Scoring a reservation within 7 days at Young Joni is the equivalent of a modern day miracle. Ranked as one of the best new restaurants in America by GQ, their food lives up to the hype.

Food:

Known for their woodfire pizzas created by pizza goddess; Ann Kim, a James Beard 2017 finalist, these combinations are suprising, a little scary, and delicious.

Luckily, I was with one of my more adventurous friends, Kelly, who is always up for helping me try new foods that I would have probably avoided. Deciding we wanted to try out two types, we decided on a more “traditional” type, the YOLO,house red sauce, mozzarella, fennel sausage, Nueske’s bacon, natural casing pepperoni, and a more adventurous type, that Kelly was super excited to try, The Pepe, made with fresh clams, Parmigiano Reggiano, mozzarella, crème fraîche, garlic, shallot, parsley, chili flake, and lemon.

Being 100% honest, had Kelly not suggested it, due to my inexperience with clams and really any “seafood,” I would have never considered The Pepe, but trust me, it is delicious. The sauce, salt, and bread combination was a winner.

We also ordered the Grilled Chili Blue Prawns and, being a prawn virgin, I was able to figure out what parts you do and don’t eat under Kelly’s guidance. I’m not exactly sure prawns are my thing, but the red chili, fish sauce, and lime was a good combination.

Dessert:

I’m giving dessert it’s own section, because never have I been this excited about dessert before. A Mini Cone Trio…how genius is that?!

Service:

Our server was attentive, helpful, and judgement free as we celebrated a much delayed girls night with a handful of beverages. Four stars.

Atmosphere:

I loved the layout and the high beam ceilings. The lighting was pretty dim, so photos were a little difficult, but just look at that beam work.

BONUS:

We had stopped around the corner at Dangerous Man Brewing to wait for our reservation time and I was excited to see that they had a Dangerous Man x Young Joni collaboration on their menu – The Blackened Orange Wit.

Absolutely delicious.

Young Joni
165 13th Ave. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday – Thursday: 4PM – 11PM
Friday: 4PM – MIDNIGHT
Saturday: NOON – MIDNIGHT
Sunday: NOON – 10PM