An opening date has been set for the highly anticipated brick-and-mortar version of Animales Barbeque Co., the food truck that caught the Twin Cities by storm with its solid execution of barbecue and burgers.
“Grand Opening Weekend” festivities are slated for Oct. 23-26 at the new Harrison neighborhood eatery (241 Fremont Av. N., Mpls., animalesbbq.com). With a sprawling, 12,500-square-foot footprint, there’s plenty more in store than before. A larger kitchen will mean an expanded menu, while main gathering spaces will serve triple duty, playing host to a 300-seat dining room (plus 125 outdoors), large group- and family-friendly features (including an artist-designed kid play area) and a music venue.
Chef/owner Jon Wipfli said the menu will include smoked meats such as ribs and pulled pork along with the burgers that gained a cult following over the food truck’s seven-year span. Beyond the meat there are new snacks, salads and sandwiches. Dishes include housemade cheese puffs, jerk hot dogs, shrimp po’boys, rib-eye steak salad and green spaghetti (with charred poblano green sauce), which Wipfli said is “probably my favorite thing on our snacks menu.”
Considering that Animales is going into what was previously a distillery (Royal Foundry Craft Spirits), you can bet there will be a serious bar program that will be a mix of craft beer, cocktails and NA offerings.
The restaurant will be open four days a week to start, opening at 4 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 11 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Barbecue items will be available from 4 to 9 p.m., while other items on an “Anytime Menu” will be featured all day.
The hours eventually will expand, Wipfli said.
“It’s a big space, we’ve just got to get our feet on the ground at the beginning,” he said. “We’re just really excited ... from a guest standpoint, we were so limited from what we could do before and with what we could offer because of our size.”
As far as the music offerings, the emphasis will be on buzzy local and national Americana artists. The inaugural lineup of music during the grand opening (no cover charge) will be:
