There used to be an artist-designed mural on the back wall at StepChld, chef Kamal Mohamed’s ode to global flavors in northeast Minneapolis.
Now, a grid of basketballs and footballs hangs as art. The snug two-tops for date nights are gone, replaced with wide booths that invite groups to linger. Behind the bar, inset TVs glow. Nothing on the pared-down menu costs more than $20.
Mohamed closed StepChld this summer, reopening Kizzo in its place with a message that, based on the new look, is literal: this is a sports bar now.
Owner Kamal Mohamed at Kizzo, the Northeast restaurant he rebranded as a sports bar. (Anthony Soufflé/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
He had polled neighbors about what they wanted in a restaurant, and the answer was clear. Good food without the fuss. No reservations, no dressing up. “I want to feel comfortable … but then also watch the game,” he recalled hearing.
With Kizzo, he said, “We’re trying to find that home base.”
Facing shifting diner habits and economic pressures, more Twin Cities restaurants are reinventing themselves by lowering prices, focusing on the bar and courting regulars. High-end restaurants in Minneapolis that once leaned on marquee chefs and celebratory nights out are rebranding as neighborhood joints built for repeat visits.
For owners, the shift is urgent. “You hear this so often, but restaurants, we work with low margins,” said Daniel del Prado, who added a price-conscious lounge menu to his northeast Minneapolis restaurant Minari. “Any changes affect that low margin a lot, and can make or break that restaurant.”
Rising costs of food, rent and labor, which trickle down to menu prices, are turning off customers, restaurateurs are finding. The hardship is even starker within Minneapolis city limits, where the minimum wage is higher than in neighboring suburbs, and bigger government offices make navigating licenses, permits and regulations even trickier.