DeRusha Eats: Spitz In Northeast Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The fastest growing sector of the restaurant business is fast-casual: entrepreneurs trying to become the next Five Guys or Chipotle. A Twin Cities accountant and financial analyst is hoping he's onto something with Spitz.
Spitz is not the most beautiful sounding restaurant, but the food is delicious and the look is striking, featuring a street-art look with many local Twin Cities restaurants.
"We call that 'Instagram corner,'" Chris Law, owner of Spitz Minnesota, said pointing to a wall with a huge rendering of the late music icon Prince.
Spitz refers to the style of cooking the meat.
"The spit is the spike that the meat sits on and it rotates," Law said.
Related: MNfusion: Native Restauranteur Brings L.A. Mediterranean Eatery To Mpls.
There are two spits in fact. One crisps up a beef/lamb mix that tastes like gyro meat, the other cooks chicken. Those meats form the foundation of wraps, sandwiches and salads.
"It's Mediterranean street food with a California twist," Law said.
So, as a finance and numbers guy, would Law advise his clients to open a restaurant?
"Probably not. Probably not. It's a lot of work and it's a lot of stress, but it's also a tremendous amount of fun," he said.
Law's brother-in-law, Robert Wicklund, opened the first restaurant in L.A. Now they're in Salt Lake City, San Diego, and northeast Minneapolis.
"It's really a small family business that's grown through people like myself, my brother-in-law is my connection, or best friends of the other gentleman," Law said.
The centerpiece of the menu is called a doner kabob.
"A doner stands for rotating meat on the spit, so that's where that word comes from. What we do is we put the meat, the vegetable and the sauce in a wrap and cook it on a panini grill," Law said.
The sauces include garlic aioli, tzatziki, and zesty feta. There are spicy wraps, and wraps designed for less adventurous palates.
The menu also features "street cart fries," which are like an insane poutine with feta, "green peppers, red onion, tomato, pepperoncini, chile sauce, feta cheese, kalamata olives," Law explained.
They make four sangrias fresh every day, using red wine, white wine, and rose for the base. The beer menu is all local; a majority of the beer comes from the Northeast Minneapolis neighborhood.
All of it adds up to flavors that are familiar but unusual. And this finance guy hopes his investment pays off.
"We've had tremendous success since we opened. We hope that continues and we'd like to open additional restaurants around the Twin Cities," Law said.
Spitz
Open daily 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
518 E. Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis
Website
