Herbst Eatery & Farm Stand

Herbst opened in 2023 on Raymond Avenue in Saint Anthony Park, in the industrial-edged stretch of Saint Paul between the university's agricultural campus and the Green Line. It is owned by Angie and Jorg Pierach and it sources through a co-operative of young farmers from the Driftless region, running as a restaurant at the front and a farm stand alongside it. Jason DeRusha, reviewing it for Minnesota Monthly in May 2023, described the drinks list as organised "by flavor profile (mineral, bitter, funky, earthy) and potency (low-proof, full proof and no proof)" — a grid rather than a list, and one of the few in the Twin Cities where a zero-proof drink occupies structurally the same square as its full-strength sibling instead of sitting in an appendix at the bottom of the page.

That structure matters more than it sounds. Within each of the flavour categories the three versions are not the same recipe stepped down; they are three different builds aimed at the same sensory target. In the earthy column, the full-proof runs tequila and mezcal with sumac; the low-proof drops the tequila and adds gentian and dry vermouth; the no-proof keeps the sumac and brings in sparkling green and lapsang souchong teas to carry the smoke and tannin that the mezcal was supplying. The effect is that ordering the no-proof is a lateral move rather than a downgrade, and it removes the usual problem of a spirit-free list that reads as three fruit juices. A rotating seasonal profile joins the four fixed ones. The restaurant is licensed and does pour full-strength drinks — this is not an alcohol-free room — but the no-proof column is a permanent, designed part of the menu rather than a concession. Service runs evenings Monday to Saturday with a Sunday midday seating, and the room is small enough that booking ahead is sensible.