New Asian Fusion Sushi Restaurant Coming to Mendota Plaza

Haiku Japanese Bistro will open its doors in April or May.

This April or May, Mendota Plaza will be home to a new Asian fusion and sushi restaurant. The Haiku Japanese Bistro began construction in January. The 2,800-square-foot restaurant will replace Do it Best Hardware. Haiku will be the third restaurant for owner Jonathan Li, who operates two Japanese sushi and hibachi restaurants in Golden Valley and Fargo, N.D. Li said he’s also in the process of opening a hibachi grill in Mankato and a fusion restaurant with a menu similar to Haiku’s in Dinkytown. Li said he picked Mendota Plaze because it’s “a nice area and high income.” He plans to hire 10 to 15 employees.

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)

Mendota Plaza to Host Tree Lighting Ceremony Thursday

Hot chocolate and holiday music will be provided for the annual event.

Editor's note: The following is a press release from Mendota Plaza. St. Paul, Minn.-based Paster Enterprises, a leading developer and manager of neighborhood shopping centers in the Twin Cities, and Mendota Plaza will the annual Mendota Plaza Tree Lighting Event on Thursday, December 6th, at 6pm at Mendota Plaza, located at 762 Highway 110 Mendota Heights, MN Paster Enterprises President Howard Paster made the announcement. The annual Mendota Tree Lighting Event will include free hot cocoa from Teresa’s Mexican Restaurant, Holiday music, gift certificates from local tenants including Massage Elements and Enchanted Nails Spa as well as a donation drive for Toys for Tots. All who bring an item for Toys for Tots will be entered into a drawing…

• Photos (1)

Sedona Skin Spa Opens in Mendota Plaza

The new skin spa will offer services including facials, Botox and laser hair reduction/removal.

A new business coming to town is ready to turn your frowns upside down—literally. Sedona Skin Spa is scheduled to open the day after Labor Day at Mendota Plaza. The spa has one location in Edina. This will be their second location. Owner Tom Lewis says they are known for their laser hair removal services. The spa also offers Botox, micro-dermabrasion and skin enhancing treatments, including facials and photo-therapy.  “Anything and everything to make the ladies look good,” said Lewis. The spa has also had success with their male clients, which make up about 15 percent of Sedona Skin Spa’s business, said Lewis. Lewis said Sedona Skin Spa will fill a gap in the esthetician services available in the area. Opening day is scheduled for Sept. 4…

• Photos (2)

Tuesday Morning Leaves Mendota Plaza

Custom Professional Upholstery from St. Paul is scheduled to take over part of the former closeout home goods store.

Tuesday Morning, a retailer of discounted home goods, has closed their doors at Mendota Plaza. Custom Professional Upholstery, a St. Paul business that was established on Grand Avenue in 1979, is planning to move into part of the Tuesday Morning space. They are scheduled to open in April. Tuesday Morning did not renew their lease, which expired Feb. 15. "Tuesday Morning is very opportunistic in its real estate, and we are always looking at other opportunities in the market," said a spokesperson for Tuesday Morning.  The separation was described as "mutually beneficial," by a spokesperson from Paster. A grand opening for Custom Professional Upholstery is scheduled for Wednesday, May 16 from 3-7 p.m.

• Photos (2)

Mendota Heights Council to Take Action on Lawsuit

A case over redevelopment of Mendota Plaza has been discussed largely behind closed doors.

Mendota Heights has announced a special council session at which the council could agree to settle a lawsuit against the city by developers of Mendota Plaza. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 22, and the agenda also indicates an amendment could be made to the planned unit development agreement. Mendota Heights City Council and staff have been meeting regularly in closed session to discuss the lawsuit filed against the city by Mendota Mall Associates, a unit of Paster Enterprises, the company that owns Mendota Plaza. The developer has claimed the city agreed to pay for relocation of a major sewer line on Mendota Plaza property as part of the shopping center's redevelopment. The city has stated that they agreed to do the work, but …

• Photos (1)

Mendota Heights Halloween Bonfire Lights Up the Night

Hundreds gathered for the bonfire tradition.

Hundreds of visitors gathered around the Mendota Heights Halloween Bonfire Monday night at Mendota Plaza. A mighty pile of brush warmed the air. The Mendota Heights Fire Department offered up free hotdogs and soda to the crowd.  

• Photos (18)
• Videos (1)

Mendota Heights Halloween Bonfire Tradition Lives On

Despite reconstruction, the Halloween bonfire will again be held at Mendota Plaza.

The Annual Mendota Heights Halloween Bonfire will once again ignite at Mendota Plaza 7-9 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31. The bonfire was first organized in 1974 by the family of Russell Wahl, a former city council member and most recently a building inspector serving Mendota and Lilydale. When his children grew up, he passed the task on to the Mendota Heights Fire Department. Wahl died in March. Mendota Heights residents can start bringing brush to the Plaza between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. starting Monday, Oct. 24. Brush collection will stop Friday, Oct. 28 at the end of the business day or when the brush pile is full, whichever is first. Brush must be less than 4 inches in diameter. No grass clippings or leaves are allowed. The fire …

•  4 Comments
• Photos (18)
• Videos (1)

Editor's Notebook

Mendota Heights Planning Commission Gets Another Look at Senior Development

A proposal by White Pines Senior Living to build a senior care facility at Mendota Plaza is scheduled to be before the planning commission Tuesday night.

There are only two items on the Mendota Heights planning commission agenda for 7 p.m. Tuesday, but one of them could result in a major development project at Mendota Plaza. A public hearing is now scheduled for review of a proposed four-story, 100-unit senior living building to be located in the southeast corner of the Mendota Plaza property. The building will be a licensed medical facility providing both memory care and assisted living. Developers White Pines Senior Living, based in Mendota Heights, have been working with staff to address six points of clarification requested in June. The planning commission meets at Mendota Heights City Hall council chambers.

• Photos (1)
• Documents (1)

Mendota Plaza Developers Sue City of Mendota Heights

Who will pay to move a utility line on the property is under dispute.

The city of Mendota Heights is being sued by the developer of Mendota Plaza, according to a report by the Pioneer Press. The dispute is over a sewer line that developers Mendota Mall Associates, a unit of Paster Enterprises, want to move on the property to make room for a senior housing development.   The initial bid for the work came back with a pricetag of approximately $300,000, according to the attorney appointed to the case by the League of Minnesota Cities, Robert Alsop. Alsop told Patch there are a number of alternative configurations that could reduce the cost of the project. While the city claims that they never agreed to pay for the project, Mendota Mall Associates are claiming language in the developer’s agreement holds them …

• Photos (1)

Mendota Plaza Walgreens Opens For Business

After months of construction, the newest business in Mendota Heights also sports a new look for the pharmacy chain.

The new Walgreens location at Mendota Plaza opened its doors 8 a.m. Thursday morning to a few customers patiently waiting to be the first ones in. What they found is a new look for Walgreens stores that will be rolled out in new construction and existing stores over the next six months, said Walgreens Community Leader Jim Webber. Following a trend in what Store Manager Dave Hansen called “customer-centered retail,” the store's layout puts shopping items like pain-killers and muscle rub, tissues and cold medicine, next to each other. Hansen said the new design, with lower shelves that make seeing other aisle easier, updated colors and untiled flooring, is one of the first in the Twin Cities.   The new freestanding building is part of a …

•  3 Comments
• Photos (5)

Danielle Cabot

4:53 pm on Saturday, March 5, 2011

Do you think the area could support a small grocery, Donna? I always assumed there was one in town until probably two years ago ... I end up going to the Kowalski's on Grand a lot.   more ›