Coming Soon: Animales BBQ Restaurant

Like a big beef rib, here’s some big beefy news:

Jon Wipfli, of Animales BBQ, has hinted at a new future today with the announcement that he’s taken on a new business partner: Billy Tserenbat of Billy Sushi. 

In a post, Wipfli recounted how he and Billy have been friends since their food trucking days when Wipfli worked at Dandelion Kitchen and Billy ran his Sushi Fix truck in downtown Minneapolis. I’ve heard the story that the first time they actually met, Billy accidentally walked into Jon’s apartment with two sushi chefs and two bottles of Jameson, thinking it was his neighbor’s place. Destiny?

After what has been a crazy year, with food prices and city smoker regulations, Wipfli came to the realization that they needed a more permanent location and year-round traffic to make the business work. Billy bought in as a partner and the new power couple is moving fast on finding a location in either North Loop or Northeast Minneapolis. They have ideas, but are still shopping. 

To be clear, this has nothing to do with sushi-q. “This is just a great move for us,” Wipfli told me on the phone. “We both came up together in this industry and Billy has great drive. He can help me with some operational things that we need to get a year round restaurant up and going. We want to stay in the city, and keep all of our loyal fans well fed. This is the best way to make that happen. It’s going to be great!” For my money? This is an excellent match. 

Both the Animales BBQ trailer and the Animales Burger Co. trailer will stay operational this coming summer, so this new space will be like sauce on a Memphis rib. Bonus. Stay tuned!