmers markets, Saints fireworks night at CHS Field, plus Indígena by Owamni moving into the Guthrie, Killen's Irish Pub near Target Field, and Maison Rose's big Lilydale bet.
It's Fourth of July weekend in the Twin Cities and George and Laura break down every patio, market, ballpark, and pastry café worth your time. Plus a real cannabis story, not just vibes.
In this episode:
Sources:
Subscribe: mplsvegan.com
George: —and I'm telling you, Laura, I walked over the Stone Arch Bridge this morning and it already SMELLED like the Fourth. Grill smoke, sunscreen, a little river funk...
Laura: "A little river funk." George. That's your pull quote for the week.
George: Ope, put it on a t-shirt.
Laura: You know what though, you're not wrong. There's a switch that flips the week of the Fourth in the Cities. Everybody's just... outside.
George: Everybody's outside. Patios full. Dogs out. Somebody's uncle already sunburned by ten a.m.
Laura: Every year. Same uncle.
George: Same uncle.
Laura: Okay so before we get too deep — happy Fourth-of-July-weekend, if you're listening the day this drops. It's Friday. It is ON.
George: It is on. And listen, we got a lot to get to. Farmers markets, some food news that honestly made me a little emotional...
Laura: Emotional?
George: A little. I'll get there.
Laura: Okay, noted. Cannabis stuff too — there's actually a real story there this week, not just vibes.
George: Real story. And weekend plans, obviously. But weather first, because...
Laura: Because you're a dad.
George: Because I'm a dad, Laura, yes. It is beautiful. It's beautiful out. That's the forecast.
Laura: That's it? That's your whole weather segment?
George: Warm. Sunny-ish. Bring water. Do not be the guy on the Greenway at 2 p.m. with no water.
Laura: Do NOT be that guy. I saw that guy last summer near Uptown. He was...struggling.
George: We've all been that guy once.
Laura: You've been that guy.
George: I've been that guy. Fair.
Laura: Okay, farmers markets. Because if you're doing anything the morning of the Fourth, this is the move.
George: This is THE move. Mill City is open Saturday, eight to one, right there next to the Mill City Museum. That's the one on South Second.
Laura: Right by the river. Perfect if you're already gonna be downtown-ish for the fireworks later.
George: Exactly. Do your market run in the morning, go home, nap, come back for Red White and Boom.
Laura: Nap strategy. I respect a nap strategy.
George: Nap strategy is the only strategy after 35.
Laura: Speak for yourself. And then Sunday — Linden Hills is doing their market, eleven to two.
George: Linden Hills Sunday. Yeah. They usually got, what, live music and like fifty vendors rotating through?
Laura: Around fifty, yeah. It's a whole afternoon if you let it be.
George: It's such a nice little neighborhood for that. Walkable. Trees.
Laura: Walkable, trees, and everybody's got a golden retriever.
George: Everybody has a golden retriever. I noticed that too.
Laura: It's a whole aesthetic.
George: And I gotta shout the St. Paul Farmers' Market over in Lowertown too. Fifth and Wall.
Laura: Lowertown market is underrated. People sleep on it because Mill City gets all the press.
George: They do sleep on it. It's a great one. Especially if you're already gonna be on that side.
Laura: Which — speaking of that side — real quick, the Saints are home this weekend.
George: Oh yeah, CHS Field. Buffalo Bisons in town, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Laura: Saturday's the one though. Six-oh-seven start, fireworks after.
George: Fireworks after a Saints game on the Fourth of July. That is... that is a very specific kind of perfect.
Laura: That is peak Twin Cities summer.
George: Peak. And then Sunday's the day game — two-oh-seven.
Laura: Day game with a hangover. Classic.
George: You said it, not me.
Laura: Okay, food. You said you got emotional.
George: I got a little emotional. So — and I have to be careful here because I'm gonna say a name — Indígena. From the Sean Sherman team.
Laura: Yeah.
George: The Owamni relocation, into the Guthrie. That's happening this year.
Laura: I know. I have complicated feelings.
George: Talk to me.
Laura: Look, Owamni on the riverfront was SPECIAL. That view. That whole vibe. When they closed that in April I was — I was bummed. I was really bummed.
George: Same. I took my mom there for her birthday like two years ago.
