Heads up, DDD heads: Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is coming to at least six Twin Cities spots during its 40th season, including Hai Hai, STEPCHLD, and Union Hmong Kitchen.
That's it from me! On to the latest installment of the Racket Restaurant Roundup!
Open
Mickey’s Diner
We’d started to wonder if the day would ever come, but Mickey's Dining Car, that perfect time capsule on West Seventh, finally reopened on October 3 after closing during the pandemic in 2020. A grand opening is to come, but know that one thing is different these days: After decades operating on a 24/7/365 basis, current hours at 36 Seventh St. W., St. Paul are 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
Moonwater Gin Bar at Luna & the Bear
One thing I like about Luna & the Bear, which opened on Eat Street last year, is the selection of gin and jam drinks, “a mix-and-match situation that lets you choose from a column of gins and a column of jams to create a cocktail that’s all yours,” as I explained in this writeup. Now, the LATB crew have opened a gin bar called Moonwater in the side room adjacent to their restaurant (18 W. 26th St., Minneapolis)—and according to Mpls.St.Paul Mag, there’s a special cocktail that’s only available during the full moon. Love it. See you there.
Bichota
There’s a cute new coffee shop in George Floyd Square, inside the long-empty space that was once Blackeye Roasting Co. (3740 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis). “It’s my strong belief that every neighborhood deserves a walkable coffee shop,” Bichota owner C. Anderson told Racket earlier this month, and who can argue with that? Stop by for a hot cup of Bichota’s Mezcla Gufear or “goofy blend,” made with double-fermented beans from China that lend it an umami-rich flavor.
Salt & Flour
The latest venture from Brian Ingram of the Hope Breakfast Bar chain/Apostle Supper Club/The Gnome Craft Pub is Salt & Flour, a pasta restaurant in the North Loop Green by Target Field (350 N. Fifth St., Suite 175, Minneapolis). They’re open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. daily, with a menu that also includes pizza, sandwiches, and some plates for sharing.
Sip Society Cafe
Now open in Uptown (2839 Emerson Ave. S., Minneapolis), Sip Society Cafe isn’t just there to help jump-start your morning. The shop is open until 8 or 9 p.m. depending on the day, and in addition to smoothies, pastries, and breakfast sandwiches, it serves pizza from Football Pizza.
Lagniappe
Following last month’s opening of Du Nord Cocktail Room, the Minneapolis distillery’s adjacent restaurant, Lagniappe, debuted on October 11. The NOLA-inspired menu at 2708 E. Lake St. includes succulent BBQ Shrimp, Crawfish Des Allemands, and more Creole cuisine, like turtle soup and Grillades and Grits. You can read our preview here.
Aster House
New on St. Anthony Main, Aster House is a restaurant/bar/venue/private club (and, beginning next spring, patio) from Aster Cafe’s Jeff Arundel. It’s gorgeous, located in the historic Brown-Ryan Livery Stable Building at 25 SE Main St. in Minneapolis, with a menu developed alongside Myriel’s Karyn Tomlinson. I visited earlier this month and really liked it; we’ll have a first look up soon.
Mother Dough at the Vicinity
A third location of David Fhima’s Mother Dough Bakery is up and running in the Mill District. Situated in the ground level of The Vicinity Apartments (205 Park Ave. #3, Minneapolis), it’s open for breakfast, lunch, and “social hour,” with a menu of breads and pastries, grab-and-go lunch items, and desserts—plus wine and craft beer. But wait, there’s more: A fourth Mother Dough is also in the works, this one in the U.S. Bancorp Center on Nicollet Mall, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
La Madre
A new Mexican street food restaurant from the folks behind La Tapatia is also open in the Vicinity (205 Park Ave. S. Suite D, Minneapolis). Details about La Madre are scarce so far, but its Instagram lists hours of Sunday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Mothership Pizza Paradise
Heading toward Mothership’s soft opening at 5057 France Ave. S., Minneapolis, I wondered whether its owners chose the name so food writers would proclaim, “It’s outta this world!” Not so; it’s a celebration of moms and motherhood, with all the pies named for the mamas of its owners and staff. Big fan of Also Kathy ($22), their take on a buffalo chicken pizza—you can read all about that pie (and the restaurant more broadly) in our preview.
