Elliot Park Vegan Guide: Lulu EthioVegan, Lutunji's Palate & More (2026)

Vegan Dining in Elliot Park: A Small Neighborhood with Two 100% Vegan Anchors

Elliot Park is one of the more overlooked neighborhoods in Minneapolis. It sits in a tight half-square-mile between Hennepin County Medical Center to the north, the freeways to the south and east, and the edge of downtown. North Central University anchors the middle of it, and Elliot Park itself (the actual green space) gives the neighborhood its name. Most lists of Minneapolis vegan dining skip past it to focus on the bigger neighborhood stories in Northeast, Powderhorn, or Uptown.

That is a mistake. Elliot Park has two of the best 100% vegan restaurants in Minneapolis, both Black-owned, both run by chefs with serious culinary conviction, and both within walking distance of each other. If you have an afternoon in the neighborhood, you can hit Lulu EthioVegan for a full Ethiopian sampler platter lunch and then walk less than a mile to Lutunji's Palate for vegan peach cobbler and a cashew milk ice cream. That is a real day in a real neighborhood -- not a detour, not a compromise.

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Lulu EthioVegan -- 100% Vegan Ethiopian, Built on Conviction

12 E Franklin Ave | (612) 353-5758 | Mon 11am-8:30pm, Thu 2pm-8:30pm, Fri-Sat 11am-9pm, Sun 11am-8:30pm | $$

Lulu EthioVegan is a 100% vegan Ethiopian restaurant on East Franklin Avenue, at the southern edge of Elliot Park where the neighborhood transitions into Phillips. Chef TG Feyisa runs the kitchen, and the restaurant carries a clear point of view: traditional Ethiopian cuisine, fully reimagined without animal products, prepared by someone who treats every dish as a translation rather than a substitution.

The traditional Ethiopian dishes you would expect -- doro wot (chicken stew), beef tibs (sauteed beef with peppers) -- have been reworked into plant-based versions that hold their own. Beef tibs become tender rosemary mushroom tibs, deeply seasoned and proper as a centerpiece dish. Doro wot transforms into shimbra asa, crispy chickpeas in berbere sauce that deliver the same warmth and heat as the original. The cooking here is patient and confident.

The sampler platters are the best way to experience the kitchen. A single platter brings together sambusa (lentil-filled fried pastries that read as the Ethiopian cousin of samosas), foule (crushed fava beans with spice), and a rotation of lentil and vegetable stews. Everything is served on a base of airy injera, the sourdough flatbread that does double duty as plate and utensil. You tear a piece, scoop a stew, and eat. The structure invites slow eating and shared conversation -- the Ethiopian way of dining is built around the table, not the individual plate.

To drink, Lulu serves ginger tea (sharp, fresh, restorative) and telba, an Ethiopian flaxseed drink with a nutty richness that pairs well with the spice in the stews. Both are nonalcoholic and both are worth ordering.

The space itself is small and intimate. A handful of tables, warm wood, the kind of cozy that comes from a place that has not been over-designed. It feels like eating in a chef's neighborhood spot, not a concept restaurant. Service is unhurried.

Best for: Vegan Ethiopian sampler platters, sharing meals, injera and stew lovers, anyone who wants to eat plant-based food prepared with cultural conviction.

Operational note: Lulu EthioVegan is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Plan accordingly.

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Lutunji's Palate -- The Vegan Bakery and Soul Food Spot You Should Know

1400 Park Ave | (612) 345-4534 | Mon-Fri 7am-3pm, Sat 9am-2pm | $

Lutunji Abrams runs Lutunji's Palate on Park Avenue, about half a mile north of Lulu EthioVegan. The bakery is 100% vegan, focused on baked goods and desserts but with a real savory menu and a soul food sensibility throughout. It is a takeout-first operation in a small space, and it has been one of the most quietly loved vegan spots in Minneapolis for years among the people who know about it.

Lutunji is best known for her peach cobbler. The vegan version, built on a flaky coconut oil crust, is the kind of dessert that holds up against any traditional Minneapolis cobbler you can name -- buttery, warm, with bright fruit and a properly crisp top. If you go for nothing else, go for the peach cobbler.

Beyond the cobbler, the bakery does coconut macaroons (chewy, deeply coconutty), cashew milk ice cream (a rare treat in Minneapolis from a small operator, available in rotating flavors), and Oreo cheezecake (the dense, no-bake style done correctly with a plant-based cream cheese base). Many items are gluten-free, which makes Lutunji's one of the more allergen-friendly vegan stops in the city.

The savory menu is smaller but worth knowing. Plant-based omelets, croissant sandwiches with vegan fillings, and a rotation of soul-food-inflected savory items show up depending on the day. The bakery also does catering, and if you are organizing a vegan brunch or a community event in Minneapolis, this is one of the catering options that consistently delivers.

The shop sits on Park Avenue in a small, focused storefront. Counter service, takeout-first, friendly. The neighborhood around it is residential and quiet, with a mix of older buildings and newer developments tied to the medical center and downtown growth.

Best for: Vegan baked goods (especially peach cobbler), cashew milk ice cream, gluten-free vegan options, catering for vegan events, neighborhood takeout.

Operational note: Cash and card accepted. Saturday hours are shorter (9am-2pm); closed Sunday.

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The Elliot Park Vegan Day Plan

If you have a Friday or Saturday in Minneapolis and you want a full vegan day in one neighborhood, Elliot Park supports it cleanly:

11:30am: Walk into Lulu EthioVegan when they open at 11am for lunch. Order a sampler platter for two, add an order of shimbra asa, and finish with ginger tea. Plan for an hour at the table -- this is not fast food.

1:30pm: Walk about half a mile north to Lutunji's Palate. Order a peach cobbler, a coconut macaroon, and a scoop of cashew milk ice cream. If you are still hungry, add a croissant sandwich.

2:30pm onward: From here, you are well-positioned to extend the day. The Midtown Greenway is a few blocks south, which puts you on a flat bike route to Powderhorn or Northeast within 15 to 20 minutes. Reverie Cafe + Bar in Powderhorn opens at 11am with a full vegan menu and a full bar -- a logical evening anchor if you want to keep the day plant-based. The Herbivorous Butcher in Northeast is a 10-minute drive across the river.

This route gives you a real cultural cross-section: Ethiopian plant-based cooking, vegan Black Southern dessert traditions, and (if you continue) one of the country's most established vegan restaurant scenes. It is a Minneapolis day that does not exist in any other city in the Upper Midwest.

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Getting Around Elliot Park

Elliot Park is small, walkable, and well-connected.

By transit: The Blue Line and Green Line meet at the Downtown East / US Bank Stadium station, a 10-15 minute walk north of both restaurants. Metro Transit Route 5 (Nicollet Ave) and Route 22 (Cedar Ave) serve the neighborhood from north and south. Local routes also run along Franklin Avenue and Chicago Avenue.

By bike: The Midtown Greenway -- the dedicated east-west bike highway -- runs a few blocks south of Elliot Park and provides a direct, car-free connection to Uptown, Lyn-Lake, Powderhorn, Longfellow, and the Mississippi River. The neighborhood streets are calm and bikeable end-to-end.

By car: Street parking is generally available, especially outside of US Bank Stadium event hours. Both restaurants have on-street parking immediately in front of or near the door. Avoid Vikings game days and major stadium events -- parking and traffic become difficult on those Sundays.

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The Neighborhood Beyond the Food

Elliot Park itself -- the 7.5-acre green space the neighborhood is named for -- sits at 10th Street and Park Avenue, just north of Lutunji's Palate. It has a recreation center, a pool, basketball courts, and a community building that the residents use as the center of neighborhood life. The May Day Cafe is in Powderhorn, not Elliot Park, but the broader spirit of South Minneapolis community organizing runs through both.

The neighborhood is also home to North Central University, a small private university whose presence keeps a steady student traffic in the area, and Hennepin County Medical Center, one of the largest hospitals in the city. Both shape the rhythm of the streets, the available services, and the kind of foot traffic you see during the day.

For visitors, Elliot Park is one of the easier neighborhoods to fit into a Minneapolis trip because it is close to downtown, close to the stadium, and close to the river. If you are visiting US Bank Stadium for a Vikings game or a concert, both vegan restaurants in this guide are within a 15-minute walk -- a far better dinner plan than the concession stands.

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For more Minneapolis neighborhood vegan dining, see the Powderhorn vegan guide, the Seward vegan guide, and the Northeast Minneapolis vegan guide. For a broader citywide picture, see our best vegan restaurants in Minneapolis 2026.