[Archived] Uptown Retail & Restaurant News 2012-17

[Minneapolisite]

Funny you should complain how hot it is: Spyhouse NE has their air cranked way the hell up and it was fine at first but it's quickly becoming time to find new, warmer digs. Not feeling like making the trek all the way to the middle of Uptown though.

[xandrex]

Full blast AC is pretty typical in places all summer around here. It's quite nice when you're just running in. But our weather has been fairly mild and not all that humid this year, which I think throws off the equation. I know I spend most of my day freezing at work and that wasn't the case in previous summers.

[twincitizen]

Great news: Cause will reopen in the same space after all. http://blog.thecurrent.org/2014/08/caus ... ake-space/

Maybe the Mac's Industrial Bar guys can open in Country Bar, Champions, or Falafel King's spaces

[buzz]

Wow good for Cause. I, for one, will frequent the place and support their 'cause'.

[Minneapolisite]

Ha! My roommate just told me the good news before I saw it here. Bros - 0. Hipsters - 1.

[Nathan]

Great news: Cause will reopen in the same space after all. http://blog.thecurrent.org/2014/08/caus ... ake-space/

Maybe the Mac's Industrial Bar guys can open in Country Bar, Champions, or Falafel King's spaces

They essentially admitted to taking terrible care of the space (all the things that broke their lease) and are claiming to being good tenants again in order to keep their lease viable. I understand it was a cool spot for the neighborhood but I don't see it as a hipsters vs bros situation. More of a bad business practice on cause's part that they turned into some cultural socio economic battle to save face.

[WHS]

I don't care about the merits of Cause's legal case, or lack thereof -- the area has plenty of bro bars already and preserving a little diversity can only be a good thing.

[Nathan]

Wait... is this UrbanMSP or Save Dinkytown... I'm confused.

Fucking NIMBY's

[WHS]

Nice try, but that's just silly. Taken to extremes, gentrification can be bad for urbanism too. Economic diversity is a big part of the appeal and promise of cities and there's a big difference between not wanting something in your backyard and not wanting only that thing in your backyard.

[David Greene]

Nice try, but that's just silly. Taken to extremes, gentrification can be bad for urbanism too. Economic diversity is a big part of the appeal and promise of cities and there's a big difference between not wanting something in your backyard and not wanting only that thing in your backyard.

This is exactly my view of packing the inner Wedge with six story apartment buildings. At some point, it's unhealthy for the urban ecosystem.

[FISHMANPET]

Single Family Homes are not a component of economic diversity, unless economic diversity means people who got lucky years ago or people with more money than God.

[FISHMANPET]

Also whatever it's a strawman anyway, nobody's trying to demolish the entirety of the Wedge.

[David Greene]

Single Family Homes are not a component of economic diversity, unless economic diversity means people who got lucky years ago or people with more money than God.

Ah, so only diversity you like. Got it.

I'm totally lost on your lucky, more money than God thing. Plenty of ordinary middle-class families own houses in the Wedge and bought them recently. They didn't get lucky. They bought what they could afford. Or do you think the Wedge is somehow akin to Mount Curve?

[David Greene]

Also whatever it's a strawman anyway, nobody's trying to demolish the entirety of the Wedge.

No, but some people here do advocate for that.

[TommyT]

I'm happy for Cause and that the fought for what they believed to be right. I'm honestly a tiny bit disappointed because I happen to like Mac's industrial bar (and am not a Bro... wait, who would have thought? Other people than Bros can like that type of establishment?!?!?!) and think that they would have done a better job taking care of the place and possibly even cleaned up that corner a bit.

[twincitizen]

You're probably right that the sports bar would have cleaned up the appearance a bit, mainly by using the corner entrance, but I think most urbanists will forgive them in exchange for providing the "diversity" of a music venue in the neighborhood. I generally dislike "we don't need another _______" arguments that some people make about whatever business they don't like, but man...enough sports bars already (Bulldog, Tap House, Herkimer just in LynLake)! I don't think the Cause situation was ever about "bros", gentrification, or any other buzzword. It was about having a music venue vs. not having a music venue. People get sensitive when you take the only one away.

I went to Lago Tacos last night around 9:30. There were at least a dozen people in there, which I thought was pretty good for a Sunday night. Their margaritas are all too expensive around $8-$12, even the "house margarita". Their rent must be astronomical or something. I wish them well, but I'm skeptical if it's going to work out. Their food just doesn't justify those prices. My chicken burrito was good, but nothing out of this world. At least hook it up with the free chips & salsa.

How's Marche? I'm intrigued...and also want a reason to check out that lobby!

[TommyT]

I went to Lago Tacos last night around 9:30. There were at least a dozen people in there, which I thought was pretty good for a Sunday night. Their margaritas are all too expensive around $8-$12, even the "house margarita". Their rent must be astronomical or something. I wish them well, but I'm skeptical that it's going to work out. Their food just doesn't justify those prices. My chicken burrito was good, but nothing out of this world. At least hook it up with the free chips & salsa.

If you're into seafood at all and want to give it another shot, try the Tuna Tacos and the Lobster. Both are amazing!

[RailBaronYarr]

Single Family Homes are not a component of economic diversity, unless economic diversity means people who got lucky years ago or people with more money than God.

Ah, so only diversity you like. Got it.

I'm totally lost on your lucky, more money than God thing. Plenty of ordinary middle-class families own houses in the Wedge and bought them recently. They didn't get lucky. They bought what they could afford. Or do you think the Wedge is somehow akin to Mount Curve?

I'd say any house over $300k (regardless of square footage) means you've got a buyer(s) over $100k gross a year. Considering the recent SFR price trends in the Wedge (David has acknowledged a while back in the 2320 Colfax thread that many are going for well over $500k nowadays), I'd say it's a fair assumption to say that one of two things is happening: 1) person/family pulling in $150k+ a year, 2) person/family receiving a sizeable donation from their parents for a down payment, and they're still pulling in $100k a year. Both of those things are solidly upper middle class. I don't have the ability to slice the data, but I'd wager a good chunk that the economic and racial diversity of people owning detached single family homes in the Wedge is pretty low - wealthier white people and old white people who have been there a while.

I've been bugging my wife to go to Lago Tacos for a while... I'll see if I can confirm twincitizen's thoughts sometime this week.

[zlkahn]

I generally dislike "we don't need another _______" arguments that some people make about whatever business they don't like, but man...enough sports bars already (Bulldog, Tap House, Herkimer just in LynLake)! I don't think the Cause situation was ever about "bros", gentrification, or any other buzzword. It was about having a music venue vs. not having a music venue. People get sensitive when you take the only one away.

The thing is, so far as I'm aware, there currently isn't actually a sports bar in Uptown. As someone who moved from out of state 6 years ago and has lived Uptown and South Minneapolis since, what little decent sports bars there are around this city are located either downtown or in the burbs. The only place in Uptown with NFL Sunday Ticket used to be Old Chicago (no more), and non of the remaining spots are setup to service patrons on large sports days (see: College Football Saturdays, NFL Sundays, March Madness, MLB Playoffs).

[kirby96]

I actually think Lagos Tacos has pretty decent tacos, not the best ever, but I'd say a solid B+. The prices are a tad high, but the portions are almost too large, so having gone there twice, I ordered 'smarter' the second time around. The patio is very pleasant on a warm evening. I hope they stick around.