The Somali Museum of Minnesota opened its doors to the public on March 5 for its first-ever “Arts, Culture & Community Celebration.” The event was an opportunity for community members from diverse backgrounds to mingle while sharing aspects of their cultures, including food and entertainment. Representatives from Minnesota’s major immigrant groups, including Somalia, Mexico, India, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Scandinavia were present.

The new 350-capacity, two-story rock club aims to fill a hole that many believe has existed since the closing of the Uptown Bar & Grill. The Green Room could mark the beginning of a turnaround — especially with an even more ambitious music venue in development just a block away in the old Uptown Theater space. That one is being redeveloped by the same team behind the Armory's resoundingly successful rebirth as a concert hall. Lined with a botanical-garden-ready array of palm and bird of paradise plants — putting the "green" in the room — the venue boasts large windows, one large bar per floor, scattered tables and chairs and an impressive outdoor balcony in addition to the balcony that wraps around the stage.

The fifth-floor café space has become Ovation, a new French-leaning full-service restaurant that opened with "A Christmas Carol" in mid-November. It replaces buffet service. The restaurant is open to the public, but hours are dependent on the Guthrie's schedule. On theater nights, dinner reservations run from 5 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. Ovation is just Act One for the Guthrie's dining options. The ground-level restaurant, formerly Sea Change, is expected to reopen with a different concept next year.

Renderings of a new amphitheater from First Avenue in Minneapolis were published this week. The amphitheater is part of the Upper Harbor Terminal development, at 53-acre, mixed-use development along the Mississippi River in North Minneapolis. With construction on the amphitheater expected to start next year, the venue could being operating in the summer of 2024.

Hennepin Arts (formerly Hennepin Theatre Trust), after refinancing its debt, has paid off the remaining $14 million in city of Minneapolis-backed bonds the nonprofit assumed in 2005 when it took over the Orpheum, State and Pantages historic downtown theaters 13 years early. This gives Hennepin Arts full title to the theaters and will allow the nonprofit to accelerate its work of staging live productions, educational programs and investing more in Hennepin Avenue. Meet Minneapolis CEO, Melvin Tennant, said the trust annually brings 600,000 people downtown and drives $120 million in economic impact, including what patrons spend at restaurants and hotels.

The Big Ten women's basketball conference championship game between University of Iowa and Ohio State drew a record crowd in tournament history, bringing nearly 10,000 people to Target Center in downtown Minneapolis on March 5. It's the first time since 2015 that the tournament wasn't held in Indianapolis, but Minneapolis will also host both the Big Ten women's and men's basketball tournaments next year. Andrea Graham with Minnesota Sports and Events and the tournament's co-executive director said that turnout was helped by the Twin Cities being a strong market for women's basketball.

The event was also slated for Theodore Wirth Park in 2020 but was canceled four days beforehand with the nationwide shutdown for COVID-19. The Loppet Cup will include two days of racing Feb. 17 and 18, followed by a free community ski day Feb. 19. The event will mark the return of World Cup cross-country ski racing to the United States after a 23-year absence.

More than 80,000 people converged downtown to attend games at U.S. Bank Stadium and Target Field on Sunday, Sept. 11. Streets surrounding U.S. Bank Stadium were teeming with purple and green jerseys, Zubaz pants and face paint as the Vikings hosted the rival Packers in both teams’ season openers. A jubilant, almost Christmas-morning-like energy infused the atmosphere with the occasional heckling of cheeseheads. Thousands descended downtown on Metro Transit trains and buses to avoid key entrance and exit routes that are closed for construction.

The Vikings are one of the Top 10 most popular NFL teams based on fan attendance in 2021, according to a recent ranking from Fox Sports. There are 32 NFL teams. The rankings looked at the highest total attendance percentage for fans for NFL teams’ home and away games. The team also tied with the Kansas City Chiefs for the highest average attendance percentage at home games, at 100.4% (that includes standing-room only tickets, as well), drawing an average crowd of 66,702 to U.S. Bank Stadium, according to the Sports Business Journal.

