New Uptown Cafe — 'sister' to Uptown Diner — opens in former North Face space
The long-shuttered North Face store in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood is now a restaurant.
The New Uptown Cafe opened at 3008 Hennepin Ave. last month. Described as the "sister restaurant" of the Uptown Diner (which is just a half mile north), the new cafe is pitching itself as a breakfast and lunch destination for the neighborhood.
“I have been in Uptown for 25 years,” said General Manager Tommy Skubal in the announcement. “After everything that has happened in the last two years, what our community needs right now is a local spot where people can come for a coffee, or a pancake, and connect with their neighbors again."
The popular stretch along Hennepin has seen a number of challenges in recent years. First, a series of closures — including the North Face store in 2019, the space the New Uptown Cafe has taken over — that trickled into 2021. The area was also the site of protests and unrest following the police killing of Winston Smith.
"I think the Uptown Café will help revitalize what was once one of the most bustling blocks in Minneapolis," Skubal said.
The cafe isn't just an offshoot of the larger diner, with the restaurant promising "unique menu items." That includes a Mediterranean salad and hand-crafted soups.
But of course, it will have those enormous caramel rolls Uptown Diner is known for.
The New Uptown Cafe is open 6 a.m.-3 p.m. every day of the week.
