The Tap: February Restaurant Openings and Closings

This week in the Tap: A look ahead at upcoming restaurants, notes about spots that have closed, and about those that have recently opened.

The Tap is the metro area’s comprehensive restaurant buzz roundup, so if you see a new or newly shuttered restaurant, or anything that’s “coming soon,” email Tap editor James Norton at editor@heavytable.com.

NOW OPEN

• Jun, 730 Washington Ave N, Minneapolis | Szechuan gone upscale in the North Loop.
• Tiffin Man, 1415 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis 
• Come Pho Soup, Medical Arts Building, 823½ Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis
• Bearcat Bar, 1612 Harmon Pl, Minneapolis | The former Third Bird is reinvented to be more accessible and affordable.
• Station Pizzeria, 13008 Minnetonka Blvd, Minnetonka | A former Bar La Grassa chef does upscale pizza.
• Can Can Wonderland, 755 Prior Ave N, St. Paul | Artist-designed mini-golf with beer, noshes, and Bittercube cocktails.

• Pajarito, 605 W 7th St, St. Paul | Via Dara: Opened by Tim McKee acolytes “Tyge Nelson and Stephan Hesse, most recently of Chino Latino and Libertine, respectively.” Receiving early accolades. Here’s our review.
  

• Revival, 525 Selby Ave, St. Paul (former Cheeky Monkey space) | A second location for the popular fried chicken spinoff of Corner Table. The original location will also be expanding and offering takeout. Our review of the new location is here.
• Jellybean and Julia’s, 530 W Main St, Anoka | Barbecue and breakfast!
• Khun Nai Thai, 2523 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis | A new spot in the old Krungthep Thai space, opened by former Krungthep employees.
• Esker Grove, Walker Art Center | A Doug Flicker / Culinaire project is the latest crack at a dining solution for the Walker. We recently reviewed its lunch and dinner service.

CLOSED / CLOSING:

• The Strip Club Meat and Fish (Closing July 1)
• Bearcat (the rebranded version of Third Bird)
• Ox Cart Ale House (rebooting with new concept)
• Grand Cafe (reopening as new concept with new ownership)
• Game (the short-lived spot that followed the short-lived Salsa a la Salsa and Boneyard)
• Taste of Love Bakery (both locations)
• Pimento (Burnsville location)

• Green Spoon

• Piccolo
• :D-Spot (Maplewood) The gourmet wings spot is reopening under the same ownership as a pasta + pho restaurant called Deconstructed. Its Oakdale location remains open.

COMING UP:

Minneapolis

• Five Watt (Roastery and Cafe), 2904 Harriet Ave S, Minneapolis | 2017 | Former Uptown Imports location.
• Mrs. Dumpling, 700 W Lake St, Minneapolis | Early 2017 | Not to be confused with Dumpling in Longfellow.
• Geno’s, 12 4th St SE, Minneapolis | February | Italian sandwich shop from the owners of Lyndale Tap House.
• Hennepin Steam Room,  116 1st Ave. N., Minneapolis | Late February | Reboot of the closed Tangiers concept by the same owners.
• Mercado by Earl Giles, 2904 Lyndale Ave. S, Minneapolis | Feb. 17 | Jester Concepts taqueria, coffee shop, and cocktail spot.
• The Cove, 1320 5th St SE, Minneapolis | Soon | Can poke succeed where crudo failed? Let’s find out.
• Cardigan Donuts, 70 S 7th St, Minneapolis | May | More action within the “fancy doughnut” sphere.

• 510 Lounge & Private Dining, 510 Groveland Ave, Minneapolis | Summer 2017 | Private event space and open-to-the-public lounge run by Chef Don Saunders (The Kenwood).
• Bad Waitress (second location), 700 Central Ave NE | Feb. 17
• Barbecue Joint Name TBA, 816 Lowry Ave NE, Minneapolis | 2017 | A Kansas-City-style barbecue place “with no chairs and tables” opened by some combination of the Travail team.
• Kaiseki Furukawa, 30 1st St N, Minneapolis | 2017 | Classic kaiseki (progressive small courses) dining. We can’t wait.
• Crisp and Green, 428 Washington Ave N, Minneapolis (former Sapor space) | Spring 2017 | Owned by restaurateur Ryan Burnet (Burch, Bar La Grassa); menu will feature salads and grain bowls. A Wayzata location, at 755 E Lake St, opened recently.
• Utepils (formerly Bryn Mawr) Brewing, 225 Thomas Ave N, Minneapolis | Feb. 18 | Large-scale (about 60 percent of Surly’s capacity) new brewery.

St. Paul

• Barrel Theory Beer Company, 248 E 7th St, St. Paul | 2017 | As per the Growler: “A partnership between Surly Brewing Company’s former director of technology Brett Splinter, former Surly brewer Timmy Johnson, and CPA Todd Tibesar.” Our preview is here.
• The Lexington, 1096 Grand Ave, St. Paul | Feb. 9 | After a years-long odyssey, the newest incarnation of the Lexington is scheduled to open tomorrow.
• Rah’Mn, 300 Snelling Ave S, St. Paul | Late February | A new Chipotle-style build-your-0wn ramen restaurant by Tryg Truelson, formerly of Tryg’s.
• Brunson’s Pub, 956 Payne Ave, St Paul | Early 2017
  
• 12welve Eyes Brewing, 141 E 4th St, St. Paul | Summer | Opening in the Pioneer Endicott Building.
• Black Stack Brewing, 755 Prior Ave N, St. Paul | February | Sharing a complex with Can Can Wonderland.
• J Selby’s, 169 Victoria St N, St. Paul | “hoping to open in early 2017” | Vegan restaurant that prefers to call itself “plant-based.”
• Keg and Case revitalization of the Schmidt Brewery, 928 W 7th St, St. Paul | Summer 2017 | Featuring restaurants by the teams behind Corner Table, Hola Arepa, and Five Watt, plus Sweet Science ice cream.
• Bottle Rocket, 1806 St. Clair Ave, St. Paul | Feb. 14 | A reboot by the Blue Plate Restaurant Company of the former Scusi space with craft cocktails.

• 11 Wells, Millwright Cocktail Room, Historic Hamm’s Brewery, St. Paul | “Later this year” | From the website: “We’ll have a full fledged cocktail room as well as a restaurant so come hungry and thirsty.”

Greater Twin Cities Area and Beyond

• Copperwing Distillery, 6409 Cambridge St, St. Louis Park | March 11
• Deconstructed, 705 Century Ave N, Suite B, Maplewood | Late February | A new pasta and pho spot by the owner of :D-Spot.
• Baja Haus, 830 E Lake St, Wayzata | March 1 | A second restaurant by Billy Tserenbat of Sushi Fix, focused on Mexican seafood and scratch margaritas.
• Bellecour, 739 E Lake Street, Wayzata (former Blue Point Location) | Spring 2017 | A second restaurant for the much-heralded chef owner of Spoon and Stable. This one will be French-brasserie style as per Rick Nelson.
• Oakhold Farmhouse Brewery (formerly Oude Oak) Midway Township | 2017 | Construction on this new sour beer-only brewery just south of Duluth is under way.

The Tap is the Heavy Table’s guide to area restaurant openings, closings, and other major events. The Tap is compiled and published biweekly by the Heavy Table. If you have tips for The Tap, please email James Norton at editor@heavytable.com.