The Tap: Restaurant Openings and Closings for March 2017

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

• Black Stack Brewing, 755 Prior Ave N, St. Paul | Sharing a complex with Can Can Wonderland (above).
• Randle’s, 921 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis | Rooftop bar, Asian fusion, steaks.
• Bellecour, 739 E Lake Street, Wayzata (former Blue Point Location) | A second restaurant for the much-heralded chef owner of Spoon and Stable. This one is a French-inspired bistro and bakery.
• Copperwing Distillery, 6409 Cambridge St, St. Louis Park
• Brunson’s Pub, 956 Payne Ave, St Paul
• Island City Brewing Company, 65 E Front St, Winona
• Hennepin Steam Room,  116 1st Ave N, Minneapolis | Reboot of the closed Tangiers by the same owners.

• Bottle Rocket, 1806 St. Clair Ave, St. Paul  | A reboot by the Blue Plate Restaurant Company of the former Scusi space with craft cocktails. Our review here.
• The Lexington, 1096 Grand Ave, St. Paul | After a years-long odyssey, the newest incarnation of the Lexington has arrived.
• Geno’s, 12 4th St SE, Minneapolis | Italian sandwich shop from the owners of Lyndale Tap House.
• Ziat & Za’atar, 1626 Selby Ave, St. Paul
• Mercado by Earl Giles, 2904 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis | Jester Concepts taqueria, coffee shop, and cocktail spot.
• Utepils Brewing, 225 Thomas Ave N, Minneapolis | Large-scale (about 60 percent of Surly’s capacity) new brewery.
• Byte, 319 1st Ave N, Minneapolis | With a Geek Bar, of course, plus a casual menu and baked goods from Patisserie 46.
• Bad Waitress (second location), 700 Central Ave NE

• Can Can Wonderland, 755 Prior Ave N, St. Paul | Artist-designed mini-golf with beer, noshes, and Bittercube cocktails.
• Jun, 730 Washington Ave N, Minneapolis | Szechuan gone upscale in the North Loop.
• Pad Ga Pow, 811 LaSalle Ave, Suite 207, Minneapolis | Skyway Thai from the daughter and son-in-law of the owner of the lovely On’s Thai on University Avenue in St. Paul.

CLOSED / CLOSING:

• Devil’s Advocate (closing April 9)
• Tinto Cocina (moving from Uptown to 50th and Penn and expanding)
• Jerusalem’s (building to be demolished; closing end of August)
• Sidhe Brewing (closing March 25, reopening as Culhane Brewing in Lowertown, St. Paul)

• The Strip Club Meat and Fish (Closing July 1).
• Bearcat (the rebranded version of Third Bird)
• Mozza Mia
• Ox Cart Ale House (rebooting with new concept).
• Evergreen (closing in June).
• Sunrise Inn (the venerable 3.2 bar will reopen as Bull’s Horn Food and Drink under the aegis of Doug Flicker).

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.
• HeadFlyer Brewing, 861 E Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis | April 22
• Popol Vuh and Central | Fall | A two-restaurants-in-one (ala Birdie and Nighthawks) high concept / street food with a Mexican emphasis from the team behind the successful Lyn65 in Richfield.
• Burrigato, 314 15th Ave SE, Minneapolis | April | The sushi + burrito trend kicked off by SotaRol refuses to die.
• 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).
• 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 and Kado no Mise, 30 1st St N, Minneapolis | mid-April | Classic kaiseki (progressive small courses) dining at Kaiseki Furukawa and carefully crafted Japanese fare at Kado ne Mise; the former opens 30 days after the latter. We can’t wait.

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.
• Bar Brigade, 470 Cleveland Ave S, St. Paul | Spring | French-inspired bar from J.D. Fratzke (Strip Club Meat and Fish) and Matty O’Reilly (Republic) opening in the old Ristorante Luci space.
• Rah’Mn, 300 Snelling Ave S, St. Paul | March 24 | A new Chipotle-style build-your-0wn ramen restaurant by Tryg Truelson, formerly of Tryg’s.
  
• Baja Haus, 830 E Lake St, Wayzata | Soon | A second restaurant by Billy Tserenbat of Sushi Fix, focused on Mexican seafood and scratch margaritas.
• 12welve Eyes Brewing, 141 E 4th St, St. Paul | Summer | Opening in the Pioneer Endicott Building.
• J Selby’s, 169 Victoria St N, St. Paul | March | 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.

• 11 Wells, Millwright Cocktail Room, Historic Hamm’s Brewery, St. Paul | Postponed to “at least 2018” | Multi-state distribution is keeping them busy.

Greater Twin Cities Area and Beyond

• Star Keller Brewing Company, 2215 N Garden St, New Ulm | Soon | A new August Schell’s-owned taproom focused on sour Berliner-style Weisse beers.
• Deconstructed, 705 Century Ave N, Suite B, Maplewood | Soon | A new pasta and pho spot by the owner of :D-Spot.
• 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.