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.
Debra Keefer Ramage
Summer on Lyndale Avenue South
Restaurant news, State Fair food, and two mini-reviews
Culture on the West Bank, political victory in East Phillips, and the small business scene on Cedar Avenue
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Stuffed full of culture – Minneapolis’s Cedar-Riverside (the West Bank) With numerous theaters, music venues and more, Cedar Avenue’s northern stretch from Washington Avenue to Franklin Avenue is a cultural corridor like no other. There’s Minneapolis’s oldest community theater, Theatre in the Round, at 245 Cedar…
Summer in Richfield on East 66th Street
Summer in Highland Park – update on Highland Bridge and more
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Highland Bridge development I made a couple of reconnaissance trips to Highland Bridge, the development in Highland Park headed by Ryan Companies. There are people living there and the parks are mostly finished, but overall it still has an “under construction” feeling of raw newness. Here’s…
Immigrant spaghetti, food and restaurant news, and two mini-reviews
DFL conventions – Ward 12 and Ward 10
Celebrate summer on Franklin Avenue
Nicollet Avenue from the Mall to (the city of) Bloomington – returning soon!
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Yes, Nicollet Avenue was originally a main north-south corridor that went from downtown to Bloomington. Very few people remember those days today, but we live in hope that it will soon be so again. Nowadays, Nicollet Avenue is essentially two unconnected streets. One is the funky,…
Gummies and seltzers and mushrooms, oh my! Plus, Brazilian pizza at ESC
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Openings and closings Several local favorite restaurants have changed hours recently. In April, Tiny Diner reopened for all-day service, including dinner. They’re now open from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. every day and the patio is rocking. Modern Times recently shortened their hours a bit and…
The Building Formerly Known As Walker Church
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Walker Community United Methodist Church has always done things differently. For much of the last 50 years, Walker Church has incubated dozens of radical, secular projects. And some of the renter organizations were not what you would expect in a small-to-medium neighborhood church. In the Heart…
Spring on 34th Avenue
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE South 34th Avenue functions as a sort of Main Street for the tight-knit but diverse community around Lake Nokomis. The pandemic and economic disruption caused some closings but storefronts at the 34th Avenue and 50th Street hub and surrounding areas don’t stay vacant for long. Five…
Spring on East 38th Street
Spring on Minnehaha Avenue
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Spring is coming on for real now; my allergies tell me so. Despite allergies and other struggles, spring is very beautiful along Minnehaha Avenue this year. It’s culturally blooming, lush with arts, community-building, and the fusion of the two. In addition to our old favorites like…