The undefeated Aurora, a pre-professional women’s soccer team in the USL W, sold out three of its six home games this season. The team features 26 players from three different countries and seven different states, including 12 from Minnesota.

Taste of Minnesota will come to Minneapolis this summer. Taste of Minnesota, the July 4th party that once drew hundreds of thousands of people to St. Paul for food and music, will come to Minneapolis this summer after a hiatus of seven years. The free event on Nicollet Mall will be held July 2 and 3 and include performances from Third Eye Blind, Uncle Kracker and Big Boi from Outkast. There will be art, professional wrestling, and of course, food. Officials said they're expecting 100,000 festival-goers over the two days. Metro Transit will provide free buses downtown. Taste of Minnesota will encompass three blocks of Nicollet Mall, from Washington Avenue to Fifth Street. The main stage will be set up at the Third Street parking lot.

Target Field is one of three U.S. Major League ballparks set to play host to an exclusive dinner series benefiting the James Beard Foundation. As part of the 2023 Stadium Chef Series, a "team of local culinary stars" and "menu that showcases exceptional fare" is promised at Target Field on June 25, but the official lineup and other details won't be announced until later this month. The 2023 Stadium Chef Series expands upon a standalone event that took place in Chicago last year and its goal is to "build awareness, foster education, and raise funds for the James Beard Foundation’s Good Food for Good via chef-driven events within iconic sporting venues."

Minneapolis may host more large events in 2023 than it held in 2022, which is a cause for optimism among hospitality industry leaders. Twenty-eight large citywide events are scheduled for Minneapolis in 2023 and an additional four events are tentative for a potential total of 32 events. Comparatively, in 2022, 31 large citywide events were held in Minneapolis. Sporting events have proven to be one of the most resilient markets. In 2023, Minneapolis will host several large sporting events, including the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament, the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships and the Northern Lights Volleyball Qualifier.

Holidazzle will find its home in Loring Park in Minneapolis once again, transforming the park into a winter wonderland through four three-day weekends starting Friday, Nov. 25. Visitors can say hello to Santa and the Holidazzle Yeti, find over 30 food and shopping options from Kramarczuck’s to the popular Littlest Pancake post, browse Minneapolis Craft Market vendors and listen to live holiday performances on stage.

Construction has started on a $28 million-plus resurrection of the Coliseum building, the largest reconstruction project along the Lake Street corridor after the 2020 riots. The Coliseum is led by nonprofit developer-manager Redesign and three Black business owners who plan to transform the long-neglected building by 2024. The objective is affordable rents for 25 small businesses owned by people of color, including immigrants. The building will be a "representation of the healing that this area has been through," said Janice Downing, owner of CommonSense Consulting, an investor and tenant in the building. "It will demonstrate the community's resiliency with vibrant communal spaces, public art, and cultural installations, making this … a collaborative community effort." A yet-announced restaurant affiliated with Du Nord Social Spirits is planned, as well the reopening of Mama Safia's, a Somali-themed restaurant. There will be a hair salon and barber shop. And an event center.

Abdirahman Kahin, the owner of the local Afro Deli & Grill restaurants, won Minnesota’s 2023 Small Business Person of the Year.Afro Deli & Grill is an African, Mediterranean and American fusion restaurant with four locations in the Twin Cities. Kahin, who is also the chief executive officer of Afro Deli & Grill, hopes to open more locations in other cities. His small restaurant empire started off as Abdirahman’s desire to fill a gap in the Twin Cities food scene. He wanted to share the tastes of Africa. And he got his start in 2010 with the opening of the restaurant’s first location in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. Kahin will compete for National Small Business Person of the Year the first week of May as a part of National Small Business Week 2023.

Step through the doors of Lutunji Abram's bakery and there's warmth and laughter; coffee and cobbler and community. Community, best of all. Lutunji's Palate has been brightening the corner of Park Avenue and E Grant, just south of downtown, for the better part of a year.

The Minneapolis-based Graves Foundation has acquired the largest commercial structure at George Floyd Square. The foundation last week closed on a $1.1 million deal for 3728-40 Chicago Ave. The plan is for the several-door commercial-residential property to be refreshed, restocked and managed by veteran Powderhorn neighborhood developer-manager Dan Coleman and his partner, businessman P.J. Hill. "Our roots are here," said Hill. "It's an honor for Dan and I to own property at that intersection. This is our opportunity to pay it forward.'' The city and community this year should make a decision on the future of the partly obstructed Chicago intersection. The city is buying the former Super America site across from Cup Foods, for transformation into a memorial and health-and-healing center

Dan Coleman took control of the building on the southeast corner of 38th & Chicago in south Minneapolis well before the intersection was known as “George Floyd Square.” Last month, city leaders approved a forgivable loan to Coleman — the final piece of financing he needed — to pay off the contract for deed and take over full ownership of the building that he’s managed these last three turbulent years. Coleman has secured a new restaurant tenant: Chopped & Served, a caterer specializing in a blend of Black and Jewish cuisine. Its founder and chef, Imani Jackson, told KARE 11 in September that the restaurant planned to offer “grab-and-go, take-and-bake food.”

Restauranteur David Fhima has turned the former home of Ribnick Furs in the North Loop into Maison Margaux, a grand new multilevel restaurant. When it opens May 12, the French Mediterranean-inspired bistro will join Fhima's Minneapolis in a portfolio that's as big-thinking as Fhima himself. The sprawling complex has a half-dozen dining rooms, including a large private event space and a basement bar that you need a code to access. With the opening, Maison Margaux joins an already bustling culinary block, with both Spoon and Stable and Bellecour Bakery steps away. Soon to come: a set of restaurants from James Beard Award winner Tim McKee at the forthcoming West Hotel; a tequila-themed restaurant from the team behind Smack Shack; and Daniel del Prado's takeover of the former Bachelor Farmer.

Modist Brewing Co. is in the middle of a $2 million renovation that will add 7,000 square feet worth of event space and employee amenities to the North Loop building where it launched in 2016. The project involves converting current office and warehouse space into a two-story event space detached from the existing taproom, with a 100-person capacity, a separate entrance, and a pre-function bar and waiting area. The event space will feature glass windows, allowing party-goers to peek into the current brewhouse, plus colorful murals, glitter concrete flooring and mirrored ceilings. “Group gatherings of all kinds are back," Modist co-owner Daniel Paul Wellendorf said. "This will be a community space perfectly suited for a corporate presentation, happy hour, a wedding party or to take your dog's birthday party to the next level.”

Spyhouse Coffee wants to expand its Northeast Minneapolis location. The coffeehouse's Northeast location currently occupies almost 4,000 square feet at 945 Broadway Ave., including a roastery and offices. The plan, which would extend Spyhouse into empty retail spaces next door, would increase that to just over 6,000 feet. Seating would nearly double from the current 95, including a front patio space. Besides more seating, the expansion would let Spyhouse add a small kitchen where it will prepare breakfast and lunch items such as soups, salads, sandwiches and Belgian waffles.

When Eat Street Crossing debuted on March 4, it marked the sixth food hall to have opened in the Twin Cities in just over four years. That's nearly 40 individual food and drink vendors, most of which didn't exist before they landed a spot in a food hall. Many have become Twin Cities destinations, attracting big crowds and giving local chefs a cheaper opportunity to try new concepts. Nationally-acclaimed pizzeria Wrecktangle began in North Loop Galley, while Union Hmong Kitchen's small stand in Graze Provisions + Libations earned a 2022 James Beard nomination.

Italian restaurant Zelo has reopened on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis after a nearly three-year, pandemic-prompted shutdown. For now, Zelo is doing happy hour and dinner, opening at 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday and closing whenever the night starts to wind down. The menu's structure is the same as it was before the pandemic, but some items have been updated. "We wanted everybody, including our employees, to feel comfortable to be back downtown and working and we've noticed — we've been monitoring over the last couple of years — we've seen a lot of improvement; seen a lot more people coming downtown. Shows and conventions are starting to pick back up," said executive chef Jason Gibbons.