Wedge Minneapolis Coffee & Restaurants: What's New in Fall 2026

Put this year's closings and openings around Lowry Hill East on a map and a pattern shows up. The places that closed in 2026 were spread through the middle stretches of Hennepin and Lyndale, from 22nd Street down to 27th. Almost everything that opened is within a block or two of Lake Street. For anyone who lives in the Wedge, a morning coffee or a quick dinner now usually means walking south.

The timing helps explain it. Hennepin Avenue reopened to drivers, buses, bikes and pedestrians on October 31, 2025, after two years of reconstruction. The METRO E Line started service on December 6, 2025. So this is the first fall in years with the western edge of the neighborhood fully open. What has grown up around it looks different from what was there before the barricades went up.

The middle of the neighborhood lost its anchors

Here are the 2026 closures, roughly north to south:

• The Lowry, 2112 Hennepin Ave., an all-day diner. Its last day was April 26 after 15 years.
• French Meadow Bakery & Cafe and Bluestem Bar, 2610 Lyndale Ave. S. It closed September 14, 41 years after French Meadow opened there in 1985.
• Red Cow, 2626 Hennepin Ave. Its last day was June 1.
• Tender Lovin' Chix, near 27th and Lyndale. Southwest Voices reported in May that it had closed.

All four were sit-down or full-menu places, the kind you could settle into for a weekend breakfast or a long dinner. Several owners pointed to the same cause. Red Cow owner Luke Shimp told the Minnesota Star Tribune that sales at the Hennepin location fell 60% to 70% during the two-year project. He said business had improved somewhat since construction ended, "but not enough to where it was viable for us to take a risk in extending our lease an additional five years." The Lowry gave several reasons, including changing consumer habits and "prolonged and disruptive Hennepin Avenue construction."

French Meadow is the closure most Wedge residents will feel day to day. It was known for organic baking and for vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free food made with local ingredients. As of the Star Tribune's October 5 restaurant roll call, no plan for the 2610 Lyndale space had been reported. The St. Paul location at 1662 Grand Ave. is still open. In the note posted on the door, founder Lynn Gordon invited regulars, along with their kids and dogs, to visit the family there.

The openings landed at the two Lake Street corners

The new places are smaller, mostly counter service, and they sit at the two corners where the Wedge meets Lake Street.

Lake and Lyndale

Haraz Coffee House opened at 3001 Lyndale Ave. S., in the former Iron Door Pub space, early this summer. Racket reported it softly open at the end of June, and Bring Me The News confirmed it was open by July 9. It serves Yemeni coffee, espresso drinks and pastries. It's a Michigan-based chain, and this is its first Minnesota location. The Star Tribune notes that it keeps late-night hours. That fills a gap someone named in print this spring. In a May Star Tribune story, an Uptown resident said she wished more coffee shops stayed open late because "whenever I get off work, there's nothing to do."

Across the intersection, Vuka Flame Grilled Peri-Peri Chicken is at 626 W. Lake St. It serves Southern African-style flame-grilled chicken as wings, burgers and plates. Southwest Voices described it as soft-opening on May 20. A Racket roundup in September still listed it as upcoming, so check its posted hours before you go.

A few doors west, Unwind Corner Café at 822 W. Lake St. sells coffee, tea, sandwiches and poke bowls. Its posted hours are 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends, so it's one of the few nearby spots where you can get a sandwich after work.

Hennepin, just south of Lake

At the other corner, the coffee is clustered on the 3000 block of Hennepin. Moona Moono opened in April 2025 at 3048 Hennepin, in the former Paper Source space near 31st Street. It's a Korean-inspired coffee shop and boutique. On September 26 it hosted a Chuseok gathering from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mosaic Coffee Co. is a couple of doors away at 3040 Hennepin. Its hours take some planning. Its website lists 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Thursday and Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends. It's closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thesis Coffee Collective is also on Hennepin. Mpls.St.Paul Magazine describes it as a coffee-and-skateboarding "slow bar" built around carefully made drinks. The Star Tribune counted Thesis, Mosaic and Unwind among the independent businesses that have joined Uptown's longtime shops.

