Tavern on France

Tavern on France is every picky Minnesota diner’s dream and every chef’s nightmare—a restaurant where virtually the entire menu is customizable from a list of ingredients. Pizza, salad, burgers—have it your way! T on F is a long way from the restaurant it supplanted, the nominally edgy Via, which dared to serve fish in broth and engage in other chefy pretensions. The room has been stripped down, uncarpeted, dechandeliered. What remains is a lot of dark wood, a back-to-basics vibe, and big crowds, at least in the early going. The same good bones are there—the big bar, the friendly service, the outdoor patio. When Via opened, proprietor Anoush Ansari told me he was trying to avoid confusion with all the nearby mall restaurants by coming in a notch above in sophistication. That didn’t fly in supposedly sophisticated Edina, so this time, he’s aiming a notch below. Sophisticates, consider yourself on notice.

6740 France Ave. S., Edina, 952-358-6100