It’s early on Saturday night, exactly one day after construction officially ended along Hennepin Avenue, and a steady stream of customers fill tables at Rinata Restaurant.

The stalwart Uptown restaurant survived the challenges of the recent reconstruction of Hennepin Avenue, but its owners faced a more difficult challenge this past year.

Rinata founder Amor Hantous died suddenly in October 2024. That left his son Yassine, who goes by Sino, daughter Sarah, and business partner Scott Butters to decide the restaurant’s future.

Amor immigrated to the U.S. from Tunisia in 1978 moved to Minneapolis in 1986. He opened Rinata in 2008 with former Twin Cities restaurateur Jon Hunt. Butters, the restaurant’s first bartender, became co-owner in 2016 after Hunt left the business.

Amor’s vision for the restaurant, expressed in the words on Rinata’s sign un pezzo d’italia (a piece of Italy), means all food served is made in-house and fresh, including the pasta. For Amor, it also meant finding the right spot for the food.

“I think the neighborhood really spoke to him,” Sino said about his father’s decision to take over the old Georgio’s spot at 25th Street and Hennepin Avenue.  Sino said his father loved the “cool, diverse community here in Uptown.”

Sino, who now manages the restaurant’s daily operation, said his father used a simple business recipe at Rinata: add love for family and people with good food.

“Everybody can relate to somebody bringing you a plate of warm food and that being a big hug, showing a lot of emotion or love through cooking,” said Sino, who started working there in high school.

Sino credits his father’s recipe for stirring up the “love from the neighborhood” and other loyal customers that helped Rinata navigate the “ups and downs” of COVID-19 and road construction.

“We’re super lucky to have that. That’s really what’s kept us here is this community,” Sino said.

It was not always easy to get to the restaurant with customers having to “go over and around some obstacles,” Sino said.

The restaurant has a small but loyal staff, including its cook who’s been there for 15 years.

“Everybody here, I think, is treated like family and enjoys working here,” Sino said.

Hennepin Avenue’s new design is not a perfect fit for the restaurant, given the loss of some street parking and any potential sidewalk, café-style seating.

“In the world of Door Dash, third-party apps, I think that makes [the loss of parking] challenging in the world of takeout,” he said. A bus shelter for the Metro Transit’s new E Line was built right outside the restaurant.  

A new two-way bike path that runs next to the sidewalk also concerns Sino, who worries his customers might inadvertently wander onto it.

“We’ll probably have a sign out there [for bikers] to ‘Watch out for pasta eaters,’” he said. “We’ll keep a first-aid kit around in case there are – hopefully not – any issues there.”

Those concerns, however, can’t outweigh the relief coming with the construction’s end. “It’s great to see how excited people are. We’re excited for our next chapter. I feel lucky for my sister and I to be here and to try to continue the legacy,” Sino said. “Dad is looking down pleased.”

Rinata Restaurant is located at 2451 Hennepin Ave. S. and is open Tuesday through Saturday starting at 4:30 p.m.