Now open, and opening soon
Coming off a four-week hiatus, I have a lot of ground to cover, restaurant news-wise. Let's get to it.
Now open: Parella (3001 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., parellampls.com). Chef Todd Macdonald's modern Italian cooking is served at lunch (weekdays), dinner (daily) and brunch (weekends).
Lowertown's Saint Dinette (261 E. 5th St., St. Paul, saintdinette.com), from the team behind the Strip Club, is now serving dinner (Tuesday through Saturday) and weekend brunch.
Green + the Grain recently made the leap from food truck to restaurant, serving breakfast (wraps and smoothies) and lunch (wraps, build-your-own salads and excellent frozen yogurt) weekdays on the skyway level of LaSalle Plaza (800 LaSalle Av., Mpls., greenandthegrain.com).
Two pizza chains have just landed in the Twin Cities. Chicago-based Giordano's (2700 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls., giordanos.com) is serving up its double-crust deep dish-style pizza at lunch and dinner daily, and Blaze Pizza (8126 Hwy. 7, St. Louis Park, blazepizza.com) is now firing quick-service, build-your-own pizzas at lunch and dinner daily.
What had been the longtime Loring Park home of Joe's Garage is now 4 Bells (1610 Harmon Place, Mpls., 4bells.com), serving South Carolina-inspired fare (boiled peanut hummus, clams on the half shell, fried chicken, dirty rice) at dinner, daily. Yes, the rooftop remains.
Minnesota's second gaming-centric Dave & Buster's is opening Aug. 3 at Southdale (500 Southdale Center, Edina, daveandbusters.com).
Aug. 11 is the opening date for District Fresh Kitchen + Bar (300 Superior Blvd., Wayzata, districtfreshkitchen.com), the work of Hemisphere Restaurant Partners (Mission American Kitchen, Good to Go). The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner daily and will feature a full bar, and a patio.
Co-op Creamery Neighborhood Cafe (2601 E. Franklin Av., Mpls., seward.coop), the new restaurant operated by the Seward Co-op — with former Third Bird chef Lucas Almendinger at the helm — is set to open the week of Aug. 12. The restaurant, the co-op's first, is located two blocks west of the store and will serve a casual day menu of breakfast items, salads and sandwiches through 4 p.m. daily, then switch to table service and a more complete dinner menu.
Look for craft beer-focused Rock Elm Tavern (16605 County Road 24, Plymouth, rockelmtavern.com) to open in September in a portion of the space previously occupied by Digby's.
Pimento Jamaican Kitchen (1178 Burnsville Center, County Road 42 and Burnhaven Dr., Burnsville) is in expansion mode. The quick-service restaurant — winner of the Food Network's "Food Court Wars" — will be heating up Eat Street in Minneapolis, with an opening-this-fall outpost at 2524 Nicollet Av. S., the former home of Cafe Kem.
A cocktail note: Tattersall Distilling (1620 Central Av. NE., Suite 150, Mpls., tattersalldistilling.com) has debuted its version of a taproom. Its great-looking cocktail room is serving gin (gimlet, above), vodka, white whiskey and aquavit libations (including a few on-tap options) and sipping spirits, Wednesday through Saturday.
Rick Nelson
