This week in the Tap: Local restaurant openings and closings.
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
- Herbie’s on the Park, 317 Washington St, St. Paul | Upscale tavern fare.
- Mansion at Uptown (at old Walker Library), 2901 Hennepin Ave S | Event space with weekend “Lounge” on Friday and Saturday 10pm-2am with DJs, hookah lounge and private tables.
- The Wilder Scratch Kitchen, 338 5th Ave N, Bayport | Opened by Jeffrey Lundmark, the former head chef at Domacin Wine Bar and Restaurant in Stillwater.
- Bald Man Brewing Company, 2020 Silver Bell Road, Suite 25, Eagan | Reviewed in our Toast column.
- Game Sports Bar, 2841 Hennepin Ave S, Minneapolis | A gay-clientele-focused sports bar replacing Salsa a la Salsa, which replaced BoneYard, which replaced Old Chicago.
- La La Homemade Ice Cream, 3146 Hennepin Ave S, Minneapolis | Homemade ice cream shop in the former Shoe Zoo location in Uptown. Read our review.
- Black Coffee and Waffle Bar, 2180 Marshall Ave, St. Paul | Second location. Read our skeptical Instagram post.
CLOSED / CLOSING:
- Barbary Fig (closing after 30 years)
- Ecopolitan
- The Tangiers | Our review.
- 128 Cafe (reopening as Stewart’s Cafe late September)
- Village Wok
- La Ceiba | Our review of breakfast at the restaurant.
- Salt Cellar | (will reopen with new Fitzgerald’s concept in mid-October) – here’s our review. Chef Alan Bergo has moved on to Lucia’s.
- Restaurant Alma, 528 University Ave SE, closed until early November | From a pop-up message on its website: “Unavoidably, we must close for three months to connect the restaurant and cafe kitchens and to make significant mechanical and equipment upgrades. At the same time, the dining room will be undergoing renovations to improve the comfort of the guest experience, while also preserving the feel and layout of the original space.”
COMING UP:
Minneapolis
- Five Watt (Roastery and Cafe), 2904 Harriet Ave S, Minneapolis | Autumn | Former Uptown Imports location.
- Mrs. Dumpling, 700 W Lake St, Minneapolis | December
- Bad Waitress (second location), 700 Central Ave NE | November
- Tullibee, 300 Washington Ave N, Minneapolis | Autumn | Nordic fare from nationally known chef Grae Nonas at the soon-to-open Hewing hotel.
- Esker Grove, Walker Art Center | December | A Doug Flicker / Culinaire project is the latest crack at a dining solution for the finicky Walker space.
- Barbecue Joint Name TBA, 816 Lowry Ave NE, Minneapolis | 2016 | A Kansas-City-style barbecue place “with no chairs and tables” opened by some combination of the Travail team.
- Sum Dem Korean BBQ, 735 E 48th St, Minneapolis | Autumn
- Red Rabbit, 201 Washington Ave N, Minneapolis | Autumn | Red Cow owner Luke Shimp’s new spot will offer “a variety of dishes including handcrafted pizzas, oysters, pasta, fresh salads and more.”
- Clockwerks Brewing Company, 25 4th St N, Minneapolis | Any day now.
- Trapeze, 1600 W Lake St, Minneapolis | ??? | A new Kim Bartmann “bubbles and toasts” bar opening next door to Barbette.
- Mercury Dining Room and Rail, 505 Marquette Ave S, Minneapolis | Autumn | Scratch fare from the Blue Plate Restaurant Company in the old Brasserie Zentral space. The former Foreign Legion will become the Shindig Event Center.
- Erik the Red, 600 1st Ave N, Minneapolis | ??? | Nordic-influenced barbecue from the owner of Devil’s Advocate.
- Kaiseki Furukawa, 30 1st St N, Minneapolis | January 2017 | Classic kaiseki (progressive small courses) dining. We can’t wait.
- Young Joni, 165 13th Ave NE, Minneapolis | Autumn | Anticipation is high for this new wood-fired pizza and Korean spot by Pizzeria Lola / Hello Pizza boss Ann Kim.
- Revival, 525 Selby Ave, St. Paul (former Cheeky Monkey space) | Autumn | A second location for the popular fried chicken spinoff of Corner Table. The original location will also be expanding and offering takeout.
- Cafe Alma, 530 University Ave SE, Minneapolis | 2016 | It’s slated to be an all-day cafe with a liquor license and a six-room hotel upstairs, as Alex Roberts explains in this Q and A with Rick Nelson. The adjacent Restaurant Alma closed for three months on August 12 so its kitchen can be connected to the kitchen of the new cafe.
- Brut, 428 Washington Ave N, Minneapolis | 2016 | With all the culinary firepower of Erik Anderson (above) and Jamie Malone, Brut promises exciting things. It’s going into the old Sapor space on Washington Avenue. They’re doing pop-up food in the meantime; announcements on Twitter.
- McKinney Roe, 550 4th St S, Minneapolis | Autumn | Contemporary American food by the owner of O’Donovan’s Irish Pub and Lola’s Lakehouse.
- Utepils (formerly Bryn Mawr) Brewing, 225 Thomas Ave N, Minneapolis | Autumn
St. Paul
- Augustine’s Bar and Bakery, 1668 Selby Ave, St. Paul | Autumn | Another spot from the owner of The Happy Gnome.
- J Selby’s, 169 Victoria St N, St. Paul | “by the end of 2016” | Vegan restaurant that prefers to call itself “plant-based.”
- Keg and Case revitalization of the Schmidt Brewery | Summer 2017 | Featuring restaurants by the teams behind Corner Table, Hola Arepa, and Five Watt.
- Babani’s (second location), Wabasha St S | September | A second location for the country’s oldest Kurdish restaurant.
- Ha Tien Grocery (second location), 1959 Suburban Ave, St. Paul | Fall 2016 | One of our favorite stops on our Green Line Checklist is expanding into a second location.
- Tori Ramen, 161 Victoria St N, St. Paul | 2016 | Chicken-focused ramen shop in the former Lee and Dee’s.
- Bottle Rocket, 1806 St. Clair Ave, St. Paul | 2016 | A reboot by the Blue Plate Restaurant Company of the former Scusi space with craft cocktails.
- 11 Wells Millwright Cocktail Room, Historic Hamm Building, St. Paul | 2016 | From the website: “We’ll have a full fledged cocktail room as well as a restaurant so come hungry and thirsty.”
- The Lexington (new ownership), 1096 Grand Ave, St. Paul | ??? | It’ll be interesting to see how the ambitious team behind this revamp and relaunch tackles the task. Between its facade, its location, and its glorious but stuffy, old-school feel, we’ll find it tough to sort the baby from the bathwater on this one. Their Facebook page says, “Keep calm. We are opening soon.” Last Facebook update: March 8.
Greater Twin Cities Area and Beyond
- 1.2.3. Pasta, 6508 Cahill Ave, Inver Grove Heights | Delayed by parking and permitting issues.
- Baja Haus, 852 E Lake St, Wayzata | January 2017 | A second restaurant by Billy Tserenbat of Sushi Fix, focused on Mexican seafood and scratch margaritas.
- Second Gavin Kaysen Restaurant Name TBA, 739 E Lake Street, Wayzata (former Blue Point Location) | 2016 | A second restaurant for the much-heralded chef owner of Spoon and Stable. This one will be a French brasserie style as per Rick Nelson.
- Blacklist Brewing, 120 E Superior St, Duluth | 2016 | Taphouse opening in the once notorious, now rehabbed former Last Place on Earth location.
- Oakhold Farmhouse Brewery (formerly Oude Oak) Midway Township | 2016 | A new sour beer-only brewery planned for just south of Duluth.
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.