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Patio season in the Twin Cities: Twins host the Angels, the Lynx kick off a home stand at Target Center, Mill City Farmers Market is open, Asia Village lands 85°C Bakery in Blaine, and Osseo preps Minnesota's first city-owned cannabis store.
George and Laura break down a gorgeous July weekend in the Twin Cities — day baseball, Lynx hoops, plant-based patio picks, and the strangest cannabis story in Minnesota right now.
In this episode:
Sources:
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George: —and I'm telling you, Laura, the second that sun came out this week, everybody I know just... vanished. Like, gone. Patios only.
Laura: Right? My group chat went dark. Everybody's suddenly "on a walk."
George: On a walk. Sure.
Laura: On a walk with a beer, George. Let's be honest.
George: Fair. Fair.
Laura: But I mean, can you blame us? It's July. We earned this.
George: We earned it. That's the whole thing. You survive February in the Cities, you get to sit outside and do absolutely nothing for three months.
Laura: Doncha know it.
George: Ope, there it is.
Laura: I couldn't help it. It just slipped out.
George: Weather this weekend, though — genuinely gorgeous. Like, if you're not outside Friday and Saturday, I don't know what to tell ya.
Laura: What are you doing? Because I know you, you've got a whole itinerary.
George: I do. I do. Okay, so — Twins are home. Angels in town, Friday seven-ten, then Saturday and Sunday afternoon games at Target Field.
Laura: Day baseball. That's the move.
George: Day baseball is the ONLY move. I don't want a night game in July, I want a one-ten start and a slow walk home.
Laura: See, and I'm going the other direction — Lynx are home Saturday too, noon tip at Target Center.
George: Oh that's a good problem to have.
Laura: It's a great problem to have. Basketball inside where the AC works, then patio after? Come on.
George: Okay you're smarter than me, that's a better plan.
Laura: I'm always smarter than you, George.
George: Noted, noted.
Laura: And the Lynx are on a whole home stand, right? Like it keeps going.
George: Yeah, through the 18th. Monday night, Wednesday, another Saturday. If you've been meaning to get to a game, this is the week.
Laura: This is the week.
George: Should we do food?
Laura: We should ALWAYS do food. That's the show.
George: That's the show. Okay so patio season, plant-based edition — where are you starting?
Laura: J. Selby's. Always. Every time.
George: St. Paul side.
Laura: St. Paul side, and I don't care what anybody says, that's still the gold standard for me.
George: I'm not gonna push back on that. I will push back if you skip Herbivorous Butcher though.
Laura: I'm not skipping Herbivorous Butcher, George, calm down.
George: Okay okay.
Laura: Northeast in the summer? With a sandwich from there and a walk over toward the river? That's a whole afternoon.
George: That IS a whole afternoon. Stone Arch Bridge, you loop across, you come back...
Laura: See, and this is where you get nostalgic on me.
George: I do not.
Laura: You DO. Every time we get near Stone Arch you start telling the mill story again.
George: Okay, one time. One time I told the mill story.
Laura: George. It's not one time.
George: Fine. Fine. But speaking of down there — Mill City Farmers Market is going Saturday, eight to one, right by the museum.
Laura: That I will co-sign. That market is genuinely one of the best things about summer here.
George: Runs through September. So you've got time. But go early — parking gets spendy and weird if you sleep in.
Laura: Spendy.
George: What.
Laura: Nothing. Keep going. Spendy.
George: It IS spendy, Laura.
Laura: I know it is. I'm not disagreeing. I'm just enjoying it.
George: Okay. And the Lyndale market is going too, plus the Nicollet Mall satellite midweek — schedule's on mplsfarmersmarket.com if you wanna plan.
Laura: Good. Cover your bases. Now — Reverie.
George: Reverie. Yes.
Laura: If you have not been to Reverie for a slow weekend breakfast, I don't know what you're doing with your life.
George: That's a strong statement.
Laura: I stand by it.
George: Okay. And Hard Times if you're up late or up early, depending on your definition.
Laura: Depending on your definition, exactly. Trio Plant-Based if you want a proper sit-down —
George: — Hello Pizza if you don't wanna think —
Laura: — and The Herbalist if you wanna feel like a grown-up.
George: That's the whole map.
Laura: That IS the whole map. And shoutout mplsvegan.com — that's where I actually keep track of all this stuff, because I cannot hold it in my head anymore.
George: Same. Genuinely same. Okay, quick one — new stuff. There's a coffee shop that opened last month in downtown St. Paul, ground floor of the Lowry Building. River Valley Coffee.
Laura: Oh, in the Lowry? That's a nice spot for it.
George: Yeah. Just opened in June. I haven't been yet.
Laura: You haven't been? George. You live for a new coffee shop.
George: I know. I know. It's on the list. Honestly I didn't even know it was open till this week.
Laura: There it is. He admits it.
George: I admit it! I'm out of the loop.
Laura: Out here nostalgic about mills and missing the actual new stuff.
George: Alright, that one landed.
Laura: And then out in Blaine — Asia Village opened at Northtown Mall. That's a big deal, right? Hundred-twenty-five-thousand square feet.
George: Massive. And that's where Minnesota's first 85°C Bakery Cafe is.
Laura: That's the one people have been waiting on.
George: For years. Genuinely for years. So if you're up that way, worth the trip.
Laura: Worth the trip.
