Runyon's — Restaurant in Minneapolis

(Last visited 12/1/2022.) If you know me, you know that my favorite wings of all time are merely 20 minutes away from Minneapolis, but... my friends told me I needed to check out Runyon's downtown, so here's how things went!

Atmosphere/Appearance: Right downtown with no private parking lot and connected to a seemingly haunted theater is this gem. You'll have to park on the street since the parking lot is for the theater. But this place is like, stuck in time and that's perfect. It just fits the aesthetic. The ceilings were high, the floors were a flowery white tile, there was plenty of windows to see out of and the bar was on the left. The walls are filled with 40 years of pictures taken here and everything just seems perfectly preserved.

Food: So... Paul Runyon developed the very same sauce that this place STILL uses 42 years ago. He absolutely perfected it because it didn't need a thing! You can get the sauce in their original formula or in a habanero variant which kicks the spice up a notch. You can also get them on wings of course and their shrimp! Nice tough for sure. One thing that really blew me away was their house-made bleu cheese. It was perfect and seriously some of the best bleu cheese I've ever had. The wings themselves were also seemingly perfect. They were gigantic for sure, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside and with that sauce, there wasn't much more I could've asked for. it was like someone from Buffalo pulled up in Minneapolis and said, "I'm the wing captain now." I loved these wings.

Value: The menu is extremely simple, like, 15 lines long. Lol. Pure bar food and that's all you need. So imagine bar food prices, that's all. You won't have to blow a bag here, you can just chill.

In conclusion, I LOVED it here at Runyon's more than I thought I would. I really enjoy when that happens. I can't wait to make a return visit so that I can just check...

This place was poggers not gonna lie. Today I went climbing with friends (Elyas, Thomas, Le) then we came here. Thomas said they had the best rated wings in Minneapolis and boy they did not disappoint. Some notable features from tonight included below. Environment: 5/5 There were many aesthetic photos on the wall, nice bar area, as well as some booths to sit at and chit chat. It also smelled pretty good (like wings) Speed: 3.5/5 It didn’t seem super busy when we went, but the wings took a little longer to come out than I expected. It wasn’t like slow, but not fast either so just an average rating here. Water: 3.5/5 You can probably ask for ice, but when we were served water, there was none. This might have affected the viscosity, which seems a little higher than normal water. It was a little sticky, but it was pretty cold, so it evened out. Wings: 5/5 This was definitely the highlight of the night the wings were fire. They were nice and hot and had the perfect amount of sauce on them. We got the party pack (30 wings for $40) and split it. It came with celery and blue cheese. The blue cheese was chunky for those that light that. The celery was nice and fresh. One random thing: Apparently online says they close the kitchen at 9 (nine) but we called and they said 9:45. Overall it was a great experience and I would come here again and enjoy myself. Not gonna lie, I feel like I could have some crazy conversations and get deep in those booths. Time passes differently...

Yeah I truly don’t get this one at all. It’s not bad but it’s just not special either.

Vibe: It has the vibe of a chain bar+grill that’s trying to seem local and cool. But like everything else in the north loop it’s generic and kinda just boring. Nothing in here says “local haunt” whatsoever. The decor here would fit right in at an airport terminal restaurant.

Service: prompt, easy, attentive, nice enough. Not bad, not outstanding.

Food: The wings are juicy and plump, and cooked just right, I’ll give them that. But on a plate of 10 I still had 1 “gimp” wing that was puny and tasted off. At a truly great wing place, it would have been tossed.

The sauce: there’s only one choice: buffalo. It’s not a bad sauce. It’s the sauce that Sysco sells in a huge bottle from the supply truck. The same one every other bar sells. It tastes identical to any other average buffalo wing.

The blue cheese: Kraft. Regular Kraft blue cheese from a bottle. 😭And I only get 1.5 oz. That’s it. A tiny soufflé cup. Enough to dip 2 wings. Other places give me 4 ounces for the same price and add their own seasonings for a deeper flavor.

In summary: for what I paid for 2 beers and 10 completely normal wings I could have gone to Spring Street Tavern—the gold standard for local wing places—and had whiskey cocktails and more sauce choices and an actual in-house made blue cheese.

Sorry Runyons. It ain’t bad, its just normal. Nothing to bring me...