How downtown Excelsior became a suburban restaurant row

On a late summer afternoon in Excelsior, Amanda Bell settled into what she calls “prime realty,” a corner patio seat at Haskell’s Port of Excelsior — the bar and grill attached to its liquor store — and angled herself just right for a view of Lake Minnetonka.

She’d driven 40 minutes from Jordan, as she does a few times a week, to enjoy the town’s familiar faces and lakeside vibes. But this time, she was considering giving up the best seat in the house for a new one a block away.

Four new restaurants had recently opened on Water Street, Excelsior’s main strip, all from well-established restaurateurs based in the Twin Cities’ more urban centers. Bell had her eye on Vagabondo, a new Sicilian restaurant from chef David Fhima — and was tempted to trade her coveted patio spot for a table there.

“It’s just fun to see everything booming,” Bell said.

For years, Excelsior’s Water Street had all the charm of a lake town but relatively little culinary buzz, especially compared with its bigger Lake Minnetonka sibling, Wayzata. Now, this historic stretch on the lake’s southeast shore is fast becoming one of the metro’s most talked-about food destinations.

This summer, two prominent Minneapolis restaurateurs opened within days of each other, just steps apart. Add to that a wave of recent openings bolstered by new apartments, a parking garage and plans for more development, and Water Street is quickly becoming a suburban restaurant row.

“The restaurant world is churning around here,” said Excelsior Mayor Gary Ringate. “There’s still even a desire for more.”

It wasn’t long ago that the busiest intersection in downtown Excelsior was dark. Restaurants that had anchored Water Street had closed after the pandemic and remained vacant.

“Every day, coming down here and not having a restaurant in the main entrance of the city was depressing,” said Mike DeCamp, co-owner and chef at Jester Concepts.

Today, DeCamp’s company is behind three restaurants that inhabit a sprawling former Irish pub on that very corner: Mirabelle, a supper club with a coastal theme; Shiki, a ramen shop; and a lower-level outpost of Parlour, Jester’s popular cocktail bar and burger destination.

Across the street, in what used to be Red Sauce Rebellion, chef David Fhima — known for the Minneapolis spots Fhima’s and Maison Margaux — opened Vagabondo, a Sicilian restaurant by night, and by day a cafe serving coffee, pastries and spritzes on a sidewalk patio with a peek-a-boo view of the lake.

“It’s as close to the south of France as I’m gonna get,” Fhima joked.

“It’s the domino effect,” said Tiffany King, executive director of the Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Chamber of Commerce. “Once things started happening, they all started happening in quick succession.”

To the newcomers, the appeal was immediate. When Vagabondo opened reservations for August, the month was booked out in just seven hours. The same thing happened in September.

“I wish I would have done it sooner,” Fhima said.

Winter could be another story for reservations. With the boats gone and the patios empty, the off-season can be brutal for Lake Minnetonka-area businesses.

“We’re a Thursday-through-Sunday community that is really Thursday-through-Sunday from Memorial Day to Labor Day,” Ringate said.

Colleen Anderson, president and co-owner of Old Southern BBQ, has heard the winter horror stories. “I don’t know what to expect,” she said. “They’ve made it sound terrible.”

Still, Anderson is hopeful that takeout traffic — including orders from Excelsior Brewing Co. next door — and a strong catering business will help. Her strategy for now is to get each new customer to fall in love with their stick-to-your-ribs fare of smoked meat sandwiches, creamy macaroni and cheese, and scoops of banana pudding.

“I keep telling our team, just make a good impression now so that people still want to come back,” she said.

DeCamp has also designed his restaurants’ menus with a seasonal chill in mind, including Mirabelle’s huge portions of prime rib and pasta, or Parlour’s subterranean cocktails and cheeseburgers. “Shiki is also a bit more of a wintertime thing,” he said. “Not a lot of people want to eat soup in 90-degree weather.”

But Jack Stevens, whose family has owned the lakefront staple Maynards for 27 years, is optimistic the influx of new restaurants could help the town sail through the “sleepy” months.

To address the off-season slump, Excelsior is trying to grow its year-round population and bring in more daytime foot traffic. After the success of the new parking garage, there are more apartment units, medical offices, coworking spaces and other developments in the pipeline.

“Hopefully they’ve got the backing to get through the tough times,” said Ringate. “Because every business is going to have them.”

That includes more restaurant real estate: One project at 10 Water Street and another at a former gas station site could bring additional dining options to downtown. And everyone seems to agree, the more, the better.

“You don’t want to be the sole place on an island somewhere,” said Amanda Maday, whose firm Studio Grey designed both Mirabelle and Vagabondo. “They need other local businesses to help support them, because it’s a tough business.”

A little friendly competition is exactly what the restaurateurs are counting on.

Fhima is settling in for the long game. He knows the opening buzz at Vagabondo won’t last forever, and neither will the warm, strollable nights along Excelsior’s historic, Hallmark movie of a main street.

“We’ll become one of many. Then there will be the next new hot restaurant,” Fhima said. “Our goal is not to be the latest trend — our goal is to be here for quite a while.”