If you have lived in Edina for more than a few years, you have watched the 50th & France dining map redraw itself in real time. This summer is the pivot point. The neighborhood is halfway through a swap that started with Lynhall giving way to a French brasserie and finishes, roughly, when a rooftop conservatory opens above the old Cocina del Barrio next fall. In between is a season that rewards residents who know where to look.
Here is the claim worth holding as you plan the next twelve weeks: the free calendar at Centennial Lakes and Nolan Mains is doing more work than usual this summer, because the restaurant scene it sits inside is still under construction. The upside for anyone who already lives here is a rare window when the programming is at full strength and the new rooms are still opening one by one.
The 50th & France map is mid-flip
The most visible change is the arrival of chef-driven concepts in spaces that used to house casual neighborhood standbys. Thérèse, an upscale French brasserie from Daniel del Prado, opened in the former Lynhall space at 3945 Market St. within the Nolan Mains development, and this is its first full summer of weekend brunch service. Hours run brunch Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., lunch weekdays 11 to 4, and dinner daily from 5 to 9 p.m.
A few doors south, the shift continues. General Sports Bar, a new concept from the team behind Nolo's, is set to open this summer inside the former Salut restaurant space at 5034 France Ave., with more than 25 televisions. And the biggest project of the three is still under construction. By fall 2026, Americana will replace Cocina del Barrio at 5036 France Ave. and will feature a glass-enclosed rooftop patio and redesign by Christian Dean Architecture, with Barrio owner Ryan Burnet teamed with Daniel del Prado on the project.
The scale of that renovation is worth understanding if you walk this block daily. The plan at 5036 France Ave. is to create an addition on the second floor, adding a gabled glass conservatory, at a total project cost of roughly $3.2 million, with a forgivable SPARC loan of $200,000 primarily supporting a new elevator lift and energy-efficient glass walls on the second floor.
Here is how the block reads right now versus where it lands by year end:
| Address | Was | Now / Next |
|---|---|---|
| 3945 Market St. | Lynhall | Thérèse, open |
| 5034 France Ave. S. | Salut Bar Americain | General Sports Bar, summer 2026 |
| 5036 France Ave. S. | Cocina del Barrio | Americana, fall 2026 |
One practical footnote for residents who already know the parking ramps by heart. A city ordinance requires Americana to add 14 off-street parking spaces to ensure there's enough room in the public parking ramps for all businesses at 50th & France. If you have wondered why the second-floor build is taking the time it is, that is part of the answer.
Southdale is doing its own rebuild
The France Avenue story does not stop at 50th. Southdale Center is in the middle of what the mall is calling a "multimillion-dollar transformation," and several of the pieces have landed in the last ninety days.
- Princess Polly is opening its first Minnesota location at Southdale, LIDS is joining the tenant list this year, and Tommy Bahama opened in May 2026.
- Laderach Chocolatier Suisse is opening later this year, next to Pandora.
- Smithson, a steakhouse from Sharon and Randy Stanley of Baldamar and 6Smith, plans to open at Southdale Center in fall 2026 with 200 seats, both mall connectivity and a separate exterior entrance, and a menu that includes formal steakhouse fare alongside casual burgers and sandwiches.
Read the Smithson plans against the Americana plans and the through-line is clear. Both projects are engineered to draw evening traffic from outside their host property, with separate street-facing entries and dinner formats meant to compete with independent restaurants rather than mall-food peers.
Meanwhile at 6815 York Ave., across from Cub Foods, JJ's Poke is doubling its restaurant space through a SPARC-supported expansion, with owner Wenbin Henry Wu adding new ADA restrooms, gas lines, HVAC, and complementing the existing poke menu with soups and noodles suited to Minnesota winters. If you have only ever grabbed a takeout bowl there, the room is about to look very different.
The summer calendar is unusually loaded
While the restaurants finish, the parks are running a full slate. Free concerts and kids' entertainment are held at the Maetzold Amphitheater June through August, with family-friendly performances at 7 p.m. Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays, and children's entertainment at 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. The full season runs June 1 through August 30, 2026, and all concerts are free and open to all ages.
Weeknight standing plans
- Thursdays, 3 to 7 p.m. Farmers Market at Centennial Lakes Park.
- Tuesdays in June, 5:30 p.m. The Rotary Clubs of Edina and Edina-Morningside present Grooves and Foods at the Maetzold Amphitheater, produced by Mick Sterling and Wayne Anthony, featuring tributes to Billy Joel, the Doobie Brothers, Van Morrison and Steve Miller Band, with a live radio show at 5:30 p.m. and Camion Mobile Kitchen serving food and beverages from 5 to 8 p.m.
- Friday evenings. Nolan Mains Plaza is running a summer concert series with The Teardowns on June 12, Thomasina Petrus on June 19, and Dilly Dally Alley on June 26, all at 5:30 p.m.
Weekend anchors
- June 19, noon to 4 p.m. Edina's 2026 Annual Juneteenth Celebration at Centennial Lakes Park.
- Second Sunday of June. Parade of Boats at Centennial Lakes Park, hosted by the Edina Model Yacht Club, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- July 4. The 4th of July Parade begins at 10 a.m. behind Edina City Hall and proceeds east on West 50th Street to downtown Edina, with fireworks typically at 10 p.m. at Rosland Park.
- Second Sunday in August, at sundown. Torchlight Concert at Centennial Lakes Park.
- Second weekend in September. Fall into the Arts Festival, organized by the Edina Chamber of Commerce and Explore Edina in support of the Edina Crime Prevention Fund, held at Centennial Lakes Park.
A quiet piece worth noting for locals who care about the boat pond. The Edina Model Yacht Club hosts an annual Parade of Boats in June, glowing lighthouse nights, and races into the fall. The lighthouse nights in particular are one of the more atmospheric evenings on the whole calendar, and they run past the concert series into the shoulder season.
What to watch for as summer turns
Two ribbon-cuttings frame the second half of the season. One is civic: a June 25 Ribbon-Cutting to Celebrate Completion of the Vernon Avenue and Highway 100 Interchange Project at the Grandview Parking Ramp, 5101 Vernon Ave. The other is culinary and still months out. When Americana's rooftop conservatory finally lights up next to the France Avenue ramps, and Smithson opens its exterior entrance at Southdale, the France corridor will look and eat differently than it did last summer.
Between now and then, use the free programming. The Tuesday-night tributes at Maetzold, the Friday Nolan Mains sets, the Thursday farmers market and the Parade of Boats are the connective tissue while the restaurant map redraws itself.
If you are thinking about how these shifts read for your own block, or curious what a chef-driven 50th & France means for the homes closest to it, the team at Regan & Hornig is happy to talk it through. Schedule your private consultation and we will meet you where you live.