It’s been a turbulent start to the year for the restaurant community, to say the least. Remember, though, that this industry is the most nimble, the most tenacious, the most creative, the most hardscrabble one out there—and aren’t we all better for it? Mark these 2026 openings down as bright spots on your calendar—glimmers to grab onto.
Dahlia
We’ve only been waiting three years for the delectable debut of bakery pop-up Dahlia as a real-life brick-and-mortar! Former Travailians Alex Althoff, Nat Moser, and Sarah Julson will open it as a daytime bakery in the same space as MN Nice Cream (which will operate in the evening) in Northeast, likely Thursday through Sunday. Yay to food folks smartly sharing resources, yay to pastry punch cards and croissants with all kinds of swoops and swirls (there will be savory hot food and coffee, too). Opening January 30. Northeast Minneapolis
Ono Hawaiian Plates
The best possible fate for the former Guacaya Bistreaux space in the North Loop has got to be Warren Seta and Jess Kelley’s Ono Hawaiian Plates moving in. After a couple of years operating out of the United Noodles space in Minneapolis’s Seward neighborhood (which they’re not leaving, don’t worry!) the duo are making a big expansion with their new second home, so ready your tums for a real feast, more sizzling kalbi ribs and whole fried snapper and lumpianadas (Filipino empanadas) than ever before. This one’s coming soon. North Loop
Aubergine
Maybe you were one of the lucky ones who got to experience Megan and Bjorn Jacobse’s Aubergine when it was a pop-up dishing exquisite pâté en croûte and other Lyonnaise delights at restaurants around town (Bûcheron, Hyacinth, etc.). If not, don’t despair, because the duo are imminently opening a permanent restaurant in the former St. Paul Revival space in St. Paul’s Cathedral Hill. Things are getting Frenchier than ever in March 2026. Cathedral Hill
A to Z Creamery
Super-viral Insta ice cream biz A to Z Creamery is going brick-and-mortar in early 2026. Owner Zach Vraa currently operates his weekly pint pick-up out of a space on Hopkins’ Mainstreet, and now he’s expanding just next door. The weekly drop model will continue, but the new storefront will also offer soft-serve and baked goods for passersby who want to pop in for a twist. Look for a spring 2026 opening, with hours on weekends. Hopkins
Sweet Lou’s Meats
Hell yes to Sweet Lou’s Meats opening a brick-and-mortar storefront in an old neighborhood meat market in St. Louis Park! We are predicting lines out the door for fancy hot dogs and Italian meatballs and tenderloin roasts, as they plan for a spring 2026 opening. St. Louis Park
Maison Rose
No surprise that the mighty Patisserie 46 and Rose Street Patisserie eventually outgrew their inner-city footprints. (Don’t worry—neither are moving or closing!) But come spring 2026, chef John Kraus and partner Elizabeth Rose are transforming Lilydale’s former Osteria I Nonni Italian restaurant into Maison Rose, a café and retail operation that will also be the home of Bread Lab, a large-scale production and educational space. Lilydale residents can look forward to P46’s French pastries, cakes, and breads, plus coffee and savory bites, while Bread Lab will offer a new apprenticeship program for up-and-coming bakers. There’ll be classes open to the community as well. Lilydale
Shota Indigenous BBQ
It’s so, so thrilling to see chef Sean Sherman and the team at NATIFS bringing a more casual, neighborhood restaurant to town—we love Owamni, of course, but it’s more of a special occasion treat than the kind of place you wander into on a Wednesday night for three sisters bison stew with braised greens. Opening 2026 in the former Seward Co-op Creamery space right on Franklin Avenue. South Minneapolis
Revival
It’s a fresh new year, folks, and there are only so many times that I can type that fried chicken restaurant Revival, originally opened by Thomas Boemer and Nick Rancone in 2015 and abruptly closed in 2025, has been “revived.” But indeed it has, by metro restaurant group Jester Concepts, which is scouting out a new location somewhere around the metro as we speak. Poultrygeist fans at the ready. Location TBD
Blue in Green
We know we’re not the only ones still missing The Getdown Coffee Co., entrepreneur Houston White’s coffee shop in Minneapolis’s Northside Camden neighborhood. But plans for Blue in Green, the new bistro opening in the space this spring, sound promising. The new restaurant’s name takes inspiration from Miles Davis’s track “Blue in Green” on his Kind of Blue album—and though we don’t yet know the finer details of Houston’s vision, expect an upscale spot that also has to-go options and a coffee bar. North Minneapolis
Savory Bakehouse
We know there are many Longfellow neighbors still crushed to see Savory Bakehouse relocate from their Lake Street-adjacent storefront to a new, bigger spot in St. Paul. (The silver lining, at least, is that Longfellow is about as close as Minneapolitans can get to St. Paul.) If it’s anything like the caramel pecan sweet rolls, pot pies, and peach babka of the past 10 years, we’re excited to see what kind of pastry magic owners Sandra Sherva and Max Okray bake up on the other side of the river. St. Paul
Saffron
Saffron, chef Sameh Wadi’s groundbreaking Middle Eastern restaurant that graced Minneapolis’s Warehouse District with duck leg tagine, turmeric-gilded cauliflower, and sweet corn soup with chile-poached figs from 2007 to 2016, is really, truly, back. Wadi has purchased the former Young Joni space in Northeast Minneapolis and hopes (if all goes as planned) to officially reopen Saffron 2.0 within the coming year in partnership with his brother Saed Wadi. Wadi took an entire year off to reimagine Saffron and rewrite the menu as he cooked, and he’s delving deeper than ever into his roots in Palestine and the Levant. Northeast Minneapolis
Dining and Cooking