Revival, the restaurant that kicked off a metrowide craving for chef-driven fried chicken when it launched in 2015, is closing its original location at 4257 Nicollet Av. in Minneapolis on Aug. 14.
Core menu items, including the fried chicken and a much-loved burger, will migrate just a few blocks south, to the recently opened barbecue restaurant Revival Smoked Meats, at 4537 Nicollet Av.
"We've just outgrown that building," said chef and co-owner Thomas Boemer, about the petite original location on the corner of 43rd Street and Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis. "And as we start to bring barbecue to the other restaurants, bringing fried chicken to this restaurant seemed to be the next step."
Since Revival Smoked Meats opened in May, guests had been asking for Revival's signature fried chicken, which comes southern fried or Tennessee hot. Boemer and co-owner Nick Rancone didn't want to keep turning them down.
"You have people come to the restaurant, Smoked Meats, like, can we get fried chicken here? And it's like, well, you've got to go down the street," Boemer said. "Our whole thing in this world is to make people happy. When you come across that feedback a lot, you start to ask yourself if this is something we could do, if this is something we should do."
What made the move even more appealing to Boemer and Rancone is that they own the Revival Smoked Meats building. It previously housed their upscale tasting menu spot Corner Table, which closed in 2019. The space offers a parking lot, a full bar and a large patio.
"It's a building we've invested a lot of time and money and effort into, and really has allowed us to bring that full expression of Revival that we want," Boemer said.
Revival Smoked Meats is open for dinner daily. The two other Revival locations, in St. Louis Park and St. Paul, will remain open.
