Ouro Pizzaria closes at Eat Street Crossing; a noodle shop is moving in

Ouro Pizzaria, the Brazilian pizza counter, has closed at Eat Street Crossing. The stand with the golden crust, and a fantastic vegan option, ended its run on Aug. 9.

Marshall Nguyen, one of the partners behind Eat Street Crossing, said a Vietnamese noodle concept called House of Hue will go into the space. “It’s going to be the first restaurant [in Minnesota] specializing in bun bo Hue,” he said.

Bun bo Hue, a spicy noodle soup dish in which chiles and lemongrass are among the prominent flavors, originated from Hue in the central region of Vietnam. Locally, the dish is more elusive than its beef noodle counterpart, pho. While bun bo Hue can be spotted on a few menus, this is the first Twin Cities restaurant in which the dish is the star of the menu.

Nguyen’s relatives Henry and Pamela Tran ran a bun bo Hue restaurant in Houston. When they moved to Eau Claire, Wis., they continued to cook their specialty dish for large gatherings with family and friends. After testing the concept at a pop-up at Eat Street Crossing in March, the retired couple’s love for making bun bo Hue prompted their decision to return to the restaurant business.

The couple’s daughter, Audrey Tran, said her father was born and raised in Hue, where he learned to make the dish. In addition to a beef version, House of Hue will feature a vegetarian option, too. Vietnamese bành mí sandwiches will also be on the menu and, besides the bread, “We’ll make everything from scratch, from the pâté to the mayo to the meat,” Audrey said. They’ll start with a soft opening in late August before going full steam ahead.

Meanwhile, Ouro’s departure comes after a ramen and sushi stand both closed at Eat Street Crossing and flipped to new eateries, Staff Meeting and PinKU omakase, in recent months. Ouro was an original tenant when the food hall rolled out in March 2023 — and Gabriella Grant-Spangler and Ben Spangler continue to run their Bebe Zito burger and ice cream concept at the food hall along with other outposts in the Minneapolis’ Wedge neighborhood, the Market at Malcolm Yards and Woodbury.

Nguyen said it’s the nature of the business. “For us, like other food halls, you’ll see rotations,” he said. “The goal has always been to do something different.”

He said as the space evolves, however, the spirit of Eat Street Crossing remains.

“We’re always working with amazing chefs,” he said. “And it’s always been the vision to have fun. We have a cocktail bar, a patio, DJs. We just want to have fun, party and eat.”

The long, crispy-fried wait for Tender Lovin’ Chix is almost over. The chicken finger-centric restaurant from chef Marques (Ques) Johnson and Billy Tserenbat of Billy Sushi is slated to open Aug. 19 in south Minneapolis.

Since announcing plans to set up shop in the former Fire & Nice Alehouse (and Heyday before that) on the corner of 27th Street and Lyndale Avenue S., the two have spent the past year putting the restaurant together while creating a buzz through a Tender Lovin’ Chix food truck.

The restaurant will serve the signature seasoned chicken fingers from CHX, the Uptown walk-up window Johnson ran a few blocks away during pandemic times, plus the food truck’s chicken fried rice.

Follow along on Instagram for more details.

Mothership Pizza Paradise will open this fall inside the former Arezzo Ristorante space near 50th and France in Minneapolis. The place is brought to us by the owners of the nearby Mr. Paul’s Supper Club and Mr. Paul’s Po’ Boys and Jams. For their latest restaurant, Carrie Erickson, chef Tommy Begnaud and Courtney Briden are branching out from steaks and sandwiches and plotting a Brooklyn-style pizzeria, with salads and more.

If all the State Fair buzz and back-to-school sales aren’t enough of an indication that fall is around the corner, then perhaps the start of apple harvest season will drive that point home. One of the larger get-togethers, the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s AppleHouse, will open for the season on Aug. 22.

This year, in addition to First Kiss, Honeycrisps and other fresh-picked apples, the apple house will sell a selection of ice cream from the U’s Meat and Dairy Salesroom. (Also, consider this a reminder that ice cream, cheese and more are available at the St. Paul campus Wednesdays from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Andrew Boss Meat Lab.) The AppleHouse will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; find it west of the main arboretum entrance at 7485 Rolling Acres Road, Victoria.

Beginning Aug. 19, North Loop’s Sanjusan will host intimate multicourse omakase meals. Called the Kitchen Counter, the five-course dinner from executive chef Peter Thillen seats 10 and takes its cues from local and seasonal produce.

“I have always taken pride in having Sanjusan be highly engaging and yet approachable, and I think the Kitchen Counter will be an extension of that ethos,” Thillen said in a statement.

The dinners, inspired by the Minneapolis restaurant’s brief multicourse series with James Beard-winning guest chef Tim McKee, will feature an evolving menu guided by the Japanese omakase dining concept with influences from Europe. Each week will have two seatings, at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Cost is $95 per person and reservations are available through Tock. Sanjusan is at 33 1st Av. N., Mpls.