Minneapolis restaurant Owamni to close for days or weeks following electrical fire

Owamni, the popular riverfront restaurant in downtown Minneapolis, will be closed in the coming days and possibly weeks after an electrical fire broke out there Wednesday.

The electricity went out about 2:30 p.m., co-owner Dana Thompson said, preceded by a power surge of some sort. She said staff smelled electrical wires burning.

"It got really serious, so we evacuated the building and called 911, and there were a lot of fire trucks there," Thompson said. She said in an interview late Wednesday that it's been difficult so far to get a full survey of damages because the electricity was out and it was hard to see.

Owamni, which specializes in Indigenous food, received a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2022. The building is along the east bank of the Mississippi River near the Stone Arch Bridge and is owned by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

Thompson, who co-owns Owamni with chef Sean Sherman, said she wasn't sure how long it could take to reopen the restaurant. Wait times are long for equipment at the moment, and it could be as long as a couple of weeks, she said, but the hope is to reopen sooner.

"We're doing everything in our power and working with the Park Board to make sure we can get a solution to get back up and running in a couple days if possible," Thompson said.

Xcel Energy was brought in to evaluate what happened, and Thompson said the building's advanced age means issues are bound to pop up from time to time.