The Most Anticipated Twin Cities Restaurants, Fall 2019

With the Minnesota State Fair safely in the rearview mirror, now is the time to look ahead at all the tasty non-pumpkin-spice flavored reasons to love fall. Soon-to-open restaurants include a food hall at the edge of the North Loop, a Mexican restaurant from a James Beard winner, Southern charm from a Top chef contestant, and so much more. Cozy up with something warm and dig in to all the upcoming excitement in the Twin Cities food world for fall 2019.

Graze Provisions and Libations

Location: 520 4th Street North, Minneapolis

Key Players: MidNord Empanadas, Soul Bowl, Carbon , Ramen Kazama, Honey & Rye, Flagsmash, and Lu’s Sandwiches

Projected Opening: September 6

Originally scheduled to open this summer, Graze is slated to open early this month with a collection of small, independent vendors and amazing views of the downtown Minneapolis skyline. Graze will be made up of known and new names in the food world. Both downstairs and upstairs will sport bars where, unlike other area food halls, drinks will be permitted to be carried throughout the building. The lawn and upstairs patio give plenty of indoor/outdoor space. Check out Carbon for expert roasted beef serves as regional sandwiches: pit beef, French dips, and more. MidNord is making its signature blistery-crusted empanadas and churros. We finally get a permanent outpost of chef Gerald Klass’ Soul Bowl. Plus, Flagsmash is bringing all the flavors from around the world stuffed inside a tortilla. Honey & Rye’s second bakery makes Graze an all-day destination just a few steps from Target Field.

Katie Cannon / Eater Twin Cities

Unnamed Ann Kim Mexican Restaurant

Location: Former Lucia’s

Key Players: Ann Kim

Projected Opening: Late fall

The James Beard Award winning chef and her team have moved into the building that once housed Lucia’s and begun the massive restorations. The first big change is taking down some walls and making the once divided spaces into one giant room. Kim’s other main focus on this, her first non-pizza restaurant, is perfecting the art of tortilla making. The chef has built an empire thus far upon perfectly charred crusts, she also owns and operates Pizzeria Lola, Hello Pizza, and Young Joni.

Courtney Perry/Travail

Solera by Travail

Location: 1930 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis

Key Players: Tim McKee, Mike Brown, Bob Gerken, James Winberg

Projected Opening: September 20

There’s just one more prolonged pop-up planned by the Travail chef collective and this one is a doozy. Travail has teamed with James Beard Award winning chef Tim McKee to resurrect his Spanish beauty of a restaurant, Solera, which closed in 2015. The menu will be filled with the greatest hits of that restaurant that used to be located in downtown Minneapolis. Travail and McKee have planned at menu serving 30 culinary experiences at the table and around the restaurant. “Designed to showcase the unique flavors of Spain and Morocco, the tasting menu includes shrimp and tattila croquettes with Manchego cheese aioli, piquillo stuffed with crab and goat cheese, octopus ceviche, oxtail montaditos, escargots with chorizo, Serrano-wrapped scallop roulade and more.”

This will be the final Travail restaurant inside this space. All summer they’ve been hosting rotating pop-ups, while construction pulls together a new home for the restaurant in downtown Robbinsdale. The new location looks to be a massive stunner.

Kevin Kramer/Eater Twin Cities

Pearl & the Thief

Location: Moxy Hotel, 247 Chicago Avenue, Minneapolis

Key Players: Justin Sutherland

Projected Opening: Fall

Relocating from charming downtown Stillwater to fast-growing east downtown Minneapolis, Justin Sutherland’s ode to Southern cooking is still on track to re-open before the year is through inside the newly constructed Moxy Hotel. The chef, now known for his star-making turn on Bravo’s Top Chef, also operates the Handsome Hog, Public, Ox Cart Arcade, the Fitz, and Gray Duck in Saint Paul. This will be his first Minneapolis restaurant. Brandon Randolph will again run the day-to-day kitchen, and we expect to once more find plenty of spiced seafood and an impressive whiskey collection.

Katie Cannon/Eater Twin Cities

New Non-Cook Saint Paul

Location:

Key Players: Eddie Wu

Projected Opening: Fall

What the new iteration will be is unknown, even to owner Eddie Wu. However, the landmark restaurant will very likely no longer be a diner serving up American comfort food with a few Korean flourishes. Other than that, the new restaurant is anyone’s guess. What we can count on, is that the unstoppable Wu will continue to be a force for good and delicious things on the Eastside.

Just/us

Location: 275 4th Street East, Saint Paul

Key Players:

Projected Opening: Late fall

The chef collective were forced to leave the original location when the downtown building gentrified. Ever since, the crew that refuses to bow to convention have been pulling together a new space and it looks like it’s coming together relatively soon in Lowertown, adjacent to the Saint Paul Farmers Market in the former Golden’s Deli spot.