Kramarczuk’s, a third-generation family-owned landmark in northeast Minneapolis, has been serving Ukrainian and Eastern European cuisine since 1954. Founded by Ukrainian immigrants Wasyl and Anna Kramarczuk, the business functions as a restaurant, bakery, deli, and sausage-making operation, earning a James Beard America’s Classics award in 2013. A guide to the essential dishes at the institution highlights eleven standout items:
1. Pierogi: Handmade pockets available in four fillings—potato-cheese, meat (slow-braised beef and pork ribs), mushroom, and sauerkraut. They can be customized with sautéed onions and horseradish sour cream.
2. Cabbage Roll: A comfort-food staple filled with beef, pork, and rice. Regulars often order it with a mix of two sauces, such as earthy mushroom cream and traditional tomato cream.
3. Sausages: Handcrafted house sausages, including Ukrainian sausage, Polish kielbasa, and bratwurst, served on house-baked buns. Kramarczuk’s also supplies local restaurants and the Minnesota Twins, producing specialized items like Hmong sausage.
4. Combination Platter: An unofficial, secret-menu item that acts as a greatest-hits plate, combining a cabbage roll, a choice of sausage, three pierogi with mixed fillings, and a side like red cabbage or sauerkraut.
5. Borshch with Pampushka: A hearty Ukrainian beet-and-cabbage soup loaded with chunks of beef and pork ribs for a deep umami flavor. It is traditionally paired with pampushka, a small garlic roll.
6. Bigos: A slow-cooked Polish hunter’s stew made with fresh cabbage, sauerkraut, bacon, various sausages, prunes, and spices, reflecting the neighborhood’s historical Polish community roots.
7. Grinder: A hefty sandwich on a house-baked Vienna roll loaded with Krakowska sausage, hot capicola, soppressata, provolone, Italian slaw, and pungent garlic mayo.
8. Reuben on Pumpernickel: Thinly sliced corned beef piled with melted baby Swiss, Thousand Island dressing, and seasoned sauerkraut on nutty, house-baked pumpernickel bread.
9. Walnut Torte: An Austro-Hungarian layered cake featuring dense walnut cake and rich, bitter coffee buttercream, tracing back to the founders’ family recipes.
10. Kyiv Torte: A pastry featuring crisp hazelnut meringue layered with rum and cocoa buttercream, introduced to the bakery following recent waves of Ukrainian immigration.
11. Napoleonka: A Polish take on a French Napoleon featuring a thick layer of vanilla custard sandwiched between crisp, separately baked sheets of puff pastry.