Laura: That's a memory-place, right? So moving into the Guthrie... it's not the same building. It can't be.
George: It can't be the same. But — and this is where I push back a little...
Laura: Push back.
George: The Guthrie is a MINNEAPOLIS institution. The endless bridge, the view up the river? That's not a downgrade. That's just a different chapter.
Laura: Hm.
George: And Sean Sherman doing indigenous food, inside the Guthrie? That's a statement.
Laura: Okay. Okay, I'll grant you that. I was ready to be mad and you're softening me up.
George: I'm working you.
Laura: You're working me. But I'll believe it when I sit down in there.
George: Fair.
Laura: What else? You mentioned a pub.
George: Killen's Irish Pub. Opening mid-June — so basically just opened — near Target Field. In the old First Draft Tap Haus space.
Laura: Oh, that's a good corner for a pub. Pre-Twins-game energy.
George: Perfect corner. Twins are home Tuesday through Thursday next week against Cleveland...
Laura: And then the Angels come in that Friday.
George: Angels that weekend, and Twins Hall of Fame induction is Saturday the eleventh.
Laura: Ohhh. That's a fun one.
George: That is a fun day at Target Field. So a new Irish pub two blocks away? Somebody did the math.
Laura: Somebody DEFINITELY did the math.
George: One more, and this one I'm just... rooting for. Maison Rose.
Laura: Say more.
George: The Patisserie 46 folks, John Kraus and Elizabeth Rose. They're opening a thirteen-thousand-square-foot French pastry café.
Laura: Thirteen thousand?
George: Thirteen thousand. In Lilydale. Later this year.
Laura: In LILYDALE.
George: In Lilydale. That's what got me. Because those two, they could've gone anywhere. They could've done another Mpls spot, easy.
Laura: And instead they're betting on a suburb.
George: Betting on a suburb, at that size. That is a big bet.
Laura: That's a spendy bet.
George: It is a spendy bet, yeah.
Laura: I love it. I love when people who could play it safe just... don't.
George: Same.
Laura: Okay, and quick shoutout, because this is who we are — the vegan patio move this weekend...
George: Talk to me.
Laura: J. Selby's over on the St. Paul side if you're doing the Cathedral Hill thing on the Fourth.
George: Oh, that's smart. St. Paul Rotary's doing their Fourth of July up at Cathedral Hill Park.
Laura: Gates and food trucks at six on Dayton. So you eat early at Selby's, walk over.
George: That's a plan. That's a real plan.
Laura: And on the Minneapolis side — Herbivorous Butcher in Northeast, obviously.
George: Obviously.
Laura: Trio Plant-Based if you want a sit-down. Hello Pizza if you're grabbing slices.
George: Reverie for the coffee-and-hang. Hard Times if you want to feel twenty-two again.
Laura: Hard Times has been Hard Times my whole life. That place is unkillable.
George: Unkillable. And The Herbalist is such a nice quiet one people forget about.
Laura: People forget about The Herbalist. Don't sleep. And obviously — mplsvegan.com. Our friends. Go check the map, they keep it updated.
George: mplsvegan.com. If you're new to the plant-based scene here, that's your starting point.
Laura: That's your starting point.
George: Okay. Cannabis corner.
Laura: Okay. So there's an actual news story this week and it's kind of a big deal.
George: Lay it out.
Laura: Legend Technical Services — one of the licensed cannabis testing labs — shut down their cannabis testing operation in mid-June.
George: Which leaves Minnesota with...
Laura: Three fully licensed labs. Three.
George: For the whole state.
Laura: For the whole state. So the bottleneck now is: products can't hit shelves until they're tested. Three labs.
George: So what does that mean for a normal person walking into a dispensary?
Laura: It means release timelines are stretched. Your favorite thing might be out of stock a little longer. New drops trickle instead of pour.
George: Okay honestly? I didn't know that. I've been seeing gaps on shelves and I just figured it was demand.
Laura: It might be partly demand, but this is a real supply pinch on the testing side.
George: Huh.
Laura: And zoom out — OCM has issued 240 licenses out of like 3,541 that have been applied for.
George: Two hundred forty out of thirty-five hundred.
Laura: Two-forty. And most of the 2026 cannabis omnibus that Walz signed kicks in August 1.
