Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Downtown - North Loop - Mill District - Elliot Park - Loring Park
EOst
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby EOst » January 9th, 2016, 7:24 pm

I don't think you can ding Brasserie on any of those fronts. High-end restaurants might have a limited shelf-life in cities without large, captive, wealthy populations, since each new restaurant competes for the same (smallish) pool of customers, but newer restaurants have the additional cachet of being fresh and exciting.

VAStationDude
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby VAStationDude » January 9th, 2016, 7:40 pm

I enjoyed my one dining experience there. Personally I prefer less formal dining with great food - Revival, Red Cow, ice house etc.

I agree with what eost wrote. I would add that I think our wealthy restaurant goers like steak and salmon options from places like capital grill and Manny's.

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Sacrelicio
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby Sacrelicio » January 9th, 2016, 8:03 pm

2014 Restaurant of the Year Brasserie Zentral to close a week from today
http://www.startribune.com/goodbye-spae ... 364754831/
Ate there once, it was tasty but not something I really needed to go back to. Wasn't that busy either and seemed a little...off. Couldn't put my finger on it.

NEeaster
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby NEeaster » January 9th, 2016, 9:56 pm

http://tcbmag.com/News/Recent-News/2014 ... The-Twin-C

I've been busy emailing several retail and restaurants about locating to Mpls/MN. Was going to email Corner Bakery and came across this article. Hoping they relocate to the TC- first didn't like them but they grew on me in Chicago. Similar to Panera Bread....

Didier
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby Didier » January 10th, 2016, 9:49 am

A downtown Corner Bakery, at street level, would be a great addition. However, that article is now two years old, unfortunately.

NEeaster
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby NEeaster » January 10th, 2016, 10:42 am

Hopefully they are still exploring the idea. I know we are getting way of thread here and this discussion probably belongs somewhere else, but what about Buffalo Wild Wings? I am not a fan - but it's a MN company and could see them thriving either next to the new Vikings stadium, or in the warehouse district.

Silophant
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby Silophant » January 10th, 2016, 11:05 am

There was a rumor posted somewhere on this board a few months ago that BWW was/is looking for a spot near USBank Stadium. I think it's a great idea - the one on campus is pretty much always busy, though the event density is a lot higher there, nestled right in between TCF, Williams, and Mariucci.
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NEeaster
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby NEeaster » January 10th, 2016, 11:08 am

There was a rumor posted somewhere on this board a few months ago that BWW was/is looking for a spot near USBank Stadium. I think it's a great idea - the one on campus is pretty much always busy, though the event density is a lot higher there, nestled right in between TCF, Williams, and Mariucci.
Fingers crossed.

kirby96
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby kirby96 » January 10th, 2016, 1:37 pm

Also there are so many good places to eat and shop outside of downtown.
Completely anecdotal, and my opinion only, but I think the point above is a big part of it. There are many, many places in the neighborhoods where one can only pay about $5-$7 for an entree than you might pay at an Olive Garden and get meals that are exponetially better. Think new Nicollet ave restaurants. $20 gets you a pretty darn good entree at a lot of places. The cost of running a restaurant downtown must be much higher, and the food isn't necessarily that mich better than at many neighborhood joints.

More people downtown will help, but in general the restaurant scene in Minneapolis is so much better than 20 years ago that you can find an interesting meal without breaking the bank just blocks from where many residents live. That is a relatively new development.

Wedgeguy
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Wedgeguy » January 10th, 2016, 2:30 pm

^^^ You are very correct in the fact that you have many great restaurants that are out in the MPLS neighborhoods. A few of them award winning. There is no real need to go DT for a good meal when you have the number of options that are out there. Places like Saffron, Pizza Lola, and others can pull in people from the burbs that are close to them. DT real estate and entertainment taxes add some extra cost to the CBD that those in the hoods may not have to deal with.

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Sacrelicio
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Sacrelicio » January 10th, 2016, 5:38 pm

Yup, I live in south, we venture out but a lot of times we just stay in the general area.

