Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Downtown - North Loop - Mill District - Elliot Park - Loring Park
QuietBlue
Target Field
Posts: 579
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 8:50 am

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby QuietBlue » December 18th, 2018, 8:20 am

I've had a late night Block E Jimmy John's on quite a few occasions. Yes, let's get more fast casual open in the evenings... but who really wants chains?
I don't think people want chains per se, but Downtown is expensive for the independents, which is why so many of them have such limited hours.

twinkess
Target Field
Posts: 543
Joined: November 26th, 2012, 10:46 am

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby twinkess » December 18th, 2018, 9:03 am

You're forgetting Five Guys. Its open 7 days 7am-7pm.

amiller92
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1983
Joined: October 31st, 2014, 12:50 pm

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby amiller92 » December 18th, 2018, 9:40 am

I have the same feelings about the North Loop. There's NOTHING there. Having walkable fast casual or flat out fast food is a big net positive for an urban community.
I was going to say that, but there's not much daytime business for them in the North Loop. And in the evening they're competing with places that serve drinks too.

amiller92
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1983
Joined: October 31st, 2014, 12:50 pm

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby amiller92 » December 18th, 2018, 9:43 am

I don't think people want chains per se, but Downtown is expensive for the independents, which is why so many of them have such limited hours.
I don't follow you. You mean downtown labor costs are more expensive?

If you meant downtown rents are expensive (I assume they are), why wouldn't that encourage being open more hours rather than fewer?

Seems more like the issue is that there are vastly more potential customers downtown during the work day than there are in the evening. As we add downtown residents, you'd hope we can add businesses to cater to them, but there will always be more open during the day.

xandrex
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1384
Joined: January 30th, 2013, 11:14 am

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby xandrex » December 18th, 2018, 11:24 am

One thing that is interesting is that I kind of think downtown Minneapolis and the rest of Minneapolis kind of have opposite problems. Plenty of places to get junk food elsewhere in the city (although...yes, give us more Taco Bells), but whenever I want "fast casual," I find myself coming up short on nearby options. Downtown actually has a pretty healthy supply of those types these days.
This is a great observation. Outside of busy areas like Uptown, West Maka Ska, the U, and Near Northeast (CenHen, whatever), you can hardly find a damn Chipotle or Noodles or whatever. Outside of the areas mentioned, we could honestly use more chains, not fewer. I wish I didn't have to go to Highland Park for everything fast casual. You're right though, outside of downtown there's no shortage of McDonalds and Subways.

Note: I don't particularly care for Noodles & Co, just using it as an example since they are so ubiquitous in the suburbs. There's like 3 of them just in Richfield.
I'd argue that even the busiest areas of Minneapolis come up woefully short on fast-casual options.

In the Greater Uptown area (in this case I'm counting everything between Franklin and Lake on Hennepin, Lyndale, and Nicollet) you have:
-Five Guys (arguably fast casual given it's made-to-order stuff, but certainly as greasy as normal fast food)
-Chipotle
-Potbelly (iffy on this is fast food or fast casual...I think it straddles a certain line)
-Agra Culture (never been...this is fast casual, right?)
-Lu's

Obviously some fast food and quick sit-down places around as well, but this is an area with tens of thousands of people and that's all we can muster? The only area of the city with any large quantity of these options is Washington Avenue from Walnut to University in Stadium Village.

Just makes me wonder...what is it about downtown that makes them more prevalent there vs. the rest of the city?

LakeCharles
Foshay Tower
Posts: 898
Joined: January 16th, 2014, 8:34 am
Location: Kingfield

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby LakeCharles » December 18th, 2018, 12:10 pm


Just makes me wonder...what is it about downtown that makes them more prevalent there vs. the rest of the city?
There are 160,000 workers there for lunchtime.

