Rehearsal Dinner Sites in MN
My recommendations for wedding rehearsal locations in the Minneapolis, St Paul area

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Once your wedding rehearsal is over and you, your relatives, and your wedding party knows what to do, everybody can celebrate together at dinner. Because this rehearsal dinner is held when the wedding party and at least some relatives are in town, it's a way to have a "pre-celebration" with the people who are most important to you.  If the Bride's family pays for the wedding and the Groom's family pays for the rehearsal dinner, it's called the "Groom's Dinner."

Your rehearsal dinner may have a dozen guests, or it might be up to forty, and few restaurants can handle that kind of a crowd, especially on a Friday night. All the Minneapolis and St Paul restaurants listed here, though, work well for such an event because each has a private dining room.  

There about thirty restaurants in the Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota area that are:

• Classy
• Familiar with the needs of rehearsal dinners
• And, most importantly, have private dining rooms

All the Twin Cities restaurants with the above criteria are listed here, including the all-important private dining room.  Restaurants in bold have full reviews.

Full reviews:

D'Amico Cucina Italian Restaurant
Downtown Minneapolis
100 North 6th Street
D'Amico Cucina is a high-class restaurant in downtown Minneapolis, located in the Butler Square building on First Avenue by the Target Center.
D'Amico's has two wonderful private rooms that they rent out to groups.  To reserve one of these two private rooms, call Jennifer or Sarah at (612) 338-2401.
Maximum capacity for a rehearsal dinner:  Up to 40 in their largest private room
Average price - $28-80.  The menu  (prices shown here) features some amazing fish and lamb dishes, homemade pastas, homemade pastries and a huge (all-Italian) wine list.  You may have seen other D'Amico's, but this is the main one, which has often been voted the best restaurant in Minnesota, and many of the best local chefs have trained here.  My favorite dish?  They usually have a special ravioli, and it's always amazing.  Valet parking is available off of the 6th Street entrance after 5:30pm. The valet charge is $6.00 per vehicle, which will just be added on to your check.  D'Amico is right in the heart of downtown Minneapolis, and works very well as a rehearsal dinner location for downtown Minneapolis weddings, such as the Gale Mansion, any of the downtown churches, chapels or hotels, the Nicollet Island Pavilion, or locations by the U of MN. 

Style:  D'Amico Cucina is an elegant and romantic, Euro-designed historic-warehouse location.  Lots of marble and candlelight.

WA Frost Restaurant is an old-world, genteel restaurant in a renovated nineteenth-century brownstone called the Dakota Building.  WA Frost Restaurant has a wonderful Victorian charm, with elegant dining rooms, high tin ceilings, ornate woodwork, antique furniture, fireplaces, Oriental rugs, and a gorgeous wood bar. Here's a virtual tour of the interior of the restaurant and a menu.

WA Frost Restaurant is an old-world, genteel restaurant in a renovated nineteenth-century brownstone called the Dakota Building.  WA Frost Restaurant has a wonderful Victorian charm, with elegant dining rooms, high tin ceilings, ornate woodwork, antique furniture, fireplaces, Oriental rugs, and a gorgeous wood bar. Here's a virtual tour of the interior of the restaurant and a menu.

Style:  Romantic, Victorian.

As opposed to the more elegant rehearsal dinner locations reviewed here, the Buca Restaurant in St Paul is much more informal, fun and kitchy, invoking New York's Little Italy in the 1950s with a vibrant atmosphere and food served family-style (each meal serves 4-6 people, so everyone shares.)  Buca's tables are covered with red and white checkered tablecloths, the walls are filled with both family photos and famous Italian-Americans like Joe DiMaggio and Sophia Loren, and the music is 1950's Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.  In my opinion, their best dish is the side dish, garlic mashed potatoes.  Buca's servers are very attentive and everything is set up for large groups, so they handle wedding rehearsal dinners especially well.  If you reserve the special, private back room, the Buca Restaurant in St Paul is very appropriate for a fun and lively rehearsal dinner.  I've even held very small and informal wedding rehearsals in that back room (with 2-3 attendants each).  The St Paul Buca Restaurant is fairly close to downtown St Paul, so it's an appropriate rehearsal dinner location for historic wedding locations such as the Landmark Center, 317 On Rice Park, the James J Hill Library, or The Great Hall.

Price range: $21-30 
(651) 772-4388
Style: Cheerful, tongue-in-cheek, fun

The Lexington Restaurant has gorgeous dining rooms with crystal chandeliers, white linens and warm wood create an intimate dining experience. The mahogany bar is perfect for a quick bite or more casual dinner.  The private dining room has a gorgeous hand carved bar, baby grand piano, fireplace and stained glass windows. If you wish, the Lexington Restaurant will customize a menu just for your wedding rehearsal.  The private rooms can accommodate parties from 10 up to 100.  Parking on the street can be difficult, but there is a great free parking lot right behind the restaurant. The average price of a meal at the Lexington Restaurant is about $40. To reserve the private dining room, call Maureen at (651) 222-5878. The Lexington Restaurant is a block from Summit Avenue, so is perfect for dinners after wedding rehearsals at mansions such as the St Paul College Club or Summit Manor.