Put another nickel in the Is Uptown Dead? Discourse Machine, because the Minneapolis neighborhood's ECG is set to spike next Thursday when the New Uptown Café opens.
Fans of the previous 3008 Hennepin Ave. tenant—a North Face retail location—have had three years to emotionally prepare for the next chapter, which comes courtesy of the crew at the iconic Uptown Diner.
“I have been in Uptown for 25 years,” Tommy Skubal, Uptown Diner's longtime GM, says via press release. “After everything that has happened in the last two years, what our community needs right now is a local spot where people can come for a coffee, or a pancake, and connect with their neighbors again. I think the Uptown Café will help revitalize what was once one of the most bustling blocks in Minneapolis."
Uptowners can expect daily breakfast and lunch service from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., with Uptown Diner staples like "giant gooey caramel rolls," "crispy hashbrowns," and Morningstar Coffee. But the New Uptown Café won't be a simulacrum of its sister restaurant; new menu items will include a Greek salad featuring Skubal's specialty dressing plus a rotating cast of homemade soups.
Skubal will run New Uptown Café with another veteran of Uptown Diner, Dani Rauton. They both recently weighed in on the extremely contentious Hennepin Avenue reconstruction debate. ("The whole plan is terrible," Skubal told the Strib.)
The New Uptown Café can't count on future parking spots, but they're betting on plenty of foot traffic.
“If you’re a fan of the Uptown Diner, you’re going to love the Uptown Café,” Rauton says. “On the weekends, I’m sure there will be a line out the door.”
In other semi-recent Uptown news: The Uptown Theatre will soon transform into a 2,500-capacity concert/event venue, as you first heard in Racket.