Northstar Cafeteria + Walkin’ Dog
A skyway classic returns! Downtown Minneapolis’s Northstar Center just reopened with a vibe that’s “more upscale for a new generation,” according to the Star Tribune. There’s the cafeteria, a coffee shop—and the reborn Walkin' Dog, which is back with new owners (now-retired former owner Dave Magnuson is serving as a consultant, per the Strib) after the classic hot dog shop closed in April 2023.
House of Hue
Ouro Pizzaria at Eat Street Crossing (2819 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis) is no more, making way for House of Hue, which specializes in the Vietnamese rice noodle dish bún bò huế. ESC partner Marshall Nguyen says his relatives, Henry and Pamela Tran, ran a bún bò huế restaurant in Houston before moving to Wisconsin. A grand opening is planned for November 2.
Closed, Closing, or Changing
Third Space Cafe
This Lyn-Lake coffee shop announced its eventual closure in August, and the doors officially shut for the last time this month. Too bad—I liked their paninis and their general vibe, and it really helped brighten Lyn-Lake during a pretty dire time.
Slice Brothers
About a year ago, I wrote a feature about how how quickly many of the Twin Cities’ newest restaurants were growing. Slice Brothers, which had opened four locations in two years, was one of them. But this month hasn’t been a good one for owners Adam Kado and Hosie Thurmond; Slice Brothers has closed its location in Lowertown St. Paul, and they’re being sued to evict their Mall of America location. As Heavy Table’s James Norton, one of the sources for that growth feature, cautioned at the time of expanding to multiple locations in short order: “things can quickly fall apart.”
UHK leaving Graze
Following the departure of Soul Bowl from the food hall last month, another of the tenants at Graze Provisions & Libations, Union Hmong Kitchen, has jumped ship. “Graze was the first permanent home for Union Hmong Kitchen—and it’s been an amazing home for us the last few years as we’ve grown our business,” an Instagram post from the restaurant reads. UHK’s other spots—on Lake Street, at the stadiums, and at the Minnesota State Fair—will remain open.
Fast Eddie’s
This stinks! Say farewell to Fast Eddie’s, at least for now—the south Minneapolis staple is getting the boot from a new landlord at 4747 Nicollet Ave. S., who bought the building last month for roughly $1.6 million. “It feels kind of like a kick in the groin. We got a welcoming letter saying he acquired the building and ‘hope that everything runs smoothly,’” owner Michale Sloan, whose cheap slices we’ve praised in the recent past, told the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. “Six days later, we got a letter from a lawyer telling us we had to be out.” They’re looking for a new home, and Sloan hopes a new space will come along.
Tattersall
The closing of Tattersall Distilling’s Northeast cocktail room was announced in February, but their long goodbye is drawing to a close; they’ll depart for good at the end of November, according to Mpls.St.Paul Mag.
Just Announced and Coming Soon
Namos Restaurant and Lounge
A “luxury” sports bar, Namos Restaurant and Lounge, is heading for the old Erik the Red space steps from U.S. Bank Stadium, according to Downtown Voices. A recent Instagram post from Namos says it’ll be "a fusion of culture, cuisine, and live sports like you’ve never seen." I doubt that very much, unless Vikings players are doing a Coyote Ugly thing on the bar after each game—but hey, maybe they are!
La Estancia Steakhouse
La Estancia, an Argentinian and Uruguayan steakhouse, is just about to open in south Minneapolis, according to the Biz Journal. It’s kinda fancy—there are white tablecloths—but also accessible, according to co-owner Luis Del Hoyo, with $5 empanadas all the way up to a $125 tomahawk ribeye. A grand opening at 4751 Nicollet Ave. is scheduled for Saturday.
Los Ocampo
The ever-growing Los Ocampo is juuust about to open its latest location at 2186 Marshall Ave. in St. Paul, according to social media posts. They’re taking over the space that previously housed BBQ joint Bark and the Bite.
Twin Cities Leather / Umbra Arts Coffee Shop
An artists collective from Twin Cities Leather and LGBTQ+ fine art collective Umbra Arts is opening in Uptown on November 8. They’ll have a gallery and a cafe, with the latter slated to open in December, according to Instagram.
Queermunity Cafe
Speaking of LGBTQ+ spaces and coffee and Uptown (!) Queermunity is getting ready to open an LGBTQ+ community space at 3036 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis. Part resource center, part social hub, and part cafe/lounge, the grand opening is scheduled for November 9.
Minari
Minari, which is coming to the old Erté space, appears very close to opening—reservations have opened for mid-November. Chef Jeff Watson is “driving the kitchen and menu,” at this modern Korean and East Asian spot, per Mpls.St.Paul Mag, but the restaurant is “under the Daniel del Prado umbrella of restaurants.”
In the Works
As previously reported in the Racket Restaurant Roundup…
The Rabbit Hole
They're gonna have 40 screens at this new sports bar, which'll move into the old Axe Bridge Winery spot in the North Loop (411 Washington Ave. N., Minneapolis) later this year. No relation to The Rabbit Hole that once existed at Midtown Global Market, this one'll also host cover bands and DJs and private events, according to the North Loop Neighborhood Association.
Cafe Yoko
Downtown Voices has the scoop on Cafe Yoko, a new counter-service Japanese joint from Kado no Mise chef Yo Hasegawa. Cafe Yoko will open in the Duffey building (548 N. Washington Ave., Minneapolis), in the former home of Stalk & Spade, next month, with a focus on online and takeout orders.
Stargazer
Since Vinai opened in the former Dangerous Man Brewing address in northeast Minneapolis, the adjacent growler picking room has been closed. That'll change with the arrival of Stargazer, a pint-sized (or growler-sized, I guess), 40-person bar from the minds behind Travail and Meteor. The Strib has the scoop.
19 to Reopen
Thank god: Minneapolis’s 19 Bar, the first gay bar in the city and one of the oldest in the country, is still planning to reopen, according to Zoë Jackson at the Star Tribune. Better yet? It could open its doors by New Year's Eve.
Burnt Chicken
I loved Burnt Chicken’s sandwiches and tendies when I tried them at First Draft in 2022. But First Draft has since closed, and that chicken has been missed. Fun, then, to see owner Bernard Collins’s announcement that the restaurant has found a new location in the former home of East Side Bar. To quote the chef, “Bawk! Bawk!”
Francis No. 2
Fun! Vegan burger joint Francis, which has a hoppin' spot in northeast Minneapolis, will head for East Lake Street soon, according to a scoop from Longfellow Whatever. It'll have a similar menu focused on meat-free burgers, chicken, fries, and milkshakes, and it could open up as soon as this fall.
Animales Brick and Mortar
This is the one we’ve all been waiting for, folks. After… oh, a year? of copy-pasting Animales’ tentative plans for a brick-and-mortar restaurant into the Racket Restaurant Roundup’s “In the Works” section month after month, we got confirmation that it is in fact happening! Founder and co-owner Jon Wipfli announced on August 6 that Animales will head for the former Royal Foundry Distillery in the Harrison neighborhood (241 Fremont Ave. N, Minneapolis), with a 300-seat, family-friendly restaurant; a full bar; a patio; and even a dedicated play area for kids. HYFR. Look for it to open in 2025.
Le Burger
Le Burger 4304, which will open in Linden Hills at 4304 Upton Ave. S. later this year, is what you’d get "if a couple American guys went to Paris and opened a burger place," chef Jonathan Gans tells the Star Tribune. That means family friendly with high-quality ingredients and Frenchy flavors, like chicken cordon bleu and French onion soup. He and co-creator Josh Hoyt are both Bachelor Farmer alums; look for their south Minneapolis burger spot to open this fall.
Khue’s Kitchen
Eater has the scoop on Khue’s Kitchen, a new St. Paul Vietnamese restaurant from chef Eric Pham, which’ll open in the former Ngon Bistro space on University Avenue this summer. Pham’s grandmother opened Quang, where his mother still works; Pham you might know from his Khue’s Kitchen pop-up at Bar Brava. The brick-and-mortar should open this fall—a fire set back their progress when they were just about to open in August.
