Chef Hide Tozawa has opened Taizo at 4743 Nicollet Ave. in south Minneapolis, serving Japanese sweets and bites centered on taiyaki—fish-shaped pastries made with rice-flour batter. The menu includes sweet and savory fillings, soft-serve taiyaki cones, and Ishigaki Island-style onigiri rice rolls.
Tozawa is already known on the south side as the chef behind Okome House, according to Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. His previous work includes cooking at Origami and Fuji Ya and helping found Kyatchi. The Star Tribune also listed Taizo’s Minