A big change is coming to the Galleria: After a five-year run, Kozy's Steaks and Seafood (3220 Galleria, Edina, www.kozyssteakandseafood.com) is on its way out, and the second iteration of Pittsburgh Blue (11900 Main St. N., Maple Grove, www.pittsburghbluesteak. com) is replacing it.
Pittsburgh Blue, part of the Parasole Restaurant Holdings empire and the middle-market cousin to Manny's Steakhouse (825 Marquette Av. S., Mpls., www.mannyssteakhouse.com) is familiar with shopping mall surroundings, having first opened in Maple Grove's Shoppes at Arbor Lakes in 2007.
When it debuts in September, Pittsburgh Blue 2.0 will resemble its Maple Grove predecessor, offering both a steakhouse menu and a more casual, moderately priced tavern menu, served at lunch and dinner. There will be a weekend brunch, too, and the requisite patio.
Parasole is no stranger to the Galleria; the company's Good Earth (3460 Galleria, Edina, www.goodearthmn.com) has been a longtime tenant. "I'd say we've been there for 35 years," said Parasole head honcho Phil Roberts. He also likes the juxtaposition of Pittsburgh Blue and the nearby McCormick & Schmick's (3203 Galleria, Edina, www.mccormickandschmicks.com). "They do well, and they're nice people," said Roberts. "And when we had Manny's and the Oceanaire across the hall from one another at the Hyatt [Regency Hotel, in downtown Minneapolis], it was the ultimate surf-and-turf. We're going to repeat that at the Galleria."
Like Kozy's, Pittsburgh Blue won't be the only steakhouse in the neighborhood. Both the Bloomington ChopHouse (3900 American Blvd. W., Bloomington, www.bloomingtonchophouse.com) and the venerable Kincaid's (8400 Normandale Blvd., Bloomington, www.kincaids.com) are just a short drive to the southwest.
Roberts said that replicating the Pittsburgh Blue concept was not necessarily intentional when Parasole launched the big-box steakhouse format.
"Like Buca, it was kind of an accident," he said, referring to the big-portions Italian concept that the company later spun off into a nationwide chain. "Oceanaire was more intentional. There was no Morton's of seafood, so it filled a hole in that market. But with Pittsburgh Blue, I didn't know Maple Grove from Cottage Grove when we opened it. But we always keep an eye open. If it looks like it clicks, then we'll open another one."
As for Kozy's, its final day is March 26.
