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The Eater Mpls Heatmap: Where to Eat Right Now

by Claire Stanford
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by Claire Stanford

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.
1513 W Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55408
(612) 354-2453
(612) 354-2453

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.
2923 Girard Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55411
(612) 354-3575
(612) 354-3575

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).
920 East Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN 55406
(612) 236-4526
(612) 236-4526

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.
3300 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55406
(612) 722-2500
(612) 722-2500

Also featured in:

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!
3025 E. Franklin Ave, Mpls, Mn 55406

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).
601 North 1st Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55479
(612) 312-1168
(612) 312-1168

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.
701 Washington Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55401
(612) 339-7011
(612) 339-7011

Also featured in:

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.
1105 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55415
(612) 617-7793
(612) 617-7793

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.
1851 Central Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN
(612) 315-2340
(612) 315-2340

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.
4124 West Broadway, Robbinsdale, MN 55422
(763) 535-1131
(763) 535-1131

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.
4124 West Broadway, New Hope, MN 55422
(763) 535-1131
(763) 535-1131

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Lake & Irving Restaurant and Bar

1513 W Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55408
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.
1513 W Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55408
(612) 354-2453
(612) 354-2453

Coup d'état

2923 Girard Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55411
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.
2923 Girard Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55411
(612) 354-3575
(612) 354-3575

The Rabbit Hole

920 East Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN 55406
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).
920 East Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN 55406
(612) 236-4526
(612) 236-4526

Sonora Grill

3300 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55406
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.
3300 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55406
(612) 722-2500
(612) 722-2500

Chef Shack Ranch

3025 E. Franklin Ave, Mpls, Mn 55406
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!
3025 E. Franklin Ave, Mpls, Mn 55406

Relevé Champagne Lounge

601 North 1st Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55479
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).
601 North 1st Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55479
(612) 312-1168
(612) 312-1168

The Freehouse

701 Washington Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55401
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.
701 Washington Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55401
(612) 339-7011
(612) 339-7011

Day Block Brewing Company

1105 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55415
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.
1105 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55415
(612) 617-7793
(612) 617-7793

The Mill Northeast

1851 Central Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN
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.
1851 Central Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN
(612) 315-2340
(612) 315-2340

Travail Kitchen & Amusements

4124 West Broadway, Robbinsdale, MN 55422
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.
4124 West Broadway, Robbinsdale, MN 55422
(763) 535-1131
(763) 535-1131

Rookery

4124 West Broadway, New Hope, MN 55422
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.
4124 West Broadway, New Hope, MN 55422
(763) 535-1131
(763) 535-1131

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