Outside of the areas mentioned, we could honestly use more chains, not fewer. I wish I didn't have to go to Highland Park for everything fast casual.
There are lots of fast-casual options, they just aren't chains. Which to me is a feature, not a bug.

xandrex
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1384
Joined: January 30th, 2013, 11:14 am

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby xandrex » December 18th, 2018, 12:20 pm


Just makes me wonder...what is it about downtown that makes them more prevalent there vs. the rest of the city?
There are 160,000 workers there for lunchtime.
I figured someone who say this. But there are also 400,000+ people in Minneapolis. Plenty of folks need lunch on weekdays not downtown, not to mention on weekends and dinner in the evening! Just not sure why this particular niche seems to work downtown where 1) rent is high and 2) hours are limited (essentially lunch 5x week, no evening or weekend income) but doesn't really elsewhere in Minneapolis.
Outside of the areas mentioned, we could honestly use more chains, not fewer. I wish I didn't have to go to Highland Park for everything fast casual.
There are lots of fast-casual options, they just aren't chains. Which to me is a feature, not a bug.
I suppose this depends on how you define fast casual. I love going to non-chain restaurants, but even there I think Minneapolis is relatively lacking for quick-but-not-drive-thru quick options.

amiller92
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1983
Joined: October 31st, 2014, 12:50 pm

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby amiller92 » December 18th, 2018, 1:02 pm


In the Greater Uptown area (in this case I'm counting everything between Franklin and Lake on Hennepin, Lyndale, and Nicollet) you have:
-Five Guys (arguably fast casual given it's made-to-order stuff, but certainly as greasy as normal fast food)
-Chipotle
-Potbelly (iffy on this is fast food or fast casual...I think it straddles a certain line)
-Agra Culture (never been...this is fast casual, right?)
-Lu's
You left out French Meadow and World Street Kitchen, which are definitely fast casual. Loon Deli (never actually been in). Caffrey's. Lowry Hill Meats, which I'd count as fast casual. The prepared foods available at The Wedge and Kowalski's, which I'd call comparable. A whole bunch of coffee shops and cafes, which aren't that different, and plenty of casual restaurants (e.g., Red Cow, Bonchon(?), Pho Hoa) and pizza places (Red's Savoy, Giordanos, Leaning Tower, Pizza Hut, Dominos) to say nothing of many bars and restaurants.

Hard to see Greater Uptown as underserved.

xandrex
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1384
Joined: January 30th, 2013, 11:14 am

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby xandrex » December 18th, 2018, 1:08 pm

You left out French Meadow and World Street Kitchen, which are definitely fast casual. Loon Deli (never actually been in). Caffrey's. Lowry Hill Meats, which I'd count as fast casual. The prepared foods available at The Wedge and Kowalski's, which I'd call comparable. A whole bunch of coffee shops and cafes, which aren't that different, and plenty of casual restaurants (e.g., Red Cow, Bonchon(?), Pho Hoa) and pizza places (Red's Savoy, Giordano's, Leaning Tower, Pizza Hut, Dominos) to say nothing of many bars and restaurants.

Hard to see Greater Uptown as underserved.
I thought about adding several of those, but I ultimately didn't because I wouldn't quite pigeonhole many of them in fast casual. Others on your list (Red Cow, Giordano's, Leaning Tower, Pizza Hut, Dominos) are either delivery or legit sit-down restaurants.

The point I was making isn't that Greater Uptown lacks food options. But I'm wondering why a specific niche of food seems quite prevalent downtown, but seemingly not so much in the rest of the city. (The answer very well might be: There is enough competition from local places and sit-down restaurants to keep them somewhat at bay)

LakeCharles
Foshay Tower
Posts: 898
Joined: January 16th, 2014, 8:34 am
Location: Kingfield

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby LakeCharles » December 18th, 2018, 1:33 pm


Just makes me wonder...what is it about downtown that makes them more prevalent there vs. the rest of the city?
There are 160,000 workers there for lunchtime.
I figured someone who say this. But there are also 400,000+ people in Minneapolis. Plenty of folks need lunch on weekdays not downtown, not to mention on weekends and dinner in the evening! Just not sure why this particular niche seems to work downtown where 1) rent is high and 2) hours are limited (essentially lunch 5x week, no evening or weekend income) but doesn't really elsewhere in Minneapolis.
Well sure, but they are spread all over the place. Greater Uptown has 25,000 residents, and maybe 5,000 workers (I think both of those numbers are generous, especially when you consider a large chunk of those residents are actually downtown working over lunchtime).
Downtown has 160,000 workers and 45,000 residents. So that is at least 7 times the population downtown as Uptown over the lunch hour. Seems pretty clear why one has more lunch options than the other.