George: August 1 is a real date to circle.
Laura: Circle August 1. Things shift.
George: So the play right now, if you're a consumer...
Laura: The play is: support the shops that are open and operating, don't panic-buy, and know that the folks behind the counter are dealing with a supply picture that's not their fault.
George: Be nice to your budtender.
Laura: Be nice to your budtender. Minnesota nice applies at the dispensary too.
George: It really does. So — Wildflower up in the North Loop, that's a great one. Simply Crafted over in Northeast.
Laura: Green Goods down in Bloomington if you're south. Edina Canna if you're that side of town.
George: And Stigma if you're doing the THC beverage thing this weekend on a patio.
Laura: Stigma bevs on a patio in July? Come on.
George: Come on! That's the whole summer right there.
Laura: That's the whole summer. And mncannabishub.com — sponsor, friends of the show — they've been tracking all this policy stuff really well.
George: mncannabishub.com. If you want to actually understand what August 1 means, that's your read.
Laura: That's your read.
George: Okay. Weekend vibes. Lightning round.
Laura: Lightning round.
George: Red White and Boom, downtown riverfront, Fourth of July. Ten a.m. to ten p.m., fireworks at ten.
Laura: Water Works, Stone Arch area. Get there early, parking is what it is.
George: Parking is what it is. Take the light rail if you can.
Laura: Nicollet Mall Festival, both days — Friday four to ten, Saturday noon to ten. Food, makers, Minnesota music.
George: Local music lineup. That's a nice one to just wander through.
Laura: Just wander. You don't need a plan.
George: Cathedral Hill in St. Paul we already talked about. And then — heads up if you have a nerd in your life — CONvergence at the Hyatt Regency this weekend.
Laura: I love CONvergence. Three through five.
George: Three through five. This year's theme is robots, cyborgs, androids.
Laura: Of course it is. That is so 2026.
George: It's very 2026.
Laura: And looking a little further out — First Ave has a stretch coming up. Benjamin Tod and Lost Dog Street Band on Thursday the ninth.
George: Ooh.
Laura: Then the Trader Joe's vs. Aldi Rave on Friday the tenth...
George: I'm sorry, the WHAT.
Laura: Trader Joe's vs. Aldi Rave. That's the show name.
George: I don't know what that is and I want to go.
Laura: I don't know what it is either! I looked at the listing three times.
George: That is the most 2026-Minneapolis show title I've ever heard.
Laura: It's a work of art. And then Bouncing Souls Saturday the eleventh.
George: Bouncing Souls at First Ave. That's a classic room for that band.
Laura: Classic room. And Lynx are home Monday against Connecticut, then again the eleventh, then the thirteenth.
George: Lynx are rolling. Target Center in July is a vibe.
Laura: Target Center in July is A/C and basketball, sign me up.
George: Sign me up.
Laura: Okay. Takeaway.
George: Takeaway. If I had to give one concrete thing this week — do the Mill City market Saturday morning, walk the Stone Arch, grab lunch on a patio somewhere plant-based, nap, then come back for Boom at night.
Laura: You just described your dream day.
George: I described my dream day, yeah.
Laura: But that IS the move. Market, bridge, patio, nap, fireworks. That's the whole holiday in one loop.
George: That's the loop. You don't need to overthink it.
Laura: Don't overthink the Fourth. It's the one holiday in Minnesota where the weather's actually on our side.
George: Every other one we're negotiating with the sky.
Laura: Negotiating with the sky. That's real.
George: Alright. Wrap us.
Laura: Big thanks to our sponsors, mplsvegan.com — check the map, plan your patio — and mncannabishub.com — read up on August 1, seriously.
George: Both those sites are run by people who actually live here and actually care. That matters.
Laura: That matters a lot.
George: Be good to each other this weekend. Drink water. Tip your servers on the Fourth, they are IN it.
Laura: They are in it. Tip well.
George: We'll catch you next time.
Laura: Catch you next time. Skol, Minneapolis.
Three times a week, the Twin Cities in 12 minutes. Real restaurants you should try, real local business news, real events worth your weekend. Sponsored by mplsveganhub.com and mncannabishub.com — for serious Minneapolis business owners, also brought to you by Quiet Coyote (quietcoyotemn.com).