9 new Twin Cities patios to look forward to this summer

As we flip the calendar to another month, be sure to note these patio openings.

May 28, 2021 at 1:22PM
Grand opening of Water Works park redevelopment of Mill Ruins Park downtown. The new indoor riverfront pavilion (Not opening yet.) featuring a restaurant and food service venue run by The Sioux Chef is on the former site of Fuji-Ya restaurant.
Owamni at Water Works Park in downtown Minneapolis will have a multiple outdoor dining options when it opens this summer. (Brian Peterson, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Be on the lookout for two side-by-side patios in the slickly rejuvenated Texa-Tonka shopping center (8028 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park), one at Angel Food Bakery (angelfoodmn.com), the other at Revival (revivalrestaurants.com). Meanwhile, when Revival Smoked Meats (revivalrestaurants.com) settles into the former Corner Table, the property (4537 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls.) is going to boast an expanded patio.

Lobster-centric Smack Shack is also in expansion mode, and when it takes over the former Fuddruckers (3801 Minnesota Drive, Bloomington, smack-shack.com), the restaurant will feature a patio.

Also in the suburbs, Duke's on 7 (15600 Hwy. 7, Minnetonka, dukeson7.com) will feature a massive 170-seat patio (plus a 14-seat outdoor bar), with the same dog-friendly attitude of its siblings in the Craft & Crew restaurant family (the Block Food + Drink, Pub 819, the Howe Daily Kitchen & Bar). Look for a mid-June opening.

The great-looking rooftop at Travail Kitchen and Amusements (4134 Hubbard Av. N., Robbinsdale, travailkitchen.com) is targeted to open in mid-July, serving a French bistro menu.

On June 1, Young Joni (165 13th Av. NE., Mpls., youngjoni.com) chef/co-owner Ann Kim is inaugurating a patio — the restaurant's first — the same day the dining room reopens.

The Twin Cities' latest food hall, the Market at Malcolm Yards (501 30th Av. SE., Mpls., malcolmyards.market) is promising a pair of spacious, well-equipped outdoor dining venues, plus a third that's part of a private events space.

Finally, Owamni by the Sioux Chef (425 West River Pkwy., Mpls., sioux-chef.com), the much-anticipated restaurant from chef Sean Sherman, will feature several large outdoor dining venues, including a grassy patio overlooking the Mississippi River.

about the writer

about the writer

Rick Nelson

Reporter

Rick Nelson joined the staff of the Star Tribune in 1998. He is a Twin Cities native, a University of Minnesota graduate and a James Beard Award winner. 

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