St. Paul's Naughty Greek restaurant adding new location in Minneapolis skyway

Angelo Giovanis has been in expansion mode since he first opened the Naughty Greek as a small St. Paul neighborhood restaurant on Snelling and Selby in 2016. The next year, he opened a larger location on University Ave. and Raymond Ave.

All the while, he was "resisting" a move to Minneapolis, as friends in the restaurant industry advised him against it.

That changes in 2020, when the Naughty Greek opens in the skyway of the Capella Tower, in downtown Minneapolis (225 S. 6th St., Mpls.).

"We're doing the opposite of what everyone is telling me to do, which is very consistent with the Naughty Greek," said Giovanis, the restaurant's owner. And Minneapolis will be the better for it.

A truncated lunch-only menu will feature the restaurant's signature gyros, salads and plates, "but offered in what everyone seems to know today: bowls."

The 1,500-square-foot spot will have 30 to 40 seats for dining in, and will also handle takeout, delivery and catering orders.

"The opportunity for us is catering the offices above us," Giovanis said. "That's what's kind of fueling a lot of the confidence."

Most of the food will be crafted in-house, save for spits of meat and spreads made in bulk at the Naughty Greek's University Ave. commissary.

" 'Fresh' — we're going to be plastering that everywhere," he said. "We're going to be reminding people this is not just another fast food option."

Construction has begun, and Giovanis is hopeful the restaurant will be ready to go by early February.

At first, it'll be open Monday through Friday, 10:30 to 2:30 or so. Giovanis might add a "healthy, limited-option for breakfast, if we feel that there is a demand for that."

Could the skyway be the steppingstone for more Minneapolis Naughty Greeks to come? Giovanis isn't thinking that far ahead.

"One thing at a time," he said.

Sharyn Jackson • 612-673-4853 @SharynJackson