This block also has some of Uptown's busiest sidewalks. Workers told the Star Tribune that on weekends the corner near Moona Moono, Penzeys and Magers & Quinn is "wall-to-wall people."

Dinner along West Lake Street

Three more openings since late summer are on Lake Street at or just west of Hennepin. They're a short walk from the Wedge's southwest corner.

• Tom's Thai, 1601 W. Lake St. Soups, curries, fried rice, pad thai and Thai iced tea, plus cheese curds. Open by September 1.
• Arizona Taco Company, 1405 W. Lake St., in the former Arts & Rec space. Tacos, burritos and Arizona-style dishes. It opened in August as the company's second location.
• OG ZaZa Uptown, 1440 W. Lake St., in the former Mesa Pizza space. Pizza by the slice. It's the seventh OG ZaZa in the Twin Cities, its grand opening was set for September 7, and Racket confirmed it was open by October 1.

Why the new places look the way they do

The Star Tribune's May 31 story on Uptown gives the business reasons behind the shift. Suzanne Schefcik, vice president of capital markets at the commercial brokerage Colliers, said retail and restaurant space in the area costs about half as much per square foot as in the North Loop. In her view, that makes the area a good fit for small, locally owned businesses that can't afford pricier neighborhoods.

"The bottom line is that Uptown is evolving from a nightlife destination to a neighborhood-servicing corridor."

Cheaper space draws smaller operators, and a coffee counter or a slice shop needs fewer customers per hour than a 100-seat dining room. That matches what opened this year. Longtime businesses say they're seeing the benefit too. The same story reported that the wave of small openings across Uptown and Lyn-Lake has brought more foot traffic to established places like Lake & Irving. Its owner, identified in the story as Ikeda, called it "the most positive energy I've seen in Uptown since I opened the restaurant 13 years ago."

The Moona Moono owner, quoted in the story only as Lee, made a point about what keeps these places open: "in order to stay, people have to make intentional choices ... with consumers starting to recognize that there's a real impact in the way you spend your money." For a counter-service shop with a five-day week, a few regular customers can matter a lot.

What's still to come, and where

The pending openings are also in the southern half of the neighborhood.

1. Even Keel Provisions, 2901 Lyndale Ave. S., in the former Aurelia's Mexican space. Aurelia's closed in mid-July to rebrand. The new menu is described as burgers, sandwiches, seafood, steaks, small plates, and seasonal and vegan dishes. As of the Star Tribune's October 5 roll call, no opening date had been announced. When it opens, it may be the closest thing on the Lyndale side to the sit-down dinners this year's closures took away.
2. Sweet Joon, 3146 Hennepin Ave. Southwest Voices listed it as "opening soon" in June. Sweet Joon ice cream was served at the Moona Moono Chuseok event in September, but no storefront opening has been reported yet.

The middle of the neighborhood has no new tenants announced. Nothing has been reported for 2610 Lyndale. Through this fall, the Wedge blocks closest to 26th Street are a longer walk from a cup of coffee than they were a year ago.

Planning a Wedge week this fall

A few practical points from the posted hours and openings:

• Tuesday and Wednesday mornings: Mosaic is closed both days, so plan on Unwind, Haraz or Moona Moono instead.
• After 3 p.m.: Mosaic closes at 3 on weekdays. Unwind is open until 7, and Haraz keeps late-night hours.
• Weeknight dinner without a reservation: the counter-service openings on West Lake, plus Vuka at Lake and Lyndale.
• Weekend bakery fix: French Meadow's Grand Avenue location in St. Paul is still baking.

Hours at new businesses tend to change in the first year, so check before you go, especially at places that opened this summer.

Corridor turnover like this shows up quickly in how a block functions, and over time in how buyers see it. If you're curious how the new life near Lake Street and the empty storefronts closer to 26th might affect your own Wedge home, Erin Sjöquist knows these blocks well and is happy to talk it through, or you can start with an instant home valuation.