Animales finds a sprawling new home in north Minneapolis, and more restaurant news

First things first: there won’t be any sushi on the menu when Animales opens a brick-and-mortar restaurant next year. Jon Wipfli, founder and co-owner of Animales’ two mobile eateries devoted to barbecue and burgers, has already fielded far too many questions about raw fish, which is easily explained by his choice in business partners: Billy Tserenbat of Billy Sushi.

“Everyone [asks], are you doing sushi barbecue? No,” Wipfli said with a laugh.

Still, there will be more variety than Wipfli’s two seasonal food trucks can currently accommodate when his businesses move into a sprawling new home in Minneapolis’ Harrison neighborhood.

After publicizing a brick-and-mortar plan in December 2022, Animales announced this week that it’s taking over a 13,000-square-foot former distillery on a developing corner just outside of downtown, in what used to be home to Royal Foundry Craft Spirits, at 241 Fremont Av. N.

With Shea designing the space, and Nathan Rostance of the Ops Group (a former Bachelor Farmer colleague of Wipfli’s) consulting, construction will begin this fall, with an anticipated opening by mid-2025.

At the top of Wipfli’s wish list for a permanent home for Animales was “a bigger space,” and the new location certainly provides it. “You know, barbecue, people sit around and talk. Barbecue itself, this style of food, takes up a lot of room. It’s not dainty little plates,” Wipfli said.

The restaurant will seat about 300 inside, and 125 or so on the patio. Another outdoor area, which Royal Foundry had turned into a bike racetrack, will become a grassy courtyard where “people can just hang out.” A “huge” custom kitchen is being built in the formerly kitchenless cocktail lounge. And 1,000 square feet of the restaurant will be strictly for kids, a play space that Wipfli, as a parent of a 3-year-old and a 2-month-old, hopes will give young families more latitude to dine out leisurely.

“The 3-year-old, we bring her spots and she can sit for 30 minutes and then it’s over,” Wipfli said. “We always feel guilty when our kid gets up and moves around, even if it’s at a brewery. We’re trying to eliminate that feeling for people.”

Wipfli’s lauded barbecue and burgers will anchor the menu, but “we’re also going to rely on things like salads and sandwiches, tacos and more everyday food than just big platters of smoked meats,” Wipfli said. “We want to make more of something for everyone.” There will be a bar program “with some people that are to be named in the future,” Wipfli added.

Animales will open just for dinner at first, then add weekend lunch or brunch.

The north Minneapolis location, a block off Glenwood Avenue and just over the Van White Memorial Bridge from Interstate 394, is in a fast-growing neighborhood, with new apartment buildings rising, and Latin brewery La Doña Cervecería right next door.

Wipfli tried at first to find a spot in northeast Minneapolis, where he lives and where Animales has been based since its founding, but the trade-off was that Harrison has “awesome” access from the western suburbs and ample parking, plus a forthcoming light rail station. “It’s a really accessible area for a lot of different communities, but it’s not super known,” he said. “Yet.”

Until then, find Animales Barbeque Co. (and occasional appearances by Animales Burger Co.) at Bauhaus Brew Labs in northeast Minneapolis, 1315 Tyler St. NE., Mpls., animalesbarbeque.com

The former Peppers and Fries restaurant space in Minneapolis will once again be a burger restaurant and bar with one notable difference, thanks to the Francis Burger Joint crew. Neighborhood newsletter Longfellow Whatever reports that the Northeast vegan burger restaurant and bar will open a second location at 3900 E. Lake St.

Like the original, the menu from drinks to desserts will be animal-product-free with Impossible burgers, Impossible fried chicken, beer, wine, THC sips and a cocktail list written by the Earl Giles crew. There are also vegan milkshakes, which will be a nice pairing with the patio space that comes with the building.

Sounds like the ink on the paperwork just dried, but opening should be a relatively quick turnaround. The building will be bathed in fresh paint (pink, red and black — as is the Francis style) and optimistically, opening will happen this fall.

Francis Burger began as a popular food trailer outside a cidery in Northeast from Brendan Viele, Garrett Born and Lindsey Johnston before moving to its first stand-alone restaurant at 2422 Central Av. NE., Mpls.

Time for dreams of giant caramel rolls and homestyle hash: Keys Cafe & Bakery will open soon in Stillwater at 1400 W. Frontage Road. The family-owned diner founded by Barbara Hunn in 1973 on St. Paul’s Raymond Avenue continues to grow into new neighborhoods. This will be the ninth location, with others in Roseville, Hudson, Wis., Forest Lake, downtown Minneapolis, St. Paul’s Robert Street and Woodbury.

Keys specializes in comfort food from the bakery case — with cinnamon rolls and pie — to the hearty fare coming out of the kitchen from morning through dinner. Opening has been a little slower than fans had hoped, thanks to a new roof for the building and a new hood vent system, but it’s getting closer. With any luck, it’ll be ready by late summer or early fall. For updates, follow along on Facebook at Keys Cafe Bar & Bakery – Stillwater.

More good news for early birds: Andrew and Bailey Novak will open Stonegarden at the base of the Pearl Apartments at 5401 Chicago Av. S. in Minneapolis’ Hale neighborhood. The restaurant will focus on brunch, with baked challah French toast, crabcakes, egg Benedicts and more. According to the Minneapolis Business Journal, the new owners live in the building. The restaurant will seat around 120 and Instagram promises an opening “really soon.”

The owners of the historic Lake Elmo Inn will open 1881 By Lake Elmo Inn inside the sweeping historic setting of St. Paul’s Union Depot on Thursday, Aug. 8. The new restaurant is enough of a draw to plan extra time before hopping on the new Borealis line or special-occasion dinner. Open for lunch, happy hour and dinner, the supper club menu includes upscale favorites like potato-crusted sunfish and sirloin steak, as well as more casual eats like a spicy fried chicken sandwich and hot dogs for the kiddos. See for yourself at 214 E. 4th St., St. Paul,1881bylei.com.

Niki Heber has joined the culinary team led by Beth Fisher to open Rootstock at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Heber worked at the local food pioneering restaurant Corner Table, along with 4 Bells and was the opening chef at Wood + Paddle in downtown Minneapolis.

The cafe is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., serving arboretum visitors fresh, seasonal, plant-forward fare including light bites, breakfast treats and comfort food that’s veggie- and gluten-friendly. The arboretum is at 3675 Arboretum Drive, Chaska, arb.umn.edu/rootstock.

Sushi Avenue, the company that owned Masu Sushi & Robata, has been sold. The original restaurant on E. Hennepin Avenue was already closed after a fire in April, and the company also shuttered the Mall of America and Apple Valley locations. The new owners haven’t returned requests for comment, and the sushi, robata and ramen restaurant has likely sailed into the history books. It was fun while it lasted.

Squeaky fresh cheese curds have crossed the border into Minnesota with the new Burnett Dairy Cheese Store at 8552 Grand Av. in Duluth, not far from Spirit Mountain and an easy veer off Interstate 35 for those heading north. The shop and cafe is an ode to all the wonders that can be made from milk: There are cheeses for sale, mac and cheese, pizzas (topped with cheese) along with other cafe bites and ice cream.

Roughly 30 drinkmakers at Café Cerés, the coffee shop/cafe from pastry chef Shawn McKenzie and restaurateur Daniel del Prado, last week voted in favor of forming a union. According to a release from UNITE HERE Local 17, workers voted 88% in favor of unionizing. Next up: The workers and management will negotiate a collective bargaining agreement. Café Cerés has four Minneapolis locations, in Linden Hills, Armatage, downtown and near Minnehaha Falls.