"In Uptown, a late-night pizza joint has been replaced by another." That was how Racket opened its September restaurant roundup on October 1, 2026, and it sums up the season around Lake Street and Lagoon Avenue in one sentence. Between August and the end of September, four storefronts within a few blocks of Lake and Hennepin went from dark to open. Taken together, they show what kind of Uptown is coming back first.
None of the four is a first-time restaurant betting on an untested idea. Each is a second location or a chain outpost, and the ones with published details all lean toward the same things: late hours, a bar, and nights built around something besides dinner. For anyone who lives within walking distance, the result is a block that now has confirmed reasons to be out after 10 p.m. It didn't have those a year ago.
One Pizza Counter Replaces Another at 1440 W. Lake St.
OG ZaZa opened on September 7 in the former Mesa Pizza space at 1440 W. Lake St. The Star Tribune described it as a New Haven-style pizza shop with late-night hours. That makes it the clearest like-for-like swap on the corridor, since a slice counter that stayed open late has been replaced by one that stays open later.
The hours are what make it an anchor. The OG ZaZa website lists the Uptown location as open from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Bring Me The News reported the same schedule when the opening was announced in August.
The operator also arrived with a track record. Chef Josh Hedquist first opened OG ZaZa at Rosedale Center, and the Uptown shop brings the count to seven, including two St. Paul restaurants, a pizza trailer on Hennepin Avenue, and outposts in Shakopee and at the Mall of America. Racket also counted Uptown as the seventh location. A shop with that many locations has already worked out how to staff a 3 a.m. close, and that's a big reason a late-night spot like this can last.
The Corner That Sat Dark Since 2023
A block east, the former Arts & Rec space at 1405 W. Lake St. is now the second location of Arizona Taco Co. Racket reported it open in its August roundup. Arts & Rec closed in 2023, so this corner of Lake and Hennepin sat empty for roughly three years before the lights came back on.
The reopening took longer than first announced. When WCCO covered the expansion, owners Sheila and Marcos Ayala were planning to open "this spring" near West Lake Street and South Girard Avenue. An event listing later set the ribbon-cutting and grand opening for August 13, 2026, from 2:30 to 9 p.m. If you saw an earlier Racket item listing the restaurant at 3001 Hennepin Ave., later coverage from Racket and Bring Me The News, plus the grand-opening listing, all put it at 1405 W. Lake St.
The Ayalas moved from Arizona to Minnesota in 2000 and opened the original Arizona Taco Co. in New Hope in 2019. The food draws on Sonoran family recipes, and WCCO reported the New Hope restaurant had about 5,000 Google reviews with a nearly perfect five-star rating. The Uptown location is built differently from the original. WCCO described it as a sit-down spot with a full bar and community events such as salsa dancing and cooking lessons.
"We're excited to be part of the movement there in Uptown," Sheila Ayala told WCCO.
Racket points readers to the restaurant's Facebook page for upcoming salsa and other dance nights. No published event calendar or full weekly hours turned up in the coverage, so the restaurant's own page is the place to check before planning a night around it.
Lagoon Avenue Gets a Chicago Name
Around the corner at 1430 Lagoon Ave., Harold's Chicken has opened in the space that used to hold Daisy's and Cowboy Slim's. The Star Tribune's September 8 roundup still listed it as planned. A week later, the paper's September 15 item reported it open.
Harold's is a Chicago-based chain, and the brand is going through a public ownership question. Racket reported that there are both "authorized" and "unauthorized" Harold's locations. The corporate locations page currently lists a Brooklyn Center restaurant for Minnesota but not Uptown. None of the coverage reviewed for this post names the opening day, the operator, or the hours. The confirmed facts are that the space is open and serving under the Harold's name.
This one fits the same pattern as the other two. A Lagoon Avenue space that had sat between tenants went to a brand people already know from elsewhere, not to a new concept.
A Noon Opening at the West End
Tom's Thai opened in August at 1601 W. Lake St., toward the western end of the stretch. Racket's headline for that month, "Tom's Thai Opens in Uptown," made it the lead Uptown item of the roundup. The restaurant's online ordering page says it opens at 12 p.m. but doesn't list a closing time or a full weekly schedule.
That makes Tom's Thai the daytime counterpart to OG ZaZa. Taken as a group, the four openings now cover the corridor from noon through 3 a.m. on weekends, with only the late end fully confirmed.
How the Stretch Fits Together by the Hour
Here is how the new openings line up across a day. Only some of the hours are confirmed:
- From noon: Tom's Thai at 1601 W. Lake St. opens at 12 p.m., per its ordering page.
- From 11 a.m., through the afternoon: OG ZaZa at 1440 W. Lake St. opens at 11 a.m. every day.
- Evenings with a plan: Arizona Taco Co. at 1405 W. Lake St. has the full bar and the planned salsa and dance nights. Check its Facebook page for dates.
- Unconfirmed hours: Harold's Chicken at 1430 Lagoon Ave. is open, but no hours have been published in the coverage so far.
- After 10 p.m.: OG ZaZa until 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Seen this way, the one verified late-night schedule on the corridor belongs to the operator with the most locations behind it. The new event nights come from the operator who rebuilt its format with a bar for this location. Both moves rely on something already proven elsewhere.
What's Announced but Not Open
A few nearby projects are still in the pipeline, and so far none has a firm date:
- Vuka Flame Grilled Peri-Peri Chicken is planned for the former It's Greek to Me at 626 W. Lake St. Racket's August 3 roundup gave no opening date.
- Even Keel Provisions is coming to 2901 Lyndale Ave. S. in the former Aurelia's Mexican space, per the Star Tribune's September 8 roundup, with no date given.
- Tender Lovin' Chix closed its Lyn-Lake-area location earlier this summer and is moving to the North Loop, according to Racket.
The Lyn-Lake end of Lake Street is losing one tenant and waiting on two. The Lake and Hennepin end has already filled its four. For now, that's the clearest difference between the two ends of the corridor.
Following which storefronts open, and how fast they fill, is part of how we track the neighborhoods we serve. If you live near Lake and Hennepin and want to talk about what this season's openings mean for your block, William Smitten and the Smitten Real Estate Group team are happy to compare notes. Let's Connect.
