Debra Keefer Ramage

Debra Keefer Ramage began writing freelance for Southside Pride in 2012, shortly after returning from a 13-year sojourn in England. She covers progressive politics, education, co-ops and neighborhoods. In 2017 she started doing Southside Pride’s restaurant review column, The Dish.


Changing Fortunes of Grand Avenue Saint Paul

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Toward the end of 2018, a few high-profile business closings prompted concern in the media for the health of Grand Avenue’s business environment. In retrospect, this may have been unfounded. Although competing forces of gentrification and economic stagnation for all but the wealthiest consumers, as well…

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Celebrate! Open Streets Franklin Avenue

    DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Open Streets Franklin Avenue is on Sunday, Aug. 25, this year, as ever from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Just like last year, the route stretches from Portland Avenue to 27th Avenue in the east (a block shy of the Seward Co-op store). As each…

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Good Morning, Bloomington Avenue!

DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE This article is about good health, mental health—and breakfast. Obviously, these things are quite interconnected. We had a very fun Sunday morning breakfast at Hot Plate, a diner on Bloomington Avenue and 52nd Street. Hot Plate has been around for over a decade, having been started by…

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Spotlight on Saint Paul’s Highland Park

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Highland Park is one of three Saint Paul neighborhoods that is contiguous with Minneapolis (the others being Merriam Park and Midway), and it has a lot of attractive things for Minneapolitans to do and see when they cross the river. One of those is the Highland…

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Innovative programs and shops on Nicollet Avenue

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Southside Pride dropped by the interesting Simply Jane Studio and ArtAble over the weekend. The address is 5411 Nicollet Avenue, but if your method is to drive slowly looking for a sign like mine is, you might miss it, because it’s set back perpendicular to Nicollet,…

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Northern Spark 2019 comes to the Avenue

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE For this year’s Northern Spark event, the American Indian Cultural Corridor on Franklin Avenue will be one of three “nodes” of explosive and transformative art activities. If you’re unfamiliar with Northern Spark, now in its ninth year, this started out as a moving art festival that…

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Cheesy pleasures at All Square

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE All Square 4047 Minnehaha Ave. S. Minneapolis 55406 Hours: Wed. thru Sun., 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. All Square is not like other restaurants; it’s not even like other small neighborhood diners with an excellent but limited menu and a family-friendly vibe, though it is all…

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New green deals on East 38th Street

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Despite my best intentions, I did not make it to Tare Market’s opening day (April 19) until 1p.m. or so, three hours after they first opened the doors. I felt better about that when they told me there had been a pretty big line of people…

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Old books in a new paradigm

BY DEB KEEFER RAMAGE In the vibrant neighborhoods surrounding Chicago Avenue and 48th Street, it’s easy to forget about home-based businesses. Many are so home-based that there’s no sign in the window, no trucks pull up to the door, no clients park on the tree-lined block. One extremely private way…

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Young changemakers

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Janaan Ahmed, a junior at Patrick Henry High School (PHHS) in Minneapolis, is the 2019 student at-large director on the Minneapolis School Board. The activism for which Ahmed became known, almost a full year before her selection as student representative, was as one of the point…

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