During the hustle and bustle of the festive season, there are always a few new restaurants that manage to prop open their doors before heralding in the new year. Last year was no exception, with several cozy new neighborhood spots popping up. But 2023 has already seen a number of exciting openings. We popped into five of the newest eateries in the Twin Cities — and things are just getting started.
Slurp
Chef and restaurateur Yia Vang knows how to host a pop-up. He began his career holding massive dinners for large groups before stepping into his own space with roving temporary restaurants. The latest, Slurp, is inside the onetime Mucci's/Tinto/Spill the Wine spot on W. Lake Street in Minneapolis. It's a return to a stripped-down aesthetic and menu, but all the good flavors drawn from his Hmong roots are present.
The menu is built around noodles, either in broth or stir-fried, and there are three options for both. The toasty Fun Fun noodles are sautéed with browned peanuts, a heap of fresh herbs and January thaw levels of spice ($18); an optional fried-egg upgrade is $2. One of the brothy bowls is Khao Poon, thin rice noodles in a curry broth that Vang first served in his early pop-up days ($18).
All dishes are built for easy takeaway. The restaurant has just six tables inside, along with five industrial-grade stools for eating in.
There are a few parking spots out back and meters next to the massive snowbanks on Lake Street, which makes getting there a wintry Minnesota adventure. Online ordering is also available.
901 W. Lake St., Mpls., slurppopup.square.site. Open 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sun., Wed.-Thu.; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri.-Sat.
Bar+Cart
When two bartenders get together to open their dream restaurant, it's wise to start the evening with a drink. Bar+Cart opened over the holidays with co-owners Ralena Young in the kitchen and Brian Riess manning the bar. Both are longtime industry vets with a deep love of St. Paul. Riess' first bar job was at the original Champp's on W. 7th, while Young grew up just down the street.
The former Khyber Pass has been transformed into an urban drinking haven with dark floral wallpaper and lounge furniture dressing up the entry area, and a rough-hewed wood bar at the back. As many tables as can comfortably fit have been placed inside (and refinished by the two owners) for a lived-in warmth.
The cocktail menu is stacked with pre-Prohibition, classic and modern drinks ($10-$13). Over the holidays, the coquito ($13), sometimes referred to as Puerto Rico's answer to eggnog, was a perfect pairing for the snowy weather outside.
Plates are casual and largely built to suit the whims of Young, who started her career in kitchens before moving over to the bar side. Nachos ($15) are served tostada-style with toppings on each chip. There's a wedge salad and a bacon cheeseburger ($14) with seasoned potato chips for added comfort. The hummus ($12) is a nod to the restaurant's previous incarnation, but you'll also find hot dogs ($10) and a wagyu filet ($35).
Bar+Cart just added a weekday happy hour menu from 3-6 p.m., with $1.49 oysters and discounted drinks. Reservations are available online through Resy.
1571 Grand Av., St. Paul, bit.ly/3k9nHJ4. Open 3-11 p.m. Mon.-Sat.
Chelas
A little Vietnamese and a little Latin, the newly opened Chelas is bringing fusion fare to Minneapolis' Tangletown neighborhood. It's tapas-style: mostly smaller, entirely shareable plates with flavors drawn from whatever warm-weather destination might be inspiring the chef/owners at the moment.
The menu veers from cream cheese wontons with sweet chili sauce to pork belly lettuce wraps with salsa verde ($16) over to Korean-style double-fried chicken wings in spicy sweet sauce ($15) and shrimp and imitation crab on a crostini ($8). Prices top out at $28 for a grilled lamb chop, but most are in the $15-$17 range, with tacos coming in groups of three for $10-$12.
There's a small selection of craft cocktails — like a mezcal-spiked Vietnamese iced coffee — as well as local beers and wine. With concrete floors and spaced seating, not much about the strip-mall location has changed since its days as Prieto Taqueria.
4751 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., 612-315-5147, chelastapas.com. Open 4-11 p.m. Tue.-Sun.
Marty's Deli
A two-year-old roving pop-up, born during the pandemic, finally gets a sun-streaked permanent home on a northeast Minneapolis corner. Marty's Deli is the passion project of Martha (Marty) Polacek, who stacks her fresh-baked focaccia with premium ingredients, all tended with great care: huge slices of pale green tomatoes that have been delicately pickled; roasted cauliflower and marinated broccolini; house-made whipped feta and pimento spreads; Peterson's bacon in a BLT and Wild Acres chicken in a chicken salad.
The menu is tidy — just five sandwiches are on offer, ranging from $14 to $16. At breakfast, which is served until 11, there are also hash browns and a customizable egg sandwich.
Besides sandwiches, a small pantry section stocks containers of that whipped feta and pimento cheese, plus marinated olives, potato salad and quarts of soup to go. The wonderful focaccia, of course, is always available, too.
400 Lowry Av. NE., Mpls., martysdeli.com. Open 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat.-Sun.
Francis
Just a few blocks from Marty's Deli, Francis is another pandemic pop-up that has found a permanent home. In this case, the plant-based burger joint that inhabited the trailer outside Sociable Cider Werks has put down stand-alone roots in northeast Minneapolis. The abundantly pink brick-and-mortar is primed to become a popular neighborhood hangout spot, and veganism is in no way a requirement to enjoy the comfortable, casual place.
The menu's main focus is burgers and fries — and those fries are seasoned, crisp perfection. The burgers are made using Impossible patties or a house-made black bean patty. There's even a Juicy Lucy filled with "cheese." A crispy faux-chicken sandwich topped with a vegan version of bacon rounds out the handhelds (all $12-$19, including fries). With a toasted brioche bun, shredded lettuce, house ranch and other toppings, the sandwiches do a convincing job of standing in for animal-based burgers and fried chicken, but non-vegans' tolerance for the unfortunate fake-meat aftertaste may be tested.
For anyone looking for vegetables here, offerings are limited, save for a scrumptious wedge salad with a drizzle of the nondairy house ranch and replica blue cheese crumbles that, to some, might taste better than actual blue cheese.
A full bar makes a solid Wisconsin Old Fashioned. The cocktail program is by Earl Giles' Nick Kosevich, who has taken on the unique challenge of only stocking spirits that are made entirely animal product-free.
2422 Central Av. NE., Mpls., 612-208-6870, francisburgerjoint.com. Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sun.-Thu., 11 a.m.-midnight Fri.-Sat.
