Minneapolis’ Only Korean Gastropub Is Calling it Quits

It’s been a wild ride filled with curry poutine, addictive chicken fingers and punk vibes inside Midtown Global Market’s Korean gastropub, The Rabbit Hole. Today the restaurant announced it’s reached the end of the line and the final meal will be served June 30. In a heartfelt Facebook post the restaurant cited the end of its lease and hinted that this might be the end of the Minnesota adventure for LA transplants chef Thomas Kim and wife/style guru and front of house maven, Kat Melgaard.

The duo arrived from Los Angeles and first opened The Left Handed Cook inside Midtown Global Market to immediate success. The bold flavors and inventive dishes had critics raving and attracted long lines. The food hall eyed those long lines and offered the couple the chance to translate that success into a full service restaurant in a long-vacant corner of the building.

Katie Cannon/Eater Twin Cities

The couple built out the space mostly themselves, with a little help from Kickstarter. Kim nailed together booths and Melgaard creating a wall of jaunty tea cups, a rainbow bookcase host stand and a cloud of lights above the bar.

Joy Summers/Eater Twin Cities

The expanded menu leaned on Kim’s eclectic experience including burgers, modern twists on traditional Korean street fare and fantastic cocktails. Rick Nelson raved that Kim was a burger savant and marveled at the fried chicken. Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl said the food was “devastatingly good.”

Mecca Bos/Eater Twin Cities

Calls to Kim and Melgaard were not immediately returned, but the bad news/good news Facebook post heralds the space’s new tenant, Moroccan Flavors. Another stand that will soon have a full service restaurant. Kim is developing cocktails for that restaurant.

A limited menu will be available from now through the 30th.

• The Rabbit Hole, coming soon from the team behind The Left Handed Cook [CP]
• Inside the Rabbit Hole: A Korean Street Food Wonderland [ETC]
• CLOSING: Rabbit Hole in the Midtown Global Market [MSPMag]