Best New Restaurants: On The Side

Sometimes, it's the small yet mighty twists that make our old favorites new again.

by ,

Milkjam Creamery

What’s better than adding dessert? Nothing. When Sameh Wadi announced that he’d be busting out the side wall of his World Street Kitchen into the neighboring space so that he could live out his dream of being an ice cream man, we were all pretty happy. Never did we believe how crazy happy we would be for the ensuing Milkjam, where chef-concocted flavors (like Wonderland with chantrelle and brown butter caramel) get crammed between donut halves or thrown with booze into shakes or simply piled in 16 scoops on a dare-you platter. 2743 Lyndale Ave. S., Mpls., 612-424-4668, milkjamcreamery.com

The Bachelor Farmer Café 

Adding a patio is nothing new, but adding an alleyway patio that connects your new breakfast and lunch space to your store next door is genius. So goeth The Bachelor Farmer, which moved its retail shop, Askov Finlayson, to make room for a café with coffee and open-faced sandwiches. All of which may be enjoyed in the North Loop’s friendliest space to date, or on that patio, which is like a little slip of park living among the heritage brick. Feel free to wander into the open door and shop after you nosh; this is like the world’s best micro-mall food court. 50 2nd Ave. N., Mpls., 612-206-3920, thebachelorfarmer.com

Red River Kitchen at City House

In a reverse of adding to your kitchen to better serve your dining room, Matty O’Reilly and Rick Gunztle added a dining room to better serve their food truck kitchen. Red River Kitchen parked beside the vacant City House park building on the Mississippi, and revitalized the space for seasonal dining. They brought in chef JD Fratzke to build a broader menu to draw people in with offerings like crayfish jambalaya dogs, a beef and kimchi Philly, and heritage ham Cubano. The building addition means they can also now serve craft beer and kegged cocktails. 258 Mill St., St. Paul, redriverkitchen.com