American Girl Minneapolis

Every dad has a life moment when his daughters have won. Mine was when I was convinced to eat at this store. I know these dolls are the in-​thing but I didn’t realize how deep the fad runs.
You can get her with braces and head gear. And crutches. I heard you can get her bald or missing a leg.
So the kids like these dolls designed to look just like them– and now they have restaurants where you can all go out to eat together and the dolls get their own spot at the table. I spent 90 minutes of my life supervising the kids as they ate food and fed their dolls. They give you special play tea sets and ribbon hair ties to keep you busy while you wait for food. The food is actually good.
And for as creepy as the whole concept is– the kids love it a lot. The people who work here are normal and nice and make you feel better about the half G you just dropped on dolls.
It’s weird.
But my kids love it.

American Girl Dolls and books were around when I was a kid and I read all the books but I never imagined it would turn into something like it has now. We took our now 3 year old daughter to this location (near Grandparents, we live much closer to the Chicago location) to get her Bitty Baby, a few accessories, and to enjoy a Birthday lunch in the Bistro.
I am not going to sugar coat it, between doll stuff and food, we spent a pretty penny but it was worth every bit. My 3 year old, does EVERYTHING with her Bitty Baby… If I let her she would bring her in the tub. The doll is well made and will be a forever toy, not just something she keeps for a couple years.
The Bistro was super accommodating when I made reservations (make reservations) and during our lunch. My mom is Gluten Free and they didn’t think twice, they have GF buns, pasta, and brownies. This place is really set up to make every girl and her family happy… AND her doll. My daughter loved that her doll sat in a treat seat next to her. The food was surprisingly good for a restaurant targeting children, good variety for girls and their families.

We’ve had American Girl doll fans in our family for 2 generations and are totally hooked now so I won’t go on about how I think Mattel is greedy for retiring dolls and bringing out new ones like Isabelle the ballerina for just one year and how I wish the original company hadn’t been bought out (ok, I did go on about it). Took my almost 4 year old grand daughter there yesterday for lunch with her brand new Bitty Baby doll. Children 4 and younger have a special kids menu for $ 7.50 with drink and an ice cream sundae included, but Mall of America is running a «Toddler Tuesday» promotion this summer and AG Bistro participates so my granddaughter ate free.
My $ 15 meal was a competent caprese salad and generously sized individual flatbread style pizza-​also ok. A bottle of San Pellegrino was $ 2.50. The granddaughter’s mac and cheese was really quite tasty and she ate every bite of a portion I thought was going to be way too big for her. She also ate all the fruit that came with her meal, as well as most of the nice cup of fresh fruit that came with mine. So the food was ok, and priced as you would expect for an «experience» type of place.
The service was inexplicably slow and disjointed. The servers are sweet as can be for all the stressed out parents and often over-​stimulated girls they have to deal with, but something is seriously wrong with the flow of service. As a former server I was completely at a loss to determine just what policies or procedures could be turning a relatively large group of front of the house staff into an inefficient mess. That said, this was a girls day out with the grand daughter and she loved every minute. Having a little bit slower service gave her time to talk with me, and her doll, and enjoy the little cup and saucer each doll gets to take home.
All in all, the person I wanted to please by dining at American Girl Bistro was over the moon about her lunch so we’ll be back. Tip-​make reservations. I have no idea how long, or even if, someone without a reservation would have made it in for lunch.

Love this store! The dolls are great and it’s nice to be able to handle the dolls/​toys before buying them and nice to not have to get the wire cutters out to get all the toys out of the packaging.
The sales staff has always made us feel welcome and the personal shoppers are great.
The bistro is very nice, the food is good and I like the dolly chairs. My daughter and I like to come for desert.

visiting for the fiancée. She was highly disappointed that her doll was retired.

The store is great BUT THE RESTAURANT IS NOT!!!
It took 20 minutes for the waitress to take our drink order. There were about 10 waitresses & a hostess but only 3 tables full. THE SERVICE WAS HORRIBLE!!! The food was SUPER OVERPRICED! $ 15 for a kids meal & $ 2.50 for her drink! INSANE!!!

Whoever came up with America Girl was a marketing genius. I like that their dolls and stories send a positive message to girls (and boys, since my 3 yr old son is also a fan). The dolls are dressed appropriately and can be best described as «wholesome». The restaurant provides decent food at higher than average prices, but with great service. The waitress called both my 4 yr old daughter and 3 yr old son by their names. I don’t think anyone has ever done that before at a restaurant. They are experts at serving children and because of that, I think it’s worth the inflated price.