Owamni, Minneapolis’s Award-Winning Indigenous Restaurant, Is Moving in 2026 | Eater Twin Cities

"One of Minneapolis’s most acclaimed spots is on the move: the James Beard Award–winning Indigenous restaurant from chef, author, and activist Sean Sherman is relocating from its Water Works Pavilion home to the Guthrie Theater’s riverfront dining space along the Mississippi River in spring 2026, while remaining open at its current location until the transition. Opened in 2021 under Sherman’s nonprofit NATIFS, it quickly became a national destination for a decolonized approach to food—avoiding wheat flour, cane sugar, and dairy while highlighting pre‑colonial ingredients from across North America—topping best‑of lists and earning the 2022 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant (after a two‑month closure in 2023 due to a fire). The Guthrie move nearly doubles the dining room and finally answers demand at a place where reservations are booked up immediately and the waitlist never ends. A larger kitchen will enable pre‑theater snacks, more seafood options, and later post‑show service; lunch and dinner will be served daily except Mondays, with about 60 new jobs expected. The relocation also advances NATIFS’s mission to restore Native foodways, keeping the restaurant connected to Owámniyomni (St. Anthony Falls), a site of deep significance to Dakota people." - Jeffy Mai