In the five weeks before October, three things changed in downtown Wayzata. Eloise became Bar Eloise, a walk-in-friendly restaurant with a bigger patio. The city announced a fall replanting of all 47 beds along Lake Street with a garden designed for year-round interest. And Light Up the Lake moved a week earlier on the calendar. Each change makes Lake Street and Broadway Avenue easier to use on an ordinary weeknight in the cold months, well after the docks come out.
The Restaurant That Asked to Be Dropped Into
Eloise closed from Monday, Aug. 31, through Thursday, Sept. 3, and reopened Friday, Sept. 4, as Bar Eloise. The Star Tribune's Sept. 8 restaurant roundup confirmed the reopening. Owner Lindsay Pohlad changed the name, interior, menu and service style after hearing from guests. The restaurant's team explained the reason directly:
"Over the last few months, we've listened closely to our guests, and one message came through clearly: they love the food and the spirit of Eloise, but they want a place that feels easier to drop into, more casual, and more connected to the neighborhood."
The physical changes follow from that. The room now has more bar seating, high-top tables and televisions in the bar area. A large operable front window opens the dining room onto Broadway Avenue, and much of the indoor dining room is held for walk-ins. The new menu draws on Pohlad's sister restaurant, The Grocer's Table, and adds shareable plates, handhelds and heartier entrées. Guest-favorite dishes and the cocktail program stay, and there is a more family-friendly menu as well.
The dinner menu now runs from Parker House rolls and crab-and-bacon deviled eggs to a Wagyu Eloise burger, a lobster roll and steak frites. Sunday brunch was set to start Sept. 20. The restaurant's own brunch page now reads "Sundays are for Brunch." It lists mini cinnamon rolls, Grocer's Daily Quiche, Becky's Waffles, huevos rancheros, a rotating eggs Benedict, Wagyu steak and eggs, and breakfast sandwiches. According to the August announcement, the restaurant is closed Mondays. It opens at 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, closing at 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sunday brunch runs 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those were the hours announced before reopening, so check them with the restaurant before planning a weeknight around them.
Twenty-Eight Seats on the Public Sidewalk
The reopening came with more outdoor seating, which was a city decision. On July 21 the Wayzata City Council voted 4-0 to approve a seasonal sidewalk café permit. The permit adds about 468 square feet to the restaurant's existing 165-square-foot patio, roughly quadrupling it. The new space runs south along Broadway Avenue into the public right-of-way in front of neighboring Chico's and seats about 28 guests. Installation was expected toward the end of August, and the permit covers the 2026 season with annual renewal.
The restaurant now offers its patio for private buyouts, weather permitting, for up to 32 seated guests or 45 for cocktails and bites.
A smaller daytime option is still on the way. Parcelle, the organic café, has planned a grab-and-go spot at 641 Lake St. E. The Star Tribune reported in June that no opening date had been announced, and its September roundup still lists the Wayzata location as planned for this year.
A Garden Designed for the Other Three Seasons
On Sept. 23, the city announced a fall refresh of the 47 planting beds on Lake Street between Barry Avenue and Superior Avenue. The work covers planting, soil, irrigation and some hardscape. The design shifts the corridor to what the city calls a low-maintenance, ecosystem-based planting plan with interest all year.
How the project started matters as much as the plants. In summer 2025, a group of residents asked the mayor for better plantings along the corridor. The group hired Damon Farber to evaluate how the existing beds were performing and presented the findings to the City Council. The council then directed city staff to work with those residents and landscape consultant Colleen Lockovitch on a design for maintenance, performance and appearance along Panoway.
The plan uses mixed plant groupings for color, texture, movement and structure in every season. It also forms a living mulch that suppresses weeds and holds up to the harsh conditions next to the sidewalk and street. Most of it is planned to go in through October 2026, and a few beds are saved for spring. The full design won't be complete until next year.
The Calendar That Now Runs on Lake Street
With the sidewalk seating and the plantings in place, the fall events fill in the rest. Almost every public date between now and Thanksgiving is downtown, within a few blocks of City Hall and the Promenade.
- City of Wayzata Showcase, Monday, Oct. 5, 4:30 to 6 p.m., at City Hall. The city lists it as a free, all-ages event with a bounce house, hot dogs, face painting and a Touch-a-Truck display.
- Havana String Quartet, Sunday, Oct. 18, 3 p.m., Wayzata Community Church. A freewill offering benefits IOCP.
- Shop for a Cause at EVEREVE, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., 687 E. Lake Street. Fifteen percent of eligible purchases go to Tubman, and Tubman staff will be on site from 4 to 7 p.m.
- Wayzata Boo Bash Dash + Boo Blast, Saturday, Oct. 24, 7 a.m. to noon. Costumes are encouraged. The races include a timed 10K, 5K, 1 mile and a fun run, with a Pumpkin Derby and pre- and post-race festivities on the Great Lawn at The Promenade. Downtown trick-or-treating runs 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and families can start and stop anywhere.
- "Dreams and Songs" by the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra, Sunday, Nov. 8, 3 to 4:15 p.m., Wayzata Community Church, 125 Wayzata Blvd. E. Admission is free.
- Muni Meetup with Mayor Mullin, Monday, Nov. 16, 7 to 9 p.m., Wayzata Bar & Grill.
- Light Up the Lake, Friday, Nov. 20, 5 to 7 p.m., Panoway and Lake Street.
Boo Bash shows the shift best. It puts a race, a lawn event and street-level trick-or-treating on the same blocks during one Saturday morning, so families walking between storefronts will go right past the new beds and the Broadway Avenue patio.
Why Nov. 20 Is the Date to Write Down
Most people won't think to recheck Light Up the Lake, since it has long fallen on a familiar weekend. This year the city's calendar says otherwise: "The date this year is one week prior to the normal date and will take place the Friday BEFORE Thanksgiving." Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 26, so the lighting is Friday, Nov. 20, and not the day after the holiday.
The evening runs 5 to 7 p.m. on Lake Street. It includes holiday refreshments, horse-drawn wagon rides, llamas, music, a town lighting ceremony and the parade of lights with local fire departments. The parade starts at 5:45 p.m., and the town lighting follows right after. Guests arriving for Thanksgiving week itself will arrive after it. People hosting dinner before the parade will need a reservation on a Friday that is no longer a holiday weekend, and the new walk-in tables on Broadway Avenue are a short walk from the parade route.
If the October planting schedule holds, the parade of lights will be the first big crowd to walk past the replanted corridor, a design that residents asked for and that was built for year-round interest.
If you're thinking about how a downtown Wayzata address fits your own plans, whether that's a home within walking distance of Lake Street or a property where Panoway is part of the daily routine, The DesMarais Team can help you weigh what these changes mean for value. Request a Valuation & Consultation, and we'll go through the street with you block by block.
