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Tragedy at McMahon’s
April 06, 2010
By now, everyone has likely heard about the horrible fire in the McMahon’s Pub building at 30th & Lake, that caused so much damage and was Minneapolis’s deadliest fire in over 20 years. We won’t go back through all the details here. Instead, we’ll direct you to McMahon’s homepage, to see their response to what has happened. Unfortunately, it appears the whole building will need to be demolished. But the McMahon’s team vows to rebuild, and has details about two upcoming fundraisers for the families who lost people. Our best wishes to everyone who is rebuilding after this fire.
The Triumphant Return of Kaplan Brothers
March 26, 2010
We just learned of some great news: Kaplan Brothers at 1414 East Lake will be reopening on Monday the 29th! They’ve been regrouping since December, when a nearby water pipe burst and flooded the store, damaging the building and a lot of the merchandise. It was an especially bad time for that to happen to them, since the weather was just really cold and bringing in people looking for hardy winter clothes. Thankfully, their commitment to remain on Lake Street was strong, and they’ve now gotten everything cleaned up and ready to go. Please drop in when they reopen and welcome them back!
Kalico Elephant to Midtown Global
March 10, 2010
Minnesota Monthly’s Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl has a great scoop today about a new Thai restaurant coming to the Midtown Global Market:
The restaurant will be called the Kalico Elephant by Naviya, and they plan to relocate in the former Jade restaurant space on the east side of the Midtown Global Market…They’ll be serving lunch, dinner, and hope to add both sushi and whole grain fusion pastas.
Great news for the Global Market and all of us who go there! A second sit-down restaurant will give people more dining options, and it can’t hurt that it’s a restaurant that many people have been missing and and are eager to see come back.
Fork the Fire
March 03, 2010
On March 14th, many restaurants across the Twin Cities are joining forces to support Heidi’s and Blackbird, the two restaurants that burned down in the big 50th & Bryant fire. Diners who eat out at these restaurants will be helping the cause themselves. Participating Lake Street places include Chino Latino, Il Gatto, Herkimer, Moto-i, The Craftsman, and Burger Jones. For the list of all restaurants and further details, check out Fork the Fire’s website, and the write-up about the event by Rick Nelson in the Star Tribune.
Hymie’s Vintage Records Moving to 39th & Lake
February 26, 2010
Hymie’s will soon be moving, but you won’t have to look too far to find them. Their current 33rd & Lake location will close after Record Store Day, which is April 17th. They’ll be moving everything into place for a couple weeks and reopen on May 1st at 39th & Lake, in the Blue Moon building. Check their website for further details.
Minnesota Monthly Love
February 25, 2010
Be sure to read Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl’s recent review of Il Gatto’s porchetta (Italian pork roast). “The day Il Gatto opened, Minnesota entered a new and glorious era: We now have a porchetta to rival New York’s finest—and one that any pork-lover in the state must taste immediately!” She loves both the crisp exterior and the tender interior. She also found plenty to live in the restaurant’s steak pizzaiola, bucatini carbonara, and burgers.
But that’s not all! MN Monthly’s March issue also has a great cheap eats list of 99 best buys for under $10. This article is print-only so you’ll have to find it on a newsrack or take my word for it, but here are the Lake Street mentions: Taqueria Los Ocampo’s chicken pozole soup, Floating World Cafe’s kitsune soba soup, La Loma’s oaxaqueno tamales, Taqueria La Hacienda’s al pastor alambre, and Holy Land’s whole chicken combo dinner. I’ve personally had almost all of those and will vouch for their greatness!
New and upcoming business openings on Lake
January 28, 2010
There are several new and upcoming business openings to take note of in the Lake Street corridor. A new Subway restaurant and coffee shop called I Am Coffee are now open at 2752 Lyndale Ave. Just south of there, at 2800 Lyndale Ave., a new motorcycle dealership called Ducati Minneapolis plans to open in the spring. My Sister’s Closet plans to open its second store in February at 2741 Hennepin Ave. Double Danger Comics & Collectibles plans to open at 818 W. Lake St. And the Pioneer Press reports that a new Parasole restaurant called Cafeteria will open in Calhoun Square later this year.
Lake Street for the holidays
December 23, 2009
We’ll have minimal activity here until 2010, so to close things out for the year, here are some photos we took that show Lake Street looking festive for Christmastime. You can find these photos and more over at our Flickr stream. Thanks for reading, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
City Pages visits Lyndale Taphouse and Sauce Spirits & Soundbar
November 23, 2009
Sauce and the Lyndale Taphouse are two welcome new additions to the Lyn-Lake scene, having filled a couple spaces left open by the unfortunate closings of La Bodega and JP’s. In City Pages, Rachel Hutton makes a good argument that the two fill holes of another kind as well, niches that the neighborhood was previously lacking.
For example, Hutton says that until now, there wasn’t a good place in the area for a sports fan to go and enjoy the big game of the day while enjoying dinner or a couple drinks. The Lyndale Taphouse is changing all that. According to Hutton, “The Lyndale’s aims are perhaps closer to the more modest, value-oriented, middle-of-the-road approach of Bon Appetit. If you can stand the crowds and the scene, its food is better than what you’d expect for a place with so many TVs.”
She also says that Sauce’s soundbar concept might be just the thing to fill the void left by the closing of the Uptown Bar. “ Overall, Sauce has a comfortable, arty vibe. Abstract paintings and photographs of Twin Cities performers line the walls, and a vending machine sells CDs by local up-and-coming bands.” And the food? “ A stand-alone dinner at Sauce is likely to underwhelm, compared to the neighborhood’s other restaurant offerings. But I’d guess that showgoers will be thrilled to find more interesting fare than the typical rock-club mozzarella sticks and burgers.” I can personally attest that Sauce’s calamari is a culinary thing of beauty, and I also think that their lasagna stands up pretty well in its own right.
Lake Street: the place to get inked
October 23, 2009
Last week, vita.mn had a great cover story profiling five of the Twin Cities’ top tattoo artists. It shouldn’t surprise you to learn that three of those five are right here on Lake Street! Kurt Melancon of Leviticus Tattoo, Shane Wallin of Twilight Tattoo, and Kore Grate of Tatus by Kore are interviewed. Combine that with The Ink Lab, City Pages’ 2009 winner for Best Tattoo Parlor, and it’s obvious that you just can’t go wrong looking for a tattoo on Lake Street, whether you’re in the east, west, or middle!
