urbanMSP

I guess one small bright side is that the combined footprints of the two buildings should be reasonably buildable.

I happened to be walking to uptown today when I noticed that the McDonald’s is closed. Anyone know what’s up with that? Are they remodeling?


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Yep. Work has been going on for a couple of months, though it was open for most of it.

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Duplex next to my garden is going to become a 4plex. The property is in BAD shape. Check out the photobomb from Fluffy the Dragon on pg. 27

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups ... 211342.pdf

It’s great that they’re going to renovate it into a 4-plex rather than tear it down for one.

Aside: looking at page 6, it’s hard to imagine what land use plan could have generated that zoning. I’m guessing those uses preceded zoning regulations. Do any local cities have some sort of flexible zoning that would allow, say, 1-8 family residences and/or 2-4 story mixed use buildings within 1/4 mile of a major intersection or transit node?

Duplex next to my garden is going to become a 4plex. The property is in BAD shape. Check out the photobomb from Fluffy the Dragon on pg. 27

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups ... 211342.pdf

Very nice to see this happening! I like how they divided the units - they are going to be rented quickly. Within the last year, 34th and Nicollet has seen a salon move into the old Gray's leather building and Poke Bowl open next to Ramen Kazama. Now, if we could just get something interesting to happen in the BK lot ...

Looks like some remodeling work going on at the building just south of the Riverview Theater along 42nd Ave S. Not sure what might go in there, but it's been vacant forever. Perfect spot for a restaurant/food service.

I'm extremely jealous that that stretch of 38th St can support 2 excellent neighborhood cafes (FireRoast and Riverview), but we have nothing of the sort along 28th Ave / 34th Ave in Standish-Ericsson. FireRoast and Riverview are probably coffee shops first, but both have pretty robust food offerings for that type of business (i.e. more than just coffee and baked goods). 34th Ave not having any coffee whatsoever is annoying. I'd be happier if the Sunrise Inn / Bull's Horn building had gone that route. It's sad, but Venn Brewing + random food truck is more attractive than ever going to Bull's Horn again.

Seems like Venn could set up a corner of their operation for morning-midday coffee + baked goods, to take advantage of 1. their wonderfully large seating area and 2. have window service for transit commuters.

I'd be happier if the Sunrise Inn / Bull's Horn building had gone that route. It's sad, but Venn Brewing + random food truck is more attractive than ever going to Bull's Horn again.

Not my neighborhood, but I've been to Bull's Horn several times and thought it was pretty great. What's your issue with it?

Tap beer selection is weaker than it should be (and wastes taps on crap like Old Style). But more importantly, the food menu is just way too limited. Especially if you're not a beef eater, you have like 2 or 3 things you can eat (my GF is basically vegetarian + chicken). I don't mean to say they should copy other places, but like even The Cardinal has like 3-4x the number of menu options. Why is Bull's Horn's menu so much shorter than its entire competition? (The Howe, Buster's, Cardinal, Chatterbox, Town Hall, etc.) It's 2 blocks from my house and I was really excited about it, so yeah, you could say I'm taking it a bit personally.

It's a faux dive bar, it's gotta have some crap beer that I'd probably never order.

Anyway, I liked both it and Venn. Daily choice would probably depend on the food truck at Venn.

I think what it comes down to is that the "faux dive bar" concept is dumb and unwelcome. It's a misread of the type/caliber of restaurant that could work in that location. Maybe I'm wrong, but I've convinced myself that a large percentage of the late-era customers of Sunrise Inn did not actually live nearby, but were likely driving in from Bloomington/Burnsville/whatever for the nostalgia and cheap beer. I don't think any of those people are going to Bull's Horn no matter how hard ownership clings to the dive bar motif. This neighborhood today is basically Kingfield 10-15 years ago when late-20s/early-30s couples started moving in. Give us our Lowbrow goddamnit.

My guess is that Bull's Horn is scratch cooking their food, while most other places are getting it straight from the Sysco truck. I like a short, focused menu. And having a cheap tap beer is an option that I always appreciate.

I appreciate they kept some of what made the sunrise charming while adding a food menu and craft beer. I don't think they're aiming at Sunrise's previous clientele...

Generally the size of the menu is driven by sales volume. A small place can't afford to have a large menu because they won't go through each prepped and purchased item fast enough to keep it fresh. Strategically, for the chef, it is a question of having maybe 250 ingredients and going through each batch of them every eight days on average versus having 125 ingredients and going through a batch of each in four days.

Bull's Horn isn't very big so that is probably what is driving their thinking.

Yeah, I think the faux dive thing is driving for nostalgia, not retention of the Sunrise's clientele.

Bull's Horn just opened on October 31, 2017 so it's not even a year old. I'm assuming they started with a small, focused menu and will build up from there. I don't believe the dill pickle fried chicken was available when they first opened (but I'm not 100% sure on that) so it seems to me like they're rolling out new stuff.

I just hope they replace the south facing glass block windows (from Sunrise's era) with real windows eventually. There's absolutely no reason to keep those, except for expense. But the place could be that much better with outside eyes in and vice versa.

Looks like there are new plans to replace the Los Ocampo restaurant on the SE corner of Chicago & Lake.

North Bay plans small rentals on E. Lake St.
*LOCKED*


This image is looking south(east). The building to the left of the new building is Chicago-Lake Liquor.