Northeast Minneapolis has a lot of food hubs, but Diane's Place is the one everyone has been talking about since it opened in the spring of 2024. It's a Hmong American full-service restaurant sitting inside the Food Building, which was originally a horse veterinary clinic built in 1914 before Kieran Folliard turned it into a local food hub back in 2009. The person behind it is Chef Diane Moua, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef who built her name at Aquavit and Solera, became executive pastry chef at La Belle Vie, and spent nearly a decade with the Soigné Hospitality Group before striking out on her own.
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Moua's resume is a big part of the draw. She's earned six James Beard semifinalist nominations and three finalist nods, including two in the Outstanding Pastry Chef category and one for Best Chef: Midwest. The restaurant has quickly caught up to that pedigree: it landed at #50 on North America's 50 Best Restaurants 2025, took home Food & Wine's 2025 Restaurant of the Year, and was named Minnesota Monthly's Best New Restaurant of 2024. The food pulls from her parents' farm in Wisconsin, blending traditional Hmong flavors with the techniques she picked up over a career in some of the city's most respected kitchens.
If you're planning a dinner, the menu is where the Hmong influence is most obvious. It opens with mini scallion croissants for $15, steamed pork rolls for $21, and a papaya salad for $21 that comes mild or spicy. The mains lean into the heritage: Hmong pulled pork with sour bamboo for $26, red curry duck stew for $30, and Diane's Hmong sausage for $21, served with sticky rice and a choice of Hmong hot sauce or sweet and sour. The braised beef short rib at $58 is the priciest plate, while the pork and mustard greens for $28 can be made vegetarian or vegan. A beef laab carpaccio for $25 and a deep fried red snapper for $48 round out the more adventurous side of the menu, and a $12 Hmong sausage link makes an easy add-on.
Drinks are a real feature here rather than an afterthought. The cocktail list is creative, with the She-Eye 4.0 at $16 mixing mango soju and lime leaf vodka, the Shady D at $17 leaning on bourbon and tamarind, and a Bloody Mai for $15 that swaps the usual hot sauce for Hmong hot sauce and fish sauce. A Sticky Rice Old Fashioned for $20 is the most expensive drink on the list, and a trio of $8 specialty shots like Pandan Express gives you a cheap way to sample the flavors.
Logistics are worth knowing before you go. The restaurant is closed on Wednesdays, with brunch running Thursday through Tuesday, cafe hours on Monday and Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday, and dinner from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Reservations are recommended and book in two-month windows, with the second month opening at 10:00 a.m. on the first of each month; there's a $25 per person deposit and tables are held for 10 minutes. The patio, bar, and rail seating are walk-in only, and the patio stays open during regular service hours on a first-come, first-served basis. For groups of seven or more, email info@dianesplacemn.com.
