Francis: Burgers for All!
Francis’ full menu is vegan, but you’d be forgiven if you couldn’t tell. This place doesn’t dangle its vegan credentials in your face, but rather proves them out day after day in subtle, yet deceptively delicious ways. The menu leads with (plant-based) burgers and fries like any true burger joint but fills in the gaps with other familiar and accessible options. Big dippers will rejoice; when we visited, they were boasting the heaviest sauce assortment we’ve ever seen (17 to be exact).
If you’re not vegan, don’t fret. Flavor is the currency traded here so both omnivores and vegans alike are surely to leave with full stomachs and happy faces. For those looking to partake in finely crafted adult beverages we recommend you bring your thirst. The Francis team partnered with NE business, Earl Giles, to create a custom vegan bar program that holds its own against any other bar menu in town.
Whether you’re hungry or thirsty, if you’re passing by 2422 Central Ave., we recommend making a stop at Francis. Welcome to the neighborhood, Francis!
Inspired by a song by Canadian punk band Propagandhi (which was itself inspired by an escapee pig in the city of Red Deer in 1990), Francis is NE Minneapolis’ first vegan burger bar. Owners Lindsey, Garrett, and Brendan came together in Fall of 2020 to open what was then just a food truck as part of an incubator program at Sociable Cider Werks. Plans for a brick & mortar restaurant were there from the beginning though, and patience paid off when Joe from Sen Yai Sen Lek & Dipped & Debris reached out ahead of a planned Spring 2022 closure of both restaurants. Conversations between parties went well and the empty storefronts would soon be occupied by Francis. After several months of buildout, Central Ave welcomed its newest neighbor in the first days of January.
