New restaurants are changing Minneapolis’ Black food scene.
You ask residents in Minneapolis, and they will tell you, 10 years ago, it was not that easy to find many Black-owned restaurants.
But the Black culinary scene is changing, and now, there’s a lot of variety.
Chicago may be the capital of the Midwest when it comes to food, especially as it relates to Black-owned businesses, but Minneapolis’ Black food scene is working to give the Windy City a run for its money.
Here are some Black-owned restaurants to try during your visit to Minneapolis:
1. Soul Bowl
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Launched in 2016, Soul Bowl is known as the “Chipotle of Soul Food” where you can get all your soul-food classics, such as collard greens, mac-and-cheese, yams, and cornbread in one large bowl.
Started by Brittney and Gerard Klass, Soul Bowl is a customizable soul-food bowl experience where you can also find Caribbean-inspired flavors on the menu as well.
Soul Bowl is also vegan-friendly.
2. Breakfast Bar of Minnesota
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Breakfast Bar of Minnesota offers a fast-casual dining experience serving Southern-inspired comfort food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Breakfast Bar is the brainchild of NFL player Marcus Williams to provide people with flavorful choices for breakfast and lunch.
On the menu are jerk shrimp, lobster mac, lobster and grits, and so much more.
3. CHX
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CHX started as a side-hustle between three friends during the pandemic, but has recently expanded to a newer and bigger brick-and-mortar because people have fallen in love with the chicken tenders.
Co-Founders Marques Johnson, Fredrick Huballa, and Shawn Edwards wanted to bring a reimagined culinary approach to a fast-casual format.
4. Nashville Coop
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Nashville Coop is another chicken spot in the Twin Cities, with its latest restaurant expanding to the Uptown neighborhood in Minneapolis.
Nashville Coop is so good that it exploded from two food trucks to a brick-and-mortar in just five months.
The founders/brothers Kamal Mohamed and Arif Mohamed say, “We bring the HEAT to the people of Minneapolis, St. Paul, & beyond! Our Nashville-inspired hot chicken will put a smile on your face…& tears in your eyes.”
5. Trio Plant-Based
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Trio Plant-Based, Louis Hunter, went from being falsely accused of a crime to feeding the Black community.
In 2016, Hunter Louis was one of a few protesters accused of throwing rocks at police officers after the shooting death of Philando Castile. He was facing 20 years in prison.
The charges were dropped the next year with the help of a couple he met while protesting. Dan and Sarah Woodcock, who arranged a protest and rolled out petitions to help claim his innocence.
The Woodcocks and Hunter both decided to do pop-ups and serve the community healthy and delicious food, and every time they did a pop-up, they sold out.
They decided to turn these pop-ups into something more permanent and in 2018, Trio was born. Hunter became the sole owner of Trio in 2019 –making Trio Plant-based, the first Black-owned vegan restaurant in Minneapolis.