If your friends were going to name a sandwich after you, what would go on it?
I’m not a complicated person; I think “The Em” would more or less be a classic club. Turkey, ham, extra-crispy bacon, and fresh heirloom tomatoes, layered with cheddar cheese and peppery arugula and sprouts instead of the more common iceberg lettuce. White bread, toasted lightly. A few slices of avocado, heavy on the mayo, some cracked black pepper. Double-decker, of course, served with potato chips (which you should pop between the sandwich’s layers from bite to bite), served up on a beige diner plate.
Man, I’m ready for lunch.
At the new Wrap, located in the North Loop’s Graze food hall, owners Jeff Rogers and Breanna Evans (they of the beloved local shop Wrecktangle Pizza) have developed a menu of 10 wraps named for their friends and loved ones. Kyle is citrus-roasted chicken and romaine with Caesar dressing, plus tomato, pecorino romano, lemon zest, and a crouton stick. Mary is tofu, curry kale, nori, sushi rice, miso glaze, and cucumber. All of the wraps are $13, and served inside a house-made turmeric flour tortilla.
If the concept sounds familiar, that’s because while Wrap has been open at Graze since late April, it’s a revitalization of a pop-up the the Wrecktangle crew hosted back in 2021 next to their stall in the nearby North Loop Galley food hall. But I never made it to Wrap 1.0, and I had to see what the folks behind some of our favorite local pizzas were doing inside tortillas.
“This thing is fuckin’ heavy,” one Racket staffer uttered upon picking up Gloria, a crispy chicken handheld with habanero honey butter, and that was true of each wrap ordered—these things are big. Peeling back the brown sandwich paper reveals a beautiful canary-yellow tortilla, which you can watch Wrap’s wrappers press from lil mounds of dough. It’s a soft, sunny, sturdy vessel for the hefty amount of meat and veggies packed inside.
In addition to her heft, Gloria serves up a glorious chicken crunch, avoiding the perils of mush possible on such a dense wrap, though the advertised "chicken mayo" tastes more or less like mayo mayo. She’s not hurting for flavor, though, with snappy, sweet pickles playing along with just-this-side-of-spicy habanero honey butter.
Greg was a personal favorite, a wrap brave enough to answer the question, “What if an Italian grinder, but with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos?” There’s pepperoni heat, there’s salty salami and tender turkey, and there’s a generous smear of soft ricotta accompanying subtle provolone. Banana peppers lend another pop of texture and taste; with so much going on, that cheap snack heat honestly fades into the background. The whole thing is remarkably balanced for a wrap with hot Cheetos as its selling point.
On Timothy, savory fried shrimp and fresh napa cabbage are accompanied by thinly sliced bread and butter pickles, tomato aioli, and “Timmy sauce,” an herbaceous greenish spread that also offers some fatty richness and a touch of heat. The result was like eating a really good stir fry if the whole thing was wrapped up in a burrito. And while Nicolas, which features smoked eye of round, could be a little one note compared to the imaginative combos of flavor and texture on the other wraps we tried, it’s not a bad note to play. The steak is well seasoned, the honey goat cheese is tangy and sweet and creamy, and there’s a little bite thanks to the pop of arugula and chimichurri.
We also picked up a tub of Wrap’s cacio e pepe pasta salad, though you won’t “need” it—no one got through their lunch without needing to re-wrap half for later—but we did periodically dunk our handhelds in the chili crisp that accompanied it.
As an aside, Graze food hall is really great. Racket’s staffers are split on food halls as a concept, with one naysayer recently remarking that they give him that same depressed feeling you get when people over-decorate and personalize their cubicles at work. At the end of the day, is it just a cafeteria with graffiti on the walls?
I’m in the pro camp, and Graze is a prime example of why: plentiful indoor and outdoor seating, thoughtful design that’s neither slapdash nor try-hard, and a serious list of A-list tenants. Graze hosts The Fabled Rooster (BBQ), Two Mixed Up (burgers and sandwiches), Viva Taco (Mexican street food with a Vietnamese twist), and Soul Bowl (customizable savory soul food). You’ve got Racket favorites Union Hmong Kitchen, plus a new pop-up ice cream shop from the very good Dream Creamery.
And then there’s this newbie, which'll have me coming back before long.
Wrap
Address: 520 N. 4th St., Minneapolis
Hours: Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday + Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