George: Okay — cannabis corner.
Laura: My favorite corner.
George: Your favorite corner. Alright, so, the news of the moment — there's this thing happening in Osseo.
Laura: Talk to me.
George: So Osseo — little suburb, northwest metro — is on track to open what would be the state's first city-owned cannabis retail shop. Like, the CITY is the operator.
Laura: Wait. Hold on. The city itself?
George: The city itself. They're partnering with a Minnesota outfit called Voyageur Cannabis Services, and it's going into the old Osseo Press & News building. Around seventy-five hundred square feet.
Laura: That is genuinely wild. A municipal dispensary.
George: I know.
Laura: Like, your local government owns the weed store.
George: Your local government owns the weed store. Mid-2026 target to open.
Laura: Okay I need to sit with that.
George: Sit with it.
Laura: Sitting.
George: And the other big shift this year — the '26 legislative package that got signed this spring actually merges the medical and adult-use supply chains, up to the point of retail. Creates a new "macrobusiness" license, formally regulates the party-size hemp beverages...
Laura: Which is a big deal for the beverage folks.
George: Huge. Like, Stigma has been out here doing the THC beverage thing for a while, and now the rules around that are actually written down.
Laura: Written down and real.
George: Written down and real. Which — good. That's how it should be.
Laura: Yeah. And for people who wanna actually go into a shop this weekend — where are we sending them?
George: Uh, so, North Loop — Wildflower. Northeast — Simply Crafted. Bloomington side — Green Goods. And Edina Canna if you're out that direction.
Laura: And mncannabishub.com if you want the actual rundown, because —
George: — because I just listed four places and half of you already forgot the first two.
Laura: Exactly.
George: Guilty of doing that on this show constantly.
Laura: We ALL do it.
George: Okay — weekend vibes. Where are people actually going?
Laura: Okay so, biggest one — Minnesota Country Club Festival, this weekend, Harriet Island in St. Paul. Friday and Saturday. Two stages, fifteen-plus artists.
George: Country fest on Harriet Island. That's a scene.
Laura: That is a SCENE. If country's your thing, that's the weekend.
George: And if it's not?
Laura: If it's not, First Ave has you covered. Friday night is the Trader Joe's versus Aldi Rave, which — I have questions.
George: I'm sorry, the WHAT?
Laura: Trader Joe's versus Aldi Rave. Nine p.m. Friday.
George: I don't... what does that even mean?
Laura: I have no idea, George. That's why we go.
George: Fair. Okay and then Saturday?
Laura: Saturday is Bouncing Souls, seven p.m. Then Sunday — Paul Oakenfold and The Crystal Method.
George: Oh that's a real Sunday.
Laura: That is a REAL Sunday. First Ave earning its keep this weekend.
George: They always do. And on the theater side, Guthrie's got Come From Away going — that runs through August ninth. Performance Saturday.
Laura: I love that show.
George: It's a great show. And Private Lives opens the 18th if you wanna plan ahead.
Laura: Plan ahead. Look at you.
George: I am trying, Laura.
Laura: I see you trying.
George: Okay — one more, because this is the elephant in the room. Aquatennial.
Laura: Aquatennial's next weekend. Eighteenth through the twenty-sixth.
George: Torchlight Parade down Nicollet, Milk Carton Boat Races on Bde Maka Ska, fireworks —
Laura: — Aquatennial Night at Target Field on the twenty-fourth —
George: — it's the whole thing. So if you're mapping July out, that's your next-weekend anchor.
Laura: Anchor weekend.
George: And Saints are home the 17th through the 19th at CHS Field, hosting Louisville. So St. Paul is gonna be BUSY.
Laura: St. Paul is gonna be alive next week.
George: West 7th on a Saints night before an Aquatennial weekend? Uff da.
Laura: Uff da is right.
George: In the best way.
Laura: In the best way. That's peak Cities.
George: Peak Cities. Okay, so — takeaway.
Laura: Takeaway.
George: If I'm giving people ONE thing to actually do this weekend — I think it's this. Saturday morning, Mill City Farmers Market, eight to one. Walk over the Stone Arch after. Grab a sandwich from Herbivorous Butcher on the way home. Twins day game if you've got the energy, Lynx at noon if you don't.
Laura: That's like four things, George.
George: It's ONE day. It's one day of things.
Laura: Okay, okay. I'll allow it.
George: Thank you.
Laura: I would add — and this is my push — go somewhere you have not been. Reverie if you never go to that side. Trio if you always do takeout. New coffee at River Valley if you're a St. Paul person. Don't just do your usual.
George: That's a good one, actually.
Laura: Thank you.
George: No, I mean it. Patio season's short. Don't spend the whole thing on the same block.
Laura: On the same block with the same drink at the same table.
George: Guilty.
Laura: I know you are.
George: Alright — that's the show.
Laura: That's the show.
George: Big thank you as always to our people — mplsvegan.com, where Laura keeps her actual food brain —
Laura: — my whole external hard drive, honestly —
George: — and mncannabishub.com, where you can figure out where to actually go without me listing four places you forgot.
Laura: Which is every episode.
George: Which is every episode. Get outside. Be kind to a patio server. Tip in cash if you can.
Laura: Tip in cash. Drink some water in between the pops.
George: The POPS.
Laura: The pops, George.
George: Skol, friends. Catch you next time.
Laura: Catch you next time.
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).