MattW
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby MattW » January 10th, 2016, 10:08 pm

I don't understand the obsession some people have with BWW. Essentially any other sports bar has better wings than they do. The only special thing they have is the variety of sauces.

Tyler
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby Tyler » January 11th, 2016, 8:27 am

Got to say I disagree. 9/10 destination type restaurants are still downtown or immediately surrounding. Yeah, they are popping up elsewhere but even more are choosing to open downtown. North Loop is Hansel level hot right now. So I don't see this downswing in DT dining as a real thing. Shopping is another story.
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MN Fats
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby MN Fats » January 11th, 2016, 9:24 am

I don't understand the obsession some people have with BWW. Essentially any other sports bar has better wings than they do. The only special thing they have is the variety of sauces.
It's sort of like the McDonalds of sports bars. Consistency of their product.

mattaudio
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby mattaudio » January 11th, 2016, 11:06 am

North Loop shares more with Kingfield or Linden Hills than it does with the CBD when it comes to dining culture and clientele. It's a neighborhood, and people like neighborhood restaurants. Not catering to the expense account set, but that's ok.

amiller92
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby amiller92 » January 11th, 2016, 11:08 am

Sorry wasn't try to twist what you were saying. Unfortunately, in Mpls we've also seen that high end retail and restaurants haven't been able to survive. I attribute this to our culture's fickal nature, long, cold winters, competition from outlying neighborhoods, regional malls and the MOA. I would love to see more upscale retail return downtown.
Don't reason from what happens to one (or even several) restaurants. It's a brutal and highly cyclical business.

Zentral tried a new concept that never really caught on. It's closing means only that.

amiller92
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Retail News

Postby amiller92 » January 11th, 2016, 11:13 am

North Loop shares more with Kingfield or Linden Hills than it does with the CBD when it comes to dining culture and clientele. It's a neighborhood, and people like neighborhood restaurants. Not catering to the expense account set, but that's ok.
Hm. Bar La Grassa, Borough and Bachelor Farmer are definitely more than neighborhood restaurants, and priced rather more like the expense account set. I've no yet been to Spoon and Stable, but seems that way too.

Everyone drives everywhere anyway (a thing that's deeply strange to me having begun my work life in DC, with fairly frequent NYC visits), so that fact that these places a bit farther from CBD doesn't make them out of range for client meals and the like.

MNdible
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby MNdible » January 11th, 2016, 11:29 am

Thanks for consolidating this thread!

I've been struck over the years as to how few actually good restaurants there are in the downtown core. Sure, there are places where you can get competent high-end food. But when I've had friends staying downtown who have asked for a restaurant recommendation, a place which is special and would leave a strong impression of the Minneapolis food scene, I've been left scratching my head. Usually the best I can come up with is 112 or Saffron, both of which can be a decent walk from the downtown hotels (especially in winter).

Re: Zentral specifically, I never ate in the main dining room but on a few occasions ate and drank at their side bar. It really struck me how much off the beaten path that location feels at night. Heading down Marquette after hours, once you're past the Foshay and the Marquette Plaza, it felt like you'd gone too far -- like surely, you were in the wrong place. I suspect that had they opened in a couple of years, after a few more of the North Nicollet projects opened, it may have been an easier go for them.

amiller92
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby amiller92 » January 11th, 2016, 11:47 am

Of course, a good one that was right in the heart of the "financial district" is closing, so maybe that tells us that being in the heart of the CBD isn't really an advantage.

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Sacrelicio
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Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby Sacrelicio » January 11th, 2016, 1:35 pm

I think with Zentral it was the concept plus the size that did them in. From what I remembered, the place seemed too big to fill up with that kind of menu. A smaller, more intimate joint with the same food and you could get quite a loyal following going without having to take up a large high rent space. Zentral was set up like one of the bigger, famous, "special occasion" restaurants but with a concept that just isn't that hot. You're not gonna draw big crowds quickly with spaetzle, as delicious as it is. It would've worked far better as a small neighborhood joint.


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