Photo by Robb Long

Fatso's, located at 119 N. 4th St., is now Centerfield Pizza and Burgers.

By Michelle Bruch

Two years before the Twins ballpark opens, the Warehouse District already has a baseball-themed restaurant.

Fatso’s at 119 N. 4th St. is transformed into Centerfield — the restaurant is exactly center field from the new stadium, notes Manager Scott Free.

The business continues to sell its four-and-a-half pound Fatso burgers, but it’s added pizzas to the menu, including a 21-inch “super jumbo-sized” pizza.

 “We’re still doing the best burgers on Earth, but now we’re also doing the best pizza on Earth,” Free said. “It’s fresh, homemade pizza, so much like our burgers, everything’s fresh, never frozen.”

The pizzas come courtesy of a partnership with Linwood Pizza, a Minnesota-based pizza chain.

The business now has a service window on 2nd Avenue that allows late-night partiers to come through and order pizzas, burgers, and drinks from the sidewalk.

The owners also knocked out walls, expanded the kitchen, and installed a stage where about three bands will play each month. The restaurant has special promotions and six flat-screen televisions to accommodate game days, and it promotes unlimited drinks for $10 on Fridays and Saturdays.

A Black Sheep on Washington

Coal-fired pizza came to the North Loop on Oct. 20, but residents need not worry about getting black lung.

Black Sheep’s piping hot stove uses anthracite coal that is a virtually emissions-free fuel source with no creosote and no particulates, according to Owner Jordan Smith.

“We are the only coal-burning oven within hundreds of miles,” Smith said. “It’s remarkably cleaner than wood.”

The restaurant is located a few steps below sidewalk level in the old D’Allesantro’s space at 600 Washington Ave. N., and Smith said they’ve designed it to feel like it’s always been there. Smith said he is especially proud of the crust they cooked up for the restaurant.

“We worked so hard to develop a deeply flavored crust,” Smith said. “It’s got a lot of character, and it’s really good.”

Black Sheep will initially open at 4:30 p.m. on weeknights and open for lunch and dinner on weekends, starting at 11:30 a.m. In six–eight weeks, the restaurant will open for lunch service every day.

Artist cooperative coming to Mill District

Cool Planet Goods closed on Washington after a year of operation, but the storefront is not going dark.

Owner Dale Howey, who works as a landlord and a potter, said he would convert the store at 1023A Washington Ave. S. into an artist cooperative called the Mill District Arts Gallery.

Howey posted a craigslist ad to find artists for the gallery, and the first responses made up the core group for the cooperative. The artists include another potter, two photographers, a painter, a furniture-maker, and a multimedia artist that does three-dimensional works and crayon art.

Cool Planet Goods sold everything from eco-friendly cleaning products and recycled sweaters to wooden children’s toys and purses made from old truck tires.

Howey said Washington still doesn’t have enough density for that retail concept, but he thinks the gallery will jive well with other businesses in the area.

The gallery will open on Nov. 8, and regular hours will be noon–6 p.m. Thursday–Saturday.
 
Nader on Hennepin

Ralph Nader’s campaign is renting out a storefront space in the former to Soho store at 715 Hennepin Ave.

The campaign moved in on Oct. 6 for a quick one-month lease, and it’s hosting an election night party at the neighboring Barfly nightclub on Nov. 4.

Property Representative Cristina Kabanuk said the retail space features a kitchen in the back, and the owner is working with a potential restaurant tenant to lease out the storefront.