Apple Valley Restaurants (Minneapolis, Eagan, Burnsville: houses, neighborhood, to live in)

[Vinstad]

I have been considering opening a food establishment in Apple Valley. Can anyone help me with what might be lacking there? What would you like to see open up there? What is the most popular food operations there now?
I would appreciate very much any feedback anyone may have for me. Thanks.

[gatorinmn]

Great post, and best of luck with your establishment! Let me know when it's open and we'll swing by.

Are you looking to open a franchise of a large restaurant chain, or your own independent shop? Apple Valley has a couple of the major food chains, including Ruby Tuesday's, Applebee's, and Buffalo Wild Wings, all of which are crowded, particularly on the weekends. I think a TGI Friday's would do great business there -- the one at the Burnsville Center is always packed. The nearest Outback is in Burnsville, and that, too, is always crowded. I think either would be successful in AV, drawing folks from the city and nearby ones (Eagan, Lakeville, Rosemount) as well.

As for themes, one thing AV lacks is a pure seafood restaurant. We used to have Joey's on Cedar Avenue, but it closed last year and has been replaced with a Mexican restaurant. (There are plenty Mexican/latin places, so I'd stay away from that genre.) Otherwise, I think typical American food would fare pretty well, or possibly an Italian place like a Macaroni Grill or Olive Garden-type restaurant (just not a chain).

[AVguy]

As gator wrote, there are quite a few restaurant chains in Apple Valley that tend to be successful so long as the restaurant has a good location. Be sure to consider the nearby markets of Burnsville and Eagan when analyzing whether Apple Valley is underserved by a particular type of restaurant.

From personal experience, the two restaurants that my wife and I drive out of the south metro for are P.F. Changs and a mid- to high-end steakhouse (e.g., Steak and Ale when they were in business, Ruth's Chris, Morton's, etc.). My wife and I are constantly underwhelmed with the area's casual Chinese restaurants and the lack of steakhouses. And there really isn't much in the way of Italian restaurants, unless you count the glut of pizza places. I don't disagree with comment about seafood restaurants, but with the demographics on this side of town (e.g., families and semi-rural folks), there is only so much of a market for non-Americanized food.

As far as lunch places are concerned, we could always use a Potbelly.

Best of luck to you.

[gatorinmn]

Good points, AVGuy. A high-end steakhouse would be nice, but I wonder how successful it might be. I've heard that the newly opened Japanese steakhouse on Galaxie, Kami, is struggling, and we all know what happened to Copper Bleu in Lakeville. Enjoy does a steady business, so I think it's possible to be successful with a "higher-end" type of restaurant. But it's gotta be the right type of place. That said, I'd be perfectly happy with an Outback.

I also agree on the Chinese, but I think I am just spoiled on that score -- my wife and I used to live in NYC, where good Chinese food could be found on just about every corner.

[Slig]

Here are most of the restaurants in Apple Valley:
Pizza
Broadway
Papa Murphy's
Papa John's
Dominoes
Old Chicago

Fast Food
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Culver's - American
Taco Bell
Arby's
Wendy's
KFC
McDonald's
Subway
Dairy Queen
Leeann Chin
Quiznos Subs
Big Apple Bagels
Red Robin
Panera Bread
Bruegger's Bagel Bakery
Satay 2 Go Asian Cuisine
Noodles & Company

Bar/Grill or Sports Bar
Buffalo Wild Wings
Famous Dave's BBQ
Cafe of Majors Sports
Grizzly's Grill N' Saloon

Neighborhood sit-down chains
IHOP
Baker's Square
Perkins
Ruby Tuesday
Denny's
Applebee's

Family Owned/Other
Osaka
Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers
Enjoy
Rascal's

If you're looking to open a family owned joint the competition in the area is very lacking. If you're looking to open a chain it looks like pretty much everything is well represented for casual dining as well as nearly every genre of fast food. It does look like the Apple Valley area is starving for a good Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant or a good sit-down Mexican restaurant/bar.

[golfgal]

One big boost to your business would be to have a quite meeting space that fits 100 people or so. It is VERY difficult to find meeting space in Apple Valley. I have a couple business groups that meet at Enjoy and that is great but the room isn't all that large and it is the ONLY place to meet so it is hard to get in.

2 Guys from Italy closed and it sounds like a Mediterranean place is going in that spot. A good REAL Italian place would be nice. Maybe a combo steak place/Italian place??

There are plenty of chain "American" type restaurants in the area so something different would be nice.

[WannaBeinBoston]

I remember when some new neighbors moved in and asked the outgoing home owners for a recommendation of a "good" place to eat. They recommended Raising Cane on the corner of Cedar and CR42. To me, that says it all. Sadly, as much as I would love to see some diversity in choices, the pallet of this area cannot support anything other than burgers, pizza and chicken fingers. I honestly believe an area like Iowa City has better food choices then the entire Twin Cities metro area.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by WannaBeinBoston

I remember when some new neighbors moved in and asked the outgoing home owners for a recommendation of a "good" place to eat. They recommended Raising Cane on the corner of Cedar and CR42. To me, that says it all. Sadly, as much as I would love to see some diversity in choices, the pallet of this area cannot support anything other than burgers, pizza and chicken fingers. I honestly believe an area like Iowa City has better food choices then the entire Twin Cities metro area.

I would say that some of what you say about the local pallet is true, but there is a lot of diverse choices in the metro if you really want to take trouble to find it.

[Slig]

Originally Posted by WannaBeinBoston

I remember when some new neighbors moved in and asked the outgoing home owners for a recommendation of a "good" place to eat. They recommended Raising Cane on the corner of Cedar and CR42. To me, that says it all. Sadly, as much as I would love to see some diversity in choices, the pallet of this area cannot support anything other than burgers, pizza and chicken fingers. I honestly believe an area like Iowa City has better food choices then the entire Twin Cities metro area.

Maybe in suburbs like Apple Valley but that isn't at all true in Minneapolis. You obviously haven't spent any time on Eat Street yet.

[AVguy]

Originally Posted by WannaBeinBoston

I remember when some new neighbors moved in and asked the outgoing home owners for a recommendation of a "good" place to eat. They recommended Raising Cane on the corner of Cedar and CR42. To me, that says it all. Sadly, as much as I would love to see some diversity in choices, the pallet of this area cannot support anything other than burgers, pizza and chicken fingers. I honestly believe an area like Iowa City has better food choices then the entire Twin Cities metro area.

I have a new suggestion: The Vine. Each side of the metro should have a dedicated Iowa sports bar!

For the record, not a fan of Raising Cane's.