all photos via Top Ten Liquors
Lobby rendering
Top Ten Liquors has been given the official GO from the city of Minnetonka, so the game is on.
The locally-owned liquor store chain (12 locations!) is shifting into high gear with plans to open Wineside in the former Champp's location near Ridgedale Mall in Minnetonka. It's the old Bonaventure building which held the very first Leann Chin, as a fine-dining spot, back in 1980. So as far as empire building, it's good soil.
outside building rendering
Departing from their current liquor store format, owners are venturing into new territory. Wineside will use the more than 12,000 square feet to carve out space for a liquor store, a restaurant/wine bar, plus a specialty grocery.
inside table and chairs
The liquor store portion will take the lion's share of the space with 7,500 square ft. dedicated as many as 3,000 varieties of wine, beer, and spirits. The restaurant/wine bar will be there to serve you sandwiches, boards, salads, and other wine-friendly things while you try to taste through an ambitious and expansive 100 wines-by-the-glass list.
more tables and chairs and grocery view
The grocery area will be more than a few deli cases or cracker stacks. They are allotting 5,000 square ft for cheeses, pastas, cured meats and other ingredients for the grabbing.
tables in the restaurant
They'll be competing with the Lunds Byerly's in the neighborhood, which has a liquor shop adjacent and the best cheese case in the area. Sitting across the highway is a Haskell's location, a company which tried to launch a downtown wine bar a few years ago too, but is most beloved in the west metro for the Excelsior location which is attached to a bar and grill. In another area of Minnetonka, Spasso is the restaurant side to The Wine Shop, which allows for bottles to be purchased and brought over to dinner. So, it looks like this is a good place to test this idea.
Look for Wineside to open late spring of 2022.
