A new restaurant is coming to the former Victory 44 site

2201/2203 44th Ave. N will soon be home to a ramen restaurant. Photo by Kenzie O'Keefe

By Cirien Saadeh | Staff Reporter

In the latest print issue of North News, we reported that a new tenant is planning to move into the former Victory 44 restaurant (2201/2203 44th Ave. N). We can now confirm that the new tenant will be Jason Dorweiler, chef and owner of St. Paul’s Tori Ramen. He plans to open a similar restaurant in the new space. 

“We’re excited to produce a product that is completely house-made and to bring ourselves to North Minneapolis,” said Dorweiler.

According to Dorweiler, the new restaurant will be “full service, most likely,” and upscale in a similar manner to Victory 44. It is slated to open in two months. Half the space is planned to be used for the restaurant and the other half of the space will be used for noodle production. Dorweiler also noted that he is looking for local suppliers — including for deer meat — but is not sure how local he wants to go or can go. He also intends to hire locally, but it won’t be a requirement.

“The neighborhood was already a big fan of Victory 44. We want to keep that going,” said Dorweiler, who lives in South Minneapolis.

According to Katie Fitzpatrick, administrator for the Victory Neighborhood Association (VNA), Dorweiler recently signed his lease on the building. VNA met with Dorweiler on Monday to discuss business support available to him through VNA.

“We’re absolutely excited to have someone. What I gathered from him was he really wanted to be a place for community and a place that meets community needs,” said Fitzpatrick.

News of the new tenant may be a surprise for some residents of Victory neighborhood. Victory 44 had closed in July and while a number of chefs, including Chef Eric Austin (“Chef E”) had expressed interest in the space, it has remained vacant since.

“I am thrilled to hear that the space will be used by a restaurant. Good for the community (I hope!) and good for business,” said Kris Brogan, a Camden resident, former Camden restaurant owner, and development professional.

Victory and Webber-Camden have seen several new amenities open up over the last two years, including Corner Coffee Camden (4155 N Thomas Ave), North Market (4414 N Humboldt Ave), Webber Park Library (4440 N Humboldt Ave), and Webber Natural Swimming Pool (4330 Webber Parkway).