Saturday Dumpling Co.
Saturday Dumpling Co. is going brick and mortar. After years as one of the area’s most successful pop-ups, owners Peter Bian and Linda Cao announced in a release this week that they’re heading for the former Glam Dolls Donut shop at 519 Central Ave. NE in Minneapolis. They’ll have dumplings, rice bowls—and, of course, that scallion pancake breakfast burrito. They’re planning to open early this fall.
Bubble Line Brewery
You’ll have to wait until 2025, but Brittney Mikell—currently the assistant brewer at La Doña Cervecería—is readying to open the state’s first Black-owned brewery in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul. You can find the latest updates from Bubble Line Brewery on Instagram.
Jade Dynasty Restaurant and Bar
There’s finally good news for the old Fuji Ya space at 600 W. Lake St. Southwest Voices reports that a new hot pot and dim sum spot called Jade Dynasty Restaurant and Bar is planned to open there sometime this winter. The new Minneapolis restaurant comes from Chuen Sai “Paul” Wu and Eric Zeng, and will specialize in Cantonese dishes and authentic Asian cuisine.
Sculpture Garden Eats
A restaurant for the Walker’s Sculpture Garden? Total no-brainer. Kind of can’t believe there isn’t one already. Mpls.St.Paul Mag’s Stephanie March had a great scoop on the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the Walker’s teaming up to bring this new concession stand to life.
Saffron
Just know this news has the foodie in your life all a-tingle: Saffron, Sameh Wadi’s popular, groundbreaking, and much-missed Middle Eastern fine-dining restaurant, which closed in 2017, will make a return. That’s according to this scoop from Mpls-St.Paul Mag, whose Stephanie March caught up with Wadi earlier this month to talk about opening Saffron, closing Saffron, and the yearslong process it’s been to bring it back. (Did you know he was just 23 when Saffron opened? Wild stuff.) No lease yet, but it’s reportedly in the works.
Razava Bread Co.
A new bakery will open on Grand Avenue in St. Paul later this year, according to the Biz Journal, with “old-world” sourdoughs, bagels, challah, and coffee. Razava Bread Co. comes from owner Steve Baldinger, whose family has been in the bread business for more than 130 (!) years, and baker Omri Zin-Tamir, formerly of The Bakery on 22nd Street.
Mad Chicken
Is that like mad cow? Downtown Voices reports that chicken chain Mad Chicken, which got its start in Wisconsin and has locations in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Maryland, will open its first Minnesota location in the vacant building at First Avenue North and Fourth Street North that formerly housed American Army Navy Surplus Store.
Russell’s Bar & Grill
So Tavern on Grand still plans to close in June—that’s the bad news. The good news is that the restaurant at 656 Grand Ave. in St. Paul won’t be empty for long: Russell’s Bar and Grill, from owner Todd Russell (who also owns the building) will open there this fall, according to the Pioneer Press.
Asia Village
Here’s some news that has the North Metro friend in your life ecstatic: The group behind Asia Mall in Eden Prairie has announced a similar concept called Asia Village slated for the Northtown Mall in Blaine (301 Northtown Drive NE). They’re teaming up with the folks behind Pho Mai and Keefer Court to bring the 130,000 square foot space to life, with hot pot, all-you-can-eat sushi, a Korean BBQ, and a grocery store. Renovations will start this August; it’s scheduled to open by late 2025.
Catzen Coffee Bar & Den
A cat cafe and coffee lab is heading for Grand Avenue (1416 Grand Ave., St. Paul, to be exact). They’ll have lots of local treats: Dogwood Coffee, pastries from Hot Hands Pie and Biscuits, and snacks from Re-Mix Popcorn and Soul Grain granola. They'll open this fall, according to the latest update on their website.
New North Loop Project from Tim McKee
James Beard Award-winning chef Tim McKee (La Belle Vie, Sea Change, Octo Fishbar) has his eyes set on the North Loop for a new project inspired by the Basque region of Spain. He's being tight-lipped about the new Minneapolis endeavor for now, but has revealed that it'll be somewhere on First Street and open sometime... sometime. Read more via the Strib.
