[Archived] Uptown Retail & Restaurant News 2012-17

[MNdible]

Yeah, I saw that too. Here's their Facebook page.

[twincitizen]

If everything works out as planned, it will be great having that space, Cause, and Country Bar all re-occupied by fall/winter. It's been a rough year+ for commercial vacancies in LynLake. Still no announcements pertaining to the Falafel King or Tatters vacancies either...

I hope the Milio's space won't be vacant for very long. I'd imagine some other quick service restaurant (whether local or chain) will snag that highly visible space in no time. There are a number of chains that I would not be disappointed to see in that space. Just please not Noodles. As we noted upthread, another Chipotle in the neighborhood wouldn't be a bad thing. It's fast, cheap, and they're open reasonably late (10 or 11). Would bring a lot of foot traffic to the corner. They'd probably need to combine with the tobacco shop space to make it work though...so probably a no for Chipotle. More likely to be something with less cooking of hot food. That space currently only has a few counter / bar stool seats facing the window. No tables inside whatsoever. Maybe a salad-type place focused more on take-out? Storefront for Tacocat???

[TommyT]

Why not noodles? I LOVE noodles, and i actually think it brings something quick/casual/nice all in one. Sure it's like super chain-ey but I think it's a step up from McD's and Arby's.

[David Greene]

Would love to see a vegetarian place go in there.

[twincitizen]

I know they'll say no, but I'm going to personally lobby Tacocat to open a brick & mortar location there. They already do heavy delivery business to LynLake Brewery. They're already paying rent in a commercial kitchen at (or near?) Midtown Global Market. Maybe they're not quite ready yet, but the incremental cost of hiring a min. wage cashier to ring up walk-in customers is like nothing. They're already working until 2am. Super easy access to the Greenway via 29th>Bryant too. It almost makes too much sense, but only if they are willing & able to make that leap.

P.S. Tacocat is really good you guys.

[RailBaronYarr]

I've ordered it to my house 5 times in the last month. So yes it's really good, but also maybe I'm case study #1 for why they don't need a walk-up place in greater Uptown. OTOH I'd probably eat there 10x a month instead of 5 so, yeah.

[David Greene]

Still have not ordered Tacocat!

[Feel free to move this to confessions.]

[bubzki2]

Has anyone been by Giordano's lately? The website basically still says coming soon, but Google says "open today." I'm guessing I would have heard if they were open...

[David Greene]

Not open. There's still a stop-work flyer on the door. It'a a big empty shell at the moment. They put an entire bank branch in next door in the time between when construction stated on this and now.

This is feeling more and more dead.

[Wedgeguy]

Walking by today it looked like a long ways to go. But I have see the doors open for workers, so the stop work order must be recent.

[bubzki2]

Yikes. Sounds like June would be a pipe dream. I will be very sad if this doesn't come to eventual fruition!

[Wedgeguy]

Yikes. Sounds like June would be a pipe dream. I will be very sad if this doesn't come to eventual fruition!

I'd say mid to late summer at best. Not sure what the work stoppage is about. Will have to ask around and see if anyone I knows has any wind of the situation.

[David Greene]

When I say "work stop" I mean the sign that warns no payment has been agreed to for the work. I'm assuming that means no one is working.

[Wedgeguy]

When I say "work stop" I mean the sign that warns no payment has been agreed to for the work. I'm assuming that means no one is working.

Those generally mean that the landlord will not be paying for any of the improvements, so the contractors will have to make sure they have payment from the tenant/business before they proceed with any work that they do. The landlord does not assume responsibility for non payment of work that the business does not payout. So liens can not be put on a building for none payment by a tenant to a contractor.

Work can still be done with those up. It just warns contractors that the landlords are not responsible if they do work without having the payment first or does not get paid. The contractors are out of luck/money and can't take the landlord to court for payment.

The reason that nothing is happening could be that they are waiting on vendors to ship booths, appliances, counter tops, etc that does not allow for further work to be done until those items or facilities work is done first. Could be as simple as that, to a contract dispute that is causing the legal delays. Will ask around and see what I can find out.

[David Greene]

Thanks for the education, Wedgeguy!

[mplsjaromir]

Thanks for the education, Wedgeguy!

Wedgeucation!

[Wedgeguy]

Just returning the favor, as I learn a lot on here from many of you about things that I did not fully understand. Many time it is about something new that I did not even know about. So thanks to ALL of you contributors.

[Wedgeguy]

Was by Bradstreet's Crafthouse today driving by and was wondering has this placed opened up? If so does anyone know how it is doing now that it is out of Downtown?

[David Greene]

I couldn't tell if it was open when we drove by this afternoon. That location is where restaurants go to die.

[zimmermj_mpls]

Bradstreet is open - I believe Friday was their first night, and saw a notification for a 'soft open' via their facebook page. Interior space is great - I recognized the influence of the Duluth room at the MIA before I made the connection with John Bradstreet, the interior designer. There are a few smaller rooms/spaces, which helps cut down on noise, and they still have bar seating. Just caught a glimpse of the patio, but sat inside to check out the space.

Menu has some of their classic cocktails (Juliet and Romeo), but also new ones. Food menu is larger than at the old place, and they have veered away from the deconstructed sandwiches for more large entrees. We had the tuna tartar, which was delicious and served with a side of ginger ice cream that was unexpected and appreciated. Also had the cauliflower side with the dill sauce. They only had three sandwiches/burgers on the menu -hoping they will add more.