Didier
Capella Tower
Posts: 2511
Joined: June 3rd, 2012, 10:11 am
Location: MSP

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby Didier » December 19th, 2018, 10:52 pm

That WaHu continues to have significant retail vacancies makes me wonder if this market just isn't as strong for casual dining out. Or something. You'd think a Panera or one of a million other options could kill it there.

twincitizen
Moderator
Posts: 6368
Joined: May 31st, 2012, 7:27 pm
Location: Standish-Ericsson

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby twincitizen » December 20th, 2018, 9:22 am

I think they just built too much retail and got ahead of demand. If that strip mall across the street gets redeveloped, that could push some of those businesses to WaHu. I'd guess whatever replaces the strip mall will only replace about half of that retail space. Redeveloping the Days Inn site could help put more eyeballs on the empty space that faces Washington. I'm less hopeful for the space down at Huron & Delaware.

squrtis
City Center
Posts: 32
Joined: June 6th, 2017, 2:23 pm

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby squrtis » December 20th, 2018, 11:06 am

Prime 6 has already closed per the Strib.

thisisdeception
Block E
Posts: 8
Joined: March 24th, 2016, 9:08 am

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby thisisdeception » December 20th, 2018, 11:31 am

I never went, but a menu with "everything from potstickers and quesadillas to burgers, sushi, pasta and steaks" (From the Strib - http://www.startribune.com/newcomer-res ... 503235192/) sounds like a mess. That said, Crave seems to make it work, but Crave is already established and perhaps there isn't a market for a similar restaurant very near by. Recent Yelp reviews suggest service was pretty bad. I think this space could work with a coherent, unique concept, but the last two tenants have missed on at least one of those.

HiawathaGuy
Wells Fargo Center
Posts: 1636
Joined: June 4th, 2012, 12:03 pm

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby HiawathaGuy » December 20th, 2018, 11:36 am

Still hoping for a Cheesecake Factory downtown... and this would be a PRIME location (pun intended).

MattW
Rice Park
Posts: 441
Joined: June 13th, 2015, 5:05 pm

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby MattW » December 20th, 2018, 12:02 pm

I never went into the place, but from what I read it just seemed to be a poorly executed copycat of Seven. A Cheesecake Factory would be a good filler for this location, but I just don't see this space filling for some time.

5th Ave Guy
Landmark Center
Posts: 212
Joined: October 2nd, 2012, 3:11 pm
Location: North Loop

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby 5th Ave Guy » December 20th, 2018, 12:04 pm

You just knew it was over when they recently added the dueling pianos.

QuietBlue
Target Field
Posts: 579
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 8:50 am

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby QuietBlue » December 20th, 2018, 12:28 pm

That reminds me that I'm still grumpy about SHOUT! House closing.

Didier
Capella Tower
Posts: 2511
Joined: June 3rd, 2012, 10:11 am
Location: MSP

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby Didier » December 20th, 2018, 11:03 pm

Even though this is pretty close to some successful restaurants, this corner feels like kind of a no-man's land. Like, who is naturally around 6th and Hennepin? The location — kind of on the edge of the CBD and the entertainment district, but not far from the seedy bars and strip clubs at 5th and Hennepin — means it's not really an attractive area for anyone: office happy hours, tourists, sports fans. Nobody really lives here, either. Maybe the best bet is to just go all in and make it another Bar Fly.

grant1simons2
IDS Center
Posts: 4371
Joined: February 8th, 2014, 11:33 pm
Location: Marcy-Holmes

Re: Downtown Minneapolis Restaurant News

Postby grant1simons2 » December 21st, 2018, 11:46 am

I'm not sure if this is a joke or not. There's literally 3 large hotels within a block of the location. And 1000s of new units of housing down the street.


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 45 guests