Tullibee’s new “omakase” program and the end of (some) service fees
The Tap for Friday, January 3, 2025
Welcome to the Tap, Heavy Table’s biweekly guide to restaurants and culinary industry news for Minnesota and beyond. This newsletter is available in full to all of our $10/month subscribers. We’re here doing this work only because of your support - thank you for your support of this independent journalistic enterprise.
QUALITY FOOD AND JUNK FEES
This week a new law went into effect that scraps “health and wellness” service fees at restaurants, labeling them “junk fees” for their propensity to pop up - often unexpectedly, and poorly explained - at the end of a meal. The Star Tribune ran a terrific story by Sharyn Jackson looking at the wrinkles of this decision, and how it’s both simplifying restaurant checks and complicating efforts to equalize front-of-house and back-of-house compensation.
I think a lot about value prospects, and at the core of everything is a “two out of three at best” kind of principle. Think about grocery stores: They can 1) be uniformly high quality, 2) have comprehensive selection, and/or 3) be affordable. Pick any two. 1+2 = Lunds or Byerly’s. 1+3 = Costco. 2+3 = Walmart or CUB.
Similarly, the notion of a restaurant having well-compensated professional staff, an attractive value prospect for food, and a profitable business model feels like a “pick any two” kind of proposition. It doesn’t have to be, of course, but it often is.
Hidden fees often felt to me like an attempt to raise prices without perceptibly raising prices - appealing in the short term, but unsustainable (at least as a ruse) in the long term. It can take customers a while to catch on to smaller portions or high prices, but they eventually will. My family patronized our favorite neighborhood Mexican spot for about a year after their prices bounced up by about 80% and their quality wavered, giving them “just another chance” time after time. Now, (sadly), we’re done, and, (happily), leaning on the new Los Ocampo as our low-key Mexican standby.
The sad truth of post-pandemic dining is that it has become easily possible to dine out, pay a good deal of money for your meal, be unpleasantly surprised by one or more service charges on the bill, receive indifferent service and also obtain fairly small portions of food. The number of meals I’ve had that offered creative and well-made food - yet absolutely failed to please or invite repeat visits due to lousy value prospects and indifferent service - has skyrocketed since pandemic times.
It’s difficult to speak comprehensively to the financial back-end of “junk fees” vanishing, because every restaurant is a different business, some of them so different as to look as though they’re existing in completely different industries from one another. But as a consumer, anything that cuts through the noise and helps us more quickly and accurately figure out value-for-price is a welcome change. And while there’s no doubt that the pandemic changed the business, possibly forever, we’re overdue for something resembling a new normal. 2025 might contain the fertile seeds of what that market will look like. – James Norton
THE TAP
The Tap is the Heavy Table’s ongoing biweekly account of noteworthy Minnesota restaurant openings, closings, and future openings. Please send any tips to editor@heavytable.com. All dates are approximate based on best information available; opening dates, in particular, tend to shift around a lot.
NOW OPEN (Up to 3 Months)
Catzen Coffee, 1416 Grand Avenue, St. Paul ■ Half cafe, half cat snuggle zone, Catzen is using its four-footed friends to lure in customers of the two-footed variety. When we swung by on opening day, the line out the door was literally a block long. Opened January 1, 2025.
Razava Bread Company, 685 Grand Avenue, St. Paul ■ A partnership between Steve Baldinger (whose family ran Baldinger Bakery in St. Paul) and Omri Zin-Tamir of the Bakery on 22nd St (above). Features challah, bagels, pita and more. Read our interview with Omri Zin-Tamir in the May 13, 2022 edition of the Tap. Opened December 11, 2024.
Jade Dynasty, 600 West Lake Street, Minneapolis ■ A former owner of the well-regarded Hong Kong Noodles restaurant has teamed up with a former Mystic Lake Casino restaurant manager to open a dim sum, hot pot, and Cantonese restaurant in the former Fuji Ya space on Lake Street. Opened December 1, 2024.
Saturday Dumpling Company, 519 Central Ave. NE, Minneapolis ■ The popular subscription-based dumpling company has moved its production operation to a space with 45 indoor and 10 outdoor seats, in the former Glam Dolls Donut shop space. The restaurant serves dumplings in three styles (steamed, pan fried, and deep fried) with pork, beef, chicken, and vegetarian fillings, plus a filling of the month. The menu also features scallion pancake burritos and rice bowls. MSP Mag is followed their opening process in detail. Opened November 30, 2024.
Francis Burger Joint (second location), 3900 East Lake Street, Minneapolis ■ Northeast’s popular vegan burger and chicken sandwich spot is set to open a second location in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis in the former home of Peppers and Fries. Opened November 21, 2024.