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The Eater Mpls Heatmap: Where to Eat Right Now

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Restaurant obsessives want to know what's new, what's hot, which favorite chef just launched a sophomore effort, etc., and more often than not, tipsters, readers, friends and family of Eater have one question: Where should I eat right now? What is the "it" (ie, newest) place of the moment?

Thus, we offer the Eater Heatmap, which will change often to continually highlight where the food-focused crowds are flocking to at this very second. This time around, please welcome three/four new spots: Day Block Brewing, Relevé Champagne Lounge, Coup d'Etat, and the new Travail & The Rookery.

Did we miss your personal favorite hot, new restaurant? By all means, let us know in the comments or email the tipline.


1/2/14: Added Sonora Grill, Chef Shack Ranch, The Freehouse, and Hammer & Sickle

12/5/13: Added The Mill NE, Lake & Irving, and DiNoko's Bar Zia

11/7/13: Added The Rabbit Hole, Honey & Rye Bakehouse, and Umami Dim Sum

10/3/13: Added Seventh Street Social, Eat Street Buddha Kitchen, and Union Fish Market

9/5/13: Added Umami by Travail

8/1/13: Added: Ideal Diner, Town Hall Lanes

7/11/13: Added: Verdant Tea Tasting Room, The Buttered Tin, Terzo Vino Bar, Sandcastle

6/16/13: Added: Pig Ate My Pizza, Smoke in the Pit

5/2/13: Added: Potter's Pasties, Daily Diner Frogtown

4/4/13: Added: Spill the Wine, Origami Uptown, The Sample Room

3/7/13: Added: Rincón 38, Smack Shack, Burch Steak & Pizza Bar, One Two Three Sushi

2/7/13: Added: Parka, Blue Door Longfellow

1/3/13: Added: Borough, Parlour

12/6/12: Added: World Street Kitchen, Union

11/15/12: Debuted: The Lynn on Bryant, The Left Handed Cook, Fika, Icehouse, The Gray House, Nightingale, The Kenwood, Café Maude at Loring, New Bohemia

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

Lake & Irving Restaurant and Bar

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Run by brothers Chris and Andrew Ikeda, this new Uptown spot features American food with Asian influences. Think: lobster tostadas and misoyaki salmon. Plus, brunch.

Coup d'état

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This Uptown mega-restaurant (two floors!) comes from the team behind the North Loop's popular Borough. The dinner-only menu offers upscale small plates (pork belly with potato butter, anyone?), as well as a few entree options, plus a brand-new cocktail menu from Parlour's Jesse Held.

The Rabbit Hole

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The Rabbit Hole is the first full-on restaurant from the folks behind ever-popular Midtown Global Market Stand The Left-Handed Cook. Expect Korean street food with a twist (garlic soy wings, rice cakes with duck confit), as well as an extensive cocktail list (including kegged cocktails).

Sonora Grill

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The popular Midtown Global Market stand has just opened its first stand-alone restaurant in Longfellow, featuring the same beloved caramelos (basically tacos) and bocadillos (sandwiches), but with a pumped up small plate, entree, and cocktail selection. The early word is strong on this one.

Chef Shack Ranch

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This popular food truck has finally opened a brick n'mortar here in Minneapolis (their first brick n'mortar opened in Bay City, WI). They're bringing some meaty goodness to the vegetarian haven of Seward (think bison burgers, pulled pork sandwiches, and fried chicken), but there's plenty of veg on the menu, too. Plus, mini donuts!

Relevé Champagne Lounge

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The Graves 601 Hotel debuted its new fourth-floor champagne bar a few months ago, but it's only been in the last month that it's been generating a lot more buzz. For drinks, you can order your bubbly by the glass or in a wide range of bottle sizes, then take your glass up to the Champagne bar to mix your own Champagne cocktail using a variety of liqueurs and bitters. Eats are broken up into Madison Avenue (classics like raw oysters and chicken liver paté) and Hennepin Avenue (lobster grilled cheese and walleye sliders).

The Freehouse

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This new North Loop restaurant/brewery from the Blue Plate restaurant group made national news for its $7 cans of Coors Light. But the house beers will set you back a reasonable $6/pint, and the all-day all-night (open 6:30 a.m. - 2 a.m. every day) features some tasty-sounding bites like bulgogi riblets and bison tartare.

