About Twin Cities Originals ~ Taste the Difference

The Twin Cities Originals is a group of independently owned restaurants dedicated to promoting and preserving unique dining experiences.

Travel to any city in America and you'll see the same thing - an invasion of chain restaurants with identical cookie-cutter menus and monster advertising budgets. For many independent restaurants, the trend seemed unstoppable. In Minnesota, however, one group of independent business owners decided to set aside their competitive differences and fight back together.

The result was Twin Cities Originals (TCO), a culinary coalition dedicated to pooling their resources together in the spirit of "one for all and all for one" to protect and promote the singular dining experiences that can only be found in local independent restaurants.

Through events and activities such as the Taste of the Twin Cities Originals, TCO offers local diners the opportunity to see (and taste) for themselves the exceptional quality and variety of cuisine that can be found at independent restaurants in the metro area.

But that's just the beginning of what TCO is all about. Beyond self-preservation, TCO restauranteurs also seek to sustain the fabric of their local communities. They sit on boards, host events at their restaurants, and give both time and money back to local chairtable organizations. Not to mention stimulating the local economy with their patronage of other local businesses, including banks, print shops and food producers.

Next time you're in the mood for something different, break the chain and try a TCO restaurant for a change. And please come back to this web site often to keep up to date about the local, independent dining scene and Twin Cities Originals events and activities.