If you have lived in Excelsior for more than a summer or two, you already know the rhythm. Art on the Lake in June. Fireworks over the Bay on the Fourth. Wednesday concerts drifting across the Commons. Crazy Days in July. Apple Days after Labor Day. The calendar has not changed much in a decade.
What changed is the walk between them.
Between last summer and this one, four established Twin Cities restaurant groups planted flags on a two-block stretch of Water Street. For years, Water Street had all the charm of a lake town but relatively little culinary buzz, especially compared with its bigger Lake Minnetonka sibling, Wayzata; now the historic stretch on the lake's southeast shore is fast becoming one of the metro's most talked-about food destinations. That is the difference this summer. The traditions are intact. The between-time is unrecognizable.
The Corner That Used to Be Dark
It wasn't long ago that the busiest intersection in downtown Excelsior was dark — restaurants that had anchored Water Street had closed after the pandemic and remained vacant. Jester Concepts, run by Brent Frederick and chef Mike DeCamp, took the sprawling former Irish pub on that corner and split it into three concepts under one roof.
| Concept | Format | Signature |
|---|---|---|
| Mirabelle | Steaks, salad, fish, pastas, and sides including popovers and shrimp cocktail, coastal-inspired | Rotating nightly specials like lasagna, meatloaf, and fried chicken |
| Shiki | Dumplings, ramen, and Japanese-inspired flavors | Name translates to "four seasons" in Japanese |
| Parlour | Casual diner and craft cocktail bar; the Parlour Burger, a double patty smash burger with American cheese and pickles | Walk-in only, waitlist by text |
Across the street at 205 Water, chef David Fhima took the old Red Sauce Rebellion space and opened Vagabondo. A Sicilian restaurant by night, and by day a cafe serving coffee, pastries and spritzes on a sidewalk patio with a peek-a-boo view of the lake. The daytime program matters for residents. It gives Water Street a morning cafe with proper pastry and espresso, which the block did not have in this form before.
The mayor put it plainly. "The restaurant world is churning around here," said Excelsior Mayor Gary Ringate. "There's still even a desire for more."
Why This Matters for a Regular Tuesday
The generic version of this story treats new restaurants as a destination pitch. That is not the useful frame for someone who already lives here. The useful frame is this: your weekday options just multiplied without you having to leave town.
A short list of what is now possible on foot from most of downtown:
- A real morning cafe. Vagabondo opens at 8 a.m. seven days a week for coffee and pastry before it becomes a Sicilian dinner room.
- A ramen night. Shiki is the only dedicated noodle bar the west metro has seen this close to the lake.
- A cocktail-and-burger basement. Parlour brought over the Minneapolis format including the togarashi popcorn and the dill-brined chicken sandwich that regulars there already know.
- A supper-club anchor. Mirabelle preserved many of the building's historic details, including a cast iron fireplace.
Coalition at 227 Water Street and Layline at 301 Water Street still hold down the middle of the block, and Excelsior Brewing on Third rounds out the taproom side of the evening. Maynard's remains what it has always been. Maynard's Restaurant at 685 Excelsior Boulevard has operated since 1947 and faces directly onto Excelsior Bay. Haskell's Port of Excelsior still has the corner patio that regulars drive in from Jordan for. None of that changed. What changed is that the new arrivals are calibrated for a different use case, which is a Tuesday, not a special occasion.
The Summer Calendar, With New Coordinates
Here is the season's schedule read the way a resident actually uses it, with the dining changes layered in.
Art on the Lake — June 13 and 14
The 2026 edition runs Saturday, June 13, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, June 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., along Water Street from 3rd Street to Lake Street. More than 130 juried artists display and sell original works across painting, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, textiles, photography, and mixed media. The Chamber HQ Tent sits near Dock Cinema, and portable restrooms are placed across from Red Bench Bakery.
The practical change this year: Vagabondo's sidewalk patio is directly inside the footprint, and the Jester corner is one block off it. Lunch during the festival used to mean a line at Lolas or Maynard's. Now it means five more options within a block of your booth loop.
Concerts in the Commons — Wednesday Nights, June through August
Seven Wednesday nights between June and August, food trucks and beer and wine open at 5 p.m., music from 6:30 to 8:30, on the banks of Lake Minnetonka in Excelsior Commons Park. The series raises money for Community for the Commons as they improve the park; the effort is led by the Excelsior Morning Rotary Club and the City of Excelsior.
If you have never made a night of it, the walk from the Commons back to Water Street after the last set is now the point. Parlour's basement stays open late. Vagabondo's kitchen runs to 11.
The Fourth of July
On Saturday, July 4, 2026, the celebration at Excelsior Commons begins at 7:30 a.m. with the Firecracker Run and builds through children's programming, food vendors, and live music before fireworks launch over Excelsior Bay at approximately 10 p.m. Free admission at Excelsior Commons, 135 Lake Street; arrive before 3 p.m. for comfortable park positioning on the holiday.
Crazy Days — July 16 through 19
The chamber's summer sidewalk sale takes over Water Street for four days. Retailers push racks onto the sidewalk, restaurants run specials, and the streetcar runs a heavier weekend schedule. This is the weekend to introduce out-of-town family to the new Water Street lineup without having to talk them into a reservation.
Apple Days — September 18 through 20
The tradition dates to 1935, which makes it older than most of the buildings it uses. The chamber's program includes craft booths, a kids corner, food vendors, history tours, apple pie contests, live entertainment, and a beer and wine garden. It is the shoulder-season anchor, and it is when the new restaurants will show whether they have stuck.
The Thursday Ritual Most People Miss
On Thursdays between June 18 and August 27, the streetcar will be at the Water Street Platform between 2 and 5 p.m. for streetcar rides and carbarn tours. Fare is $3 per ticket for ages 4 and above; children 3 and under ride free. The ticket booth is next to the Excelsior Library at 337 Water Street.
Pair it with the donation yoga class the city sponsors on Tuesday, Thursday, and alternating Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9:30 at the Commons, and you have the shape of a summer week that costs almost nothing and never leaves town.
The Question the Star Tribune Asked
One question deserves an honest answer for residents who have watched restaurant cycles here before. Can this hold?
Chef Fhima's view: "We'll become one of many. Then there will be the next new hot restaurant. Our goal is not to be the latest trend — our goal is to be here for quite a while." The design firm Studio Grey, which designed both Mirabelle and Vagabondo, framed it in structural terms. "You don't want to be the sole place on an island somewhere," said Amanda Maday. "They need other local businesses to help support them, because it's a tough business."
That is the argument for a resident to show up in the off months. Not out of civic duty, but because the density that makes summer Water Street work is the same density that has to be defended in February. A ramen shop with a full room on a Tuesday in January is a ramen shop that will be there next June.
One Square Mile, More Reasons to Stay In It
Excelsior has always been a compact town that concentrates its energy. Roughly one square mile, roughly 2,300 residents, one main street that runs to the water. What is different in 2026 is that the reasons to stay inside that square mile have doubled in a year without any of the traditions that make the place feel like itself giving up ground.
Art on the Lake still looks the same on Sunday afternoon. The fireworks still fire from a barge off the Commons. Apple Days still smells like a pie contest. The walk between them is the part that got interesting.
If you are thinking about the value of what you own here, or you know someone who is asking what Excelsior is actually like to live in right now, the team at Polovitz Group covers this market house by house and block by block. Start your lake home search or market your property with our team.
