Tattersall employees unionize
Tattersall Distilling, 1620 Central Avenue NE, has become the first craft distillery in the U.S. to unionize. The distillery’s 27 front-of-the-house and bottling workers voted Aug. 20 to join Unite Here Local 17, a Minneapolis-based hospitality union. Some of the workers had appeared earlier at a July 28 rally at Chute Square at the intersection of Central and University Avenues.
Two new restaurants open
Crafty Crab opened earlier this summer at 4920 Central Avenue, Columbia Heights. It’s the Florida-based seafood chain’s first restaurant in the Twin Cities area. Order online for pickup at craftycrabminneapolis.kwickmenu.com/ or dine on their patio. Hours are Sunday-Thursday, noon-10 p.m. and Friday-Saturday, noon-11 p.m.
Also new is Nixta at 1222 Second Street NE. Gustavo Romero and crew offer artisanal tortillas and Mexican food twice a week for takeout. The name comes from “nixtamal” (neesh ta mal), a Mexican cooking process that soaks heirloom corn varieties in a mixture of limestone and water before it is ground to make tortillas. It comes from the Oaxaca region. Nixta also plans to stock its storefront with tortillas, salsas and other ingredients for home cooking. To get on Nixta’s email list for its weekly menu, fill out the contact form at nixtampls.com.
Gorkha Palace at 10 years
Gorkha Palace, 23 4th St NE, celebrates ten years in business in September. The restaurant, serving organic Nepali, Indian and Tibetan cuisine, has been doing takeaway during the pandemic and is a regular at the Mill City Farmers Market. Co-owner Rashmi Bhattachan said Gorkha Palace will celebrate with a 15% discount on its Sept. 10 anniversary, and will have many giveaways during the third week of the month.
B.A.D. Wingz opens Sept. 8
Cohabiting may be a new business trend. B.A.D. Wingz will open for business in the same space as Glam Dolls Donuts at 519 Central Avenue NE on Sept. 8. Focused on takeout and delivery, B.A.D. Wingz is headed up by chef Gerald Klass and his wife Brittney, and they will offer vegan wings as well as those from chickens. The vegan wings are made through a special partnership with The Herbivorous Butcher. The Klasses also own The Big K.R.I.T. Soul Bowl in the North Loop.
“We need us” campaign promotes local businesses
Maybe you’ve seen the bright blue and neon green billboards that shout “We need us.” They’re part of a marketing campaign put on by Meet Minneapolis, the city’s convention and visitors association, to remind residents to support locally-owned businesses during the pandemic. Two Northeast businesses among those featured are I Like You, 501 First Avenue NE, and Sammy’s Avenue Eatery, which opened a Northeast branch last year at 33rd and Central. “If we want our favorite places to survive, we need to keep showing up for them,” said Courtney S. Ries, senior vice president of destination branding and strategy for Meet Minneapolis. Northeast businesses can download a promotional toolkit that includes customizable signage at minneapolis.org/we-need-us/we-need-us-toolkit/.
Below: Crafty Crab: Behind bar is owner Jimmy Zhang, in front, Arianna Lindquist, server and Paulina Zhang, assistant manager. Gorkha Palace: Sarala Kattel, chef co-owner, Rashmi Bhattachan, managing director co-owner. Nixta: wife and husband owners Kate Kiernoziak and Gustavo Romero Veytia. (Photos by Patti Hoffmann) “We need us” provided graphic.