Day Block Brewing Company

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This downtown pizza brewpub takes over the former Spill the Wine space on Washington Ave., bringing in a head brewer from Harriet and a pizza maker from Punch for creative beers and 'zas. The Winter Wit is a refreshing take on Belgian White Ale, along with a Banh Mizza (pizza crust with pork, scallions, slaw, and maple-soy glaze). Plus, bacon flights.

The Mill Northeast

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This relaunch of the Mill City Café (which closed in May 2012) has got the same people, new location, and a slightly different name. With brunch and happy hour every day (from 3-6 p.m.), and a wide-ranging menu, this might be a new go-to spot in Northeast.

Travail Kitchen & Amusements

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The Travailians are back with a new location just down the street from their original home in Robbinsdale. The new spot is tasting menus only. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, it's $90 for a two-person tasting; on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, it's $110. A $35/person wine pairing is coming soon.

Rookery

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The Rookery shares space with the new Travail, but gets a separate entry because there's just too much going on for one entry alone. Located in the other half of Travail's new space, The Rookery serves "micro-plates" that range from $2-$10, with about 20 options for plates at any given time. Plus, Travail's first foray into craft cocktails.

Lake & Irving Restaurant and Bar

Run by brothers Chris and Andrew Ikeda, this new Uptown spot features American food with Asian influences. Think: lobster tostadas and misoyaki salmon. Plus, brunch.

Coup d'état

This Uptown mega-restaurant (two floors!) comes from the team behind the North Loop's popular Borough. The dinner-only menu offers upscale small plates (pork belly with potato butter, anyone?), as well as a few entree options, plus a brand-new cocktail menu from Parlour's Jesse Held.

The Rabbit Hole

The Rabbit Hole is the first full-on restaurant from the folks behind ever-popular Midtown Global Market Stand The Left-Handed Cook. Expect Korean street food with a twist (garlic soy wings, rice cakes with duck confit), as well as an extensive cocktail list (including kegged cocktails).

Sonora Grill

The popular Midtown Global Market stand has just opened its first stand-alone restaurant in Longfellow, featuring the same beloved caramelos (basically tacos) and bocadillos (sandwiches), but with a pumped up small plate, entree, and cocktail selection. The early word is strong on this one.

Chef Shack Ranch

This popular food truck has finally opened a brick n'mortar here in Minneapolis (their first brick n'mortar opened in Bay City, WI). They're bringing some meaty goodness to the vegetarian haven of Seward (think bison burgers, pulled pork sandwiches, and fried chicken), but there's plenty of veg on the menu, too. Plus, mini donuts!

Relevé Champagne Lounge

The Graves 601 Hotel debuted its new fourth-floor champagne bar a few months ago, but it's only been in the last month that it's been generating a lot more buzz. For drinks, you can order your bubbly by the glass or in a wide range of bottle sizes, then take your glass up to the Champagne bar to mix your own Champagne cocktail using a variety of liqueurs and bitters. Eats are broken up into Madison Avenue (classics like raw oysters and chicken liver paté) and Hennepin Avenue (lobster grilled cheese and walleye sliders).

The Freehouse

This new North Loop restaurant/brewery from the Blue Plate restaurant group made national news for its $7 cans of Coors Light. But the house beers will set you back a reasonable $6/pint, and the all-day all-night (open 6:30 a.m. - 2 a.m. every day) features some tasty-sounding bites like bulgogi riblets and bison tartare.

Day Block Brewing Company

This downtown pizza brewpub takes over the former Spill the Wine space on Washington Ave., bringing in a head brewer from Harriet and a pizza maker from Punch for creative beers and 'zas. The Winter Wit is a refreshing take on Belgian White Ale, along with a Banh Mizza (pizza crust with pork, scallions, slaw, and maple-soy glaze). Plus, bacon flights.

The Mill Northeast

This relaunch of the Mill City Café (which closed in May 2012) has got the same people, new location, and a slightly different name. With brunch and happy hour every day (from 3-6 p.m.), and a wide-ranging menu, this might be a new go-to spot in Northeast.

Travail Kitchen & Amusements

The Travailians are back with a new location just down the street from their original home in Robbinsdale. The new spot is tasting menus only. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, it's $90 for a two-person tasting; on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, it's $110. A $35/person wine pairing is coming soon.

Rookery

The Rookery shares space with the new Travail, but gets a separate entry because there's just too much going on for one entry alone. Located in the other half of Travail's new space, The Rookery serves "micro-plates" that range from $2-$10, with about 20 options for plates at any given time. Plus, Travail's first foray into craft cocktails.

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