Great Local Food News: Fitgers Pub to open in North Loop

I'm moving from one part of Minneapolis to another part of Minneapolis in less than a month. This is a big deal for me, as I don't move often (or at least I haven't moved often since I was about 22, when I used to move a lot (I'm now 33)). And it's bittersweet. Sweet because my family is embarking on a big exciting new era of our life together - the kind with real bedrooms and a fenced yard and maybe a grill. Bitter because we're leaving a neighborhood we're beyond fond of - obsessed with, really, so much so that our obsession is often misconstrued as laziness, since our socializing mostly involves us convincing all our friends to come hang out within five blocks of our condo. (What? It's not my fault our neighborhood's where it's at.)

Anyway. All this is to preface something exciting MC mentioned last week, confirmed more recently by Heavy Table, an awesome local online food publication (which just happens to be responsible for about 50% of my site's traffic - thanks, dudes!). The sad monstrosity on 1st St and 3rd Ave N, formerly known as Trocaderos, the weirdest dining establishment ever to grace the North Loop, has been purchased by the Duluthian brewmastermeisters who own Fitgers Pub. According to this Star Tribune article, come "late fall or winter", they are going to open a Fitgers branch in the space, with music and a "Beer Hall" and, in a year or so, they will start actually brewing there. I can't even tell you how exciting this is for the neighborhood. That building has been such an eyesore for the past few years. And there is nothing worse than an eyesore with untapped potential. MC is sad this is happening at the end of our ten-year stint here, but I say it's yet another draw to keep us hanging out here even when it's not our official home. (Plus, we plan on moving back here as soon as the children are out of high school, and I have a feeling Fitgers will be an addition to the community that is likely to stay until our return.)

In our new part of town... we have these to look forward to:

Birdhouse, likely to have lots of gluten- and egg-free items, so good for the whole fam

Rye Deli, which we love love love and can't wait to be closer to!

Tilia - the only restaurant we leave our neighborhood for at present... will soon be just a lake away! We can totally swim to it.

Lucia's, I guess will be our new Moose & Sadie's?

And, weather-permitting, if I can handle the mosquitoes... The Tin Fish (awful website) and Bread & Pickle.

I think it will be a fun summer. And then in the fall we'll bundle up and trek downtown to Fitgers.