There are now four cow statues outside 3801 Minnesota Drive. The building used to be a Fuddruckers. Since December 2021 it has been the south metro Smack Shack, on the France Avenue side of Bloomington just short of the Edina line. The cows went up this fall. The dining room inside was repainted a deep green. And a 10-foot wood-fired grill now sits at the center of the restaurant, where the kitchen used to be open.
That grill is one of three restaurant changes this season along a short stretch of the I-494 corridor, between Minnesota Drive, Normandale Boulevard and West 78th Street. Each one is a different kind of food. But all three are built for the same occasion: a table of six or eight, cars in a big parking lot, and a menu that covers everyone at the table. Mall of America has spent the same fall adding places built for the opposite meal.
Four cows and a 10-foot grill on Minnesota Drive
Smack Shack became Smack Shack Steak on Sept. 15. The Star Tribune laid out the plan two weeks earlier. The menu would center on USDA Prime steaks from the Certified Angus Beef brand, a locally sourced Duroc pork porterhouse, and seafood that cooks well over a live fire, including Alaska king crab legs, Maine lobster tails, snapper and ahi tuna. Ben Pichler stayed on as executive chef.
The two accounts of why the change happened differ a little, and both are worth hearing. Chef-owner Josh Thoma described it to the Star Tribune as growth: "It's an expansion," he said, adding, "we have the space in Bloomington to be able to add this new wood-fired grill." Jess Fleming, the Pioneer Press dining critic, put it differently in her Sept. 21 review. She wrote that the Bloomington location "wasn't quite catching on with suburban eaters" as a seafood-first restaurant, and that "the obvious answer to this conundrum is steak."
Steak now shares the menu with the dishes the restaurant built its name on. The old favorites are still on the menu, according to the Star Tribune: raw-bar oysters, lobster guacamole, Maine- and Connecticut-style lobster rolls, fish and chips, the shrimp po'boy, jambalaya and paella. Now there's also a New York strip, a filet, a ribeye and a porterhouse. Fleming tried all four and named the strip her favorite. Her table "could not stop oohing and ahhing over" the 16-ounce pork porterhouse.
The best details for a group dinner are in the last lines of her review. Two of the best things about this Smack Shack carried over, she wrote: "There's ample parking, and it's big enough to easily accommodate groups." The side dishes also suit a shared table. Fleming called the list "longer than most" and singled out a sweet corn gratin with andouille, collard greens, and whole mushrooms in a caramelized onion beurre blanc.
The grill itself made a road trip. Fleming reports that Thoma drove to Abilene, Kansas, "with a trailer and a dream" to pick it up. Her one practical note: the ventilation works, and she didn't go home smelling like smoke. The bar menu grew too, with more wine, bourbon and martinis, plus a French Tickler made with Grey Goose, pickle brine and cornichon.
A seafood buffet with a price for every age on Normandale
A few weeks after Smack Shack added its grill, a restaurant built mostly around seafood opened farther west along the corridor, at 7730 Normandale Blvd. Shiki Buffet is an all-you-can-eat Japanese and Chinese restaurant serving sushi, sashimi, oysters and crayfish, plus American Chinese dishes, fried rice and dumplings for anyone who'd rather skip the raw bar.
According to Bring Me The News, the opening in early October drew long lines, based on posts diners shared on social media. The pricing is set up for families and groups:
- Adult lunch, $20.99
- Adult dinner, $35.99
- Kids ages 4 to 7, $9.99
- Kids ages 8 to 11, $15.99
- To-go, priced by the pound
Smack Shack added steak so that everyone at the table had something to order. Shiki gets to the same place by letting everyone eat whatever they like at one fixed price, with kids priced by age. It's the same seafood problem with a different solution. One more thing to know before you go: Shiki Buffet has no connection to Shiki in Excelsior or to the small Illinois buffet chain with the same name.
Pizza turnovers coming to Two Marketpointe
The third address is still waiting on its opening. Donatelli's has been a White Bear Lake favorite, and it's adding a second location at 4400 W. 78th St. in the Two Marketpointe building, in the space that used to be Ike's Food & Cocktails. When the Star Tribune announced the move on Aug. 4, it described the Bloomington menu as Donatelli's Italian-American lineup: classic thin-crust pizza, pastas, sandwiches, pizza turnovers and burgers. That August story projected a September opening. September has come and gone. The paper's Oct. 5 restaurant roll call still listed it as coming soon, so plan on soon, not on a particular weekend.
Thin-crust pizza and burgers on one menu fit the pattern of the other two. When it opens, it'll be one more place on the corridor where a table with very different tastes can still order in one round.
| Address | Restaurant | What changed this fall | Group-dinner draw |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3801 Minnesota Dr. | Smack Shack Steak | Relaunched Sept. 15 with a wood-fired grill and USDA Prime steaks | Steaks plus the lobster rolls, a long sides list, room for groups, ample parking |
| 7730 Normandale Blvd. | Shiki Buffet | Opened early October | One fixed price per person, kids priced by age, to-go by the pound |
| 4400 W. 78th St. | Donatelli's | Announced for the former Ike's space, still listed as coming soon as of Oct. 5 | Thin-crust pizza, pastas, turnovers and burgers on one menu |
Inside the mall, the new places are built for one
Mall of America's newest openings are the opposite kind of meal. Sweetgreen opened Sept. 8 in the Culinary on North food court on Level 3, serving made-to-order salads, bowls and protein plates. It's the chain's fifth location in the metro. Amorino, the Parisian gelato brand, plans its first Minnesota shop on the north end of the mall's first floor. Mall of America's new-store directory lists it at 132 North Garden as opening soon. The same directory shows The Golden Nuts at 382 West Market and Noriteo at 322 West Market as opening soon, and the Star Tribune expects both later this year.
These are counter-service, eat-while-you-walk places, which fits a building made for walking. The big-table exception at the mall is still a long way off. Fire & Wave, an all-you-can-eat hot pot and sushi restaurant planned for the east side of Level 4, isn't expected until spring 2027. Until then, a long sit-down group dinner this fall means heading out to the corridor restaurants.
Putting the new map to use the weekend of Oct. 24
The city calendar sets up a good weekend to try one of these restaurants. On Saturday, Oct. 24, Wild Ricing at the Pond House runs from 1 to 4 p.m. On Sunday, Oct. 25, the city's Halloween Trick or Treat Trail runs from 2 to 5 p.m. Both end in the late afternoon, which leaves time to get to a table across town.
A Saturday afternoon at the Pond House works well with an early dinner at Smack Shack Steak. That way you're seated before the evening rush, with a few steaks and a lobster roll to share. Sunday's trail lines up just as well with Shiki Buffet, where the kids' prices make it easier to bring the costumed crowd along. If your Saturday is at the mall instead, the Hmong Arts Celebration fills the Huntington Bank Rotunda from noon to 5 p.m. on Oct. 24. Sweetgreen is a quick stop on Level 3 on your way in. The following Thursday, Oct. 29, The Fair on 4 hosts Live at the Lodge featuring Taylor's Version from 6 to 9 p.m.
Smack Shack's green paint and Shiki's opening-week lines show that how a room is set up can matter as much as what's on the menu. That holds for homes too. When we prepare a Bloomington home for market, we set up the dining room and kitchen for the gatherings buyers picture themselves hosting. If you're thinking about how your home would show, Your Home By Design would be glad to walk through it with you. Start Your Home By Design with a free market and staging consultation.