Nick & Eddie

Located in Loring Park, Nick and Eddie serves Italian-American cuisine in a friendly environment. Appetizers include baked gnocchi and grilled Pacific oysters, and main courses include grilled Delmonico steak, duck breast, and linguine with shrimp.

There's metered parking right along Harmon Place, though it's nearly impossible to snare a spot on weekends. For $7, you can valet park and forget about the quarters.

Celebrated chef J.P. Samuelson may have shuttered his beloved J.P's in Uptown, but that hasn't stopped him from creating raved-about dishes. In fact, now he's at Nick and Eddie, whipping up artful entrees served at the bar for only $8 apiece. You have to sit at the bar to get past the velvet ropes to Samuelson's delicious and affordable artworks. But it's worth it.

The cool aura of these twin storefronts on Loring Park (with floor-to-ceiling windows paying homage to the vista) draws a similarly stylish cadre of see-and-be-seeners. But, thanks to the kitchen, now overseen by chef Derrick Moran, and with pastry chef Jessica Anderson, its modern American cuisine is designed for the long haul. Dishes may include a scotch egg with andouille mustard apple, beef...