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.
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Romantic dining Having a candlelit dinner at a romantic restaurant is a tried-and-true method of celebrating Valentine’s Day, and if that’s your thing, you can choose from a plethora of dining establishments in the Twin Cities. But cooking and dining in on something special is also…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Openings, closings and other changes I guess I’m going to keep this section. Lulls are only temporary; change is the only constant, according to Olivia Butler and other wise ones. Tavern on Grand will close permanently in June 2024, after nearly 35 years in business. It’s…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Change without pain Sometimes you know you need a change in your home environment. Kids have moved, your partner has passed away, or your marital status has changed. Your ability level may have changed, or you’re just tired of all the STUFF. You would move to…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Openings and closings – I spoke too soon? Last time I mentioned that these were becoming less frequent, and I might drop this section, but then the end of the year (or something) caused a rebound. A Bar of Their Own, a sports bar that shows…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE An almost all-purpose gift idea We’ve all been there. A major holiday is just a week away, and we have put off getting a gift for an important person in our life. When this happens to me, I usually get them a book. Here is a…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE What makes us human? Is it our capacity to love, to imagine the numinous, to conceive of our own Creator? Or is it our belief that we are somehow beyond the reach of the natural, so that we try to separate civilization from our fragile, earthly…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Be a superperson! You can be an actual superperson with these three weird tricks. 1. Eat superfoods! 2. Use superherbs! 3. Move your superbody! But, I hear you say, how do I know what is really a superfood when almost every food claims to be? And…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Openings and closings We usually start with these, as they have been numerous in the upheaval since 2020 (and were even pretty frequent before then, due to economic chaos). But things seem to be leveling off, so I may drop this practice. The only notable closing…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Winter and holiday things, both new and traditional Here is your winter 2023-24 guide to holiday and winter-related events and things to do. Just like last year, this is a streamlined list, with the same limits. To wit: for online ticket sales, we provide the name…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Breaking it down This edition of “Gracefully” will focus on what elders, especially those living solo, need in order to thrive, and ways to satisfy those needs with resources available in south Minneapolis. We’re breaking down the needs into five categories; they’re not the usual categories,…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Openings, closings, and other local news Venture Bikes and Coffee, open on the Midtown Greenway at 10th Avenue where the Midtown Freewheel was before the 2020 upheaval, is a new coffee shop and bike shop combo. This is from the team behind Venture North; essentially…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE There are lots of fun things to do, see, eat, drink and buy in the area around 28th Avenue South and East 42nd Street. Some are new, while others have been around forever, and we are just now getting around to highlighting them. One fairly new…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE What does the internet say? I don’t watch TV anymore, so I never see TV news; I never did listen to the radio much and I can’t afford the Strib. How do I stay so well-informed, you ask? I have learned to maximize the internet. It’s…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Here’s your yearly update on how things are going at Midtown Global Market and its nearby environs. I visited the Market in mid-September, and I hate to start out on a sad note, but it was partly to say goodbye to two businesses I heard were…
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BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Identity housing scandal This fall, as students flock to Dinkytown to inhabit the new high rises, low rises and co-ops that have been built in the last few years, a scandal is unfolding. (I’m the only one calling it that, so I had to drop the…
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