What’s New in Downtown Wayzata: Fresh Restaurants, New Gathering Spaces & What’s Coming Next

Downtown Wayzata has always had a way of balancing two personalities. It feels polished and sophisticated, yet somehow still manages to feel like a small lakeside town where you can walk to dinner, run into someone you know and end the evening along the water.

Lately, that balance has been getting even better.

Over the past year, Lake Street and the surrounding downtown have welcomed new restaurants, refreshed longtime spaces and added another round of improvements designed to make Wayzata more walkable, inviting and connected to Lake Minnetonka.

If you haven’t spent much time downtown lately, here are some of the changes worth knowing about.

Eloise Has Become Bar Eloise

One of the newest changes is happening just off Lake Street on Broadway.

Eloise officially entered a new chapter on September 4, reopening as Bar Eloise after a brief refresh. The restaurant originally opened with more of an elevated, special-occasion feel, but feedback from guests pointed toward something a little easier to drop into on an ordinary evening.

The new concept keeps its focus on high-quality, seasonal food while leaning into a more relaxed neighborhood-bar atmosphere. Changes include more bar seating, high-top tables, a front window that can open to the street, a broader menu and a greater emphasis on walk-in dining.

There is also substantially more room to dine outdoors. Wayzata approved an expansion of the restaurant's Broadway patio this summer, adding roughly 468 square feet and bringing outdoor seating to approximately 28 guests.

It feels very fitting for downtown Wayzata: still beautiful enough for date night, but casual enough to stop in simply because you happen to be walking by.

A New Casual Option Arrives on Lake Street

Wayzata's dining scene has traditionally leaned toward sit-down restaurants, so one of 2026's most noticeable additions brings something a little different.

Tono | Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks opened at 810 Lake Street East on May 29 in the former D'Amico & Sons space.

The locally founded restaurant specializes in individual brick-oven pizzas and Philadelphia-style cheesesteaks, giving downtown another quick and family-friendly option that works just as well for lunch or takeout as it does for an easy dinner.

It's a small addition that fills a useful niche: somewhere you don't necessarily need a reservation, a special occasion or a two-hour dinner to enjoy.

The Hotel Landing Has a New Restaurant

Another significant change arrived at the eastern end of Lake Street this spring.

Belle & Grey opened inside The Hotel Landing in April, replacing the hotel's longtime ninetwentyfive restaurant.

The new chef-driven American concept was designed with more of a warm, lakeside gathering-place feel, offering breakfast, lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. Its name even incorporates a little Lake Minnetonka history, drawing inspiration in part from the historic Belle of Minnetonka steamship.

The result feels less like simply eating at a hotel restaurant and more like another true Wayzata dining destination—one that happens to sit just steps from the lake.

Rustica Brings Bakery Tradition Back to Lake Street

One of downtown's newer arrivals technically opened late last year, but 2026 has really been its first full season in Wayzata.

Rustica Bakery & Cafe opened at 795 Lake Street East in November 2025, taking over the former Wuollet Bakery space.

Known around the Twin Cities for artisan breads, pastries, coffee and its signature bittersweet chocolate cookie, the Wayzata café also offers a larger savory breakfast and lunch menu than some of Rustica's other locations.

There's also a nice bit of local history behind the location. That stretch of Lake Street has been home to bakeries in one form or another for generations, from Wayzata Bakery to Olson's, Wuollet and now Rustica. In a downtown where storefronts naturally evolve, it's nice to see that tradition continue.

Parcelle Is Coming to the Lakefront

And there is still another newcomer on the way.

Parcelle is preparing to open its first suburban location at 641 Lake Street East.

The organic café began in northeast Minneapolis and is bringing a much smaller, roughly 800-square-foot concept to Wayzata. Rather than a large sit-down restaurant, the location is being designed around grab-and-go food—the kind of place where you can pick something up before walking the lakefront or sitting outside.

As of September 8, Parcelle's own website still lists the Wayzata location as “Coming Soon,” so an official opening date has not yet been announced.

It may ultimately be one of the businesses that fits the newer version of downtown Wayzata best: food in hand, Lake Minnetonka a few steps away and nowhere in particular you have to be.

Klapprich Park Gets a Major Refresh

The changes aren't limited to restaurants.

Nearby Klapprich Park underwent a significant renovation and officially celebrated its redesigned space this year. Improvements include a new ADA-accessible playground and parking, gathering areas and other updates intended to make the park more usable for families and the broader community. The longtime skating and hockey tradition remains as well.

It's another example of Wayzata investing not simply in attracting people downtown, but in creating places for residents to actually spend time.

The Lakefront Continues to Shape What Comes Next

Perhaps the biggest change to downtown Wayzata isn't technically from 2026 at all.

The 1,200-foot Panoway Lakewalk, completed in 2024, fundamentally changed the relationship between Lake Street and Lake Minnetonka. What had long been a beautiful downtown beside the lake now feels much more like a downtown built around it.

The boardwalk stretches from Broadway Avenue toward the Depot and includes lakeside seating areas, restored shoreline and community docks.

And the project isn't necessarily finished.

The city's proposed third phase of Panoway includes restoration of the historic Section Foreman House into a lakefront learning center, along with a future Eco Park and additional boardwalk loop. That portion will move forward as funding becomes available.

What's especially interesting is how the businesses opening now seem to be responding to that investment. More patios, more casual dining, grab-and-go cafés and spaces that open directly toward the street all make more sense when people are already outside walking downtown.

Wayzata Is Changing Without Losing What Makes It Wayzata

That's probably the most interesting part of what is happening downtown.

Wayzata isn't suddenly trying to become Minneapolis—or even reinvent itself.

Instead, the changes seem to be reinforcing what people already love about it.

A bakery replaces a bakery. A hotel restaurant becomes more connected to the community. A formal restaurant becomes a neighborhood bar. New cafés and casual restaurants give people more reasons to linger downtown without making an entire evening out of it. Parks and public spaces continue to improve. And throughout it all, Lake Minnetonka remains only a few steps away.

For a town with as much history as Wayzata, change can be a delicate thing.

But lately, downtown seems to be finding a pretty good formula: keep the charm, keep the lake at the center—and give people a few more reasons to stay awhile.