Press

It’s hard to believe that just a handful of months ago, the ground hadn’t even broken on Tribe Street Kitchen: Construction started on the restaurant in December, and today, the polished finished product just opened.

That’s a tight turn for most brand-new restaurants, but looking around at Tribe’s plush sapphire booths and polished marble bar, you’d never know. That might be because this isn’t the first time around the block for Tribe’s co-owners, Jordan Mathes, Ben VinZant and Sam Hagan. VinZant and Hagan are the main faces of Tribe: They are two longtime friends from Wichita, Kansas, whose careers in the hospitality industry have taken them on a similar trajectory, including a brief stint working in Minneapolis restaurants.

Global cuisine has never been more accessible. At the River Market’s Tribe Street Kitchen, it’s only a streetcar ride away.

At the hip, urban restaurant and bar, you can sample Korean Gochujang skewers, tacos inspired by three different regions of Mexico, a hot chicken sandwich influenced by both Thailand and Tennessee, and old-fashioned donut holes that evoke the Netherlands.

It only makes sense that the cocktails reflect the same diverse geographical influences as the rest of the restaurant. Co-owner and bar manager Sam Hagan says the offerings were designed to pair well with Tribe’s food, which favors Central America and Eastern Asia dishes. The bar program leans into the former region. There are two takes on the margarita: The Daisy Margarita is more traditional while the South Side of Heaven puts a savory, herbal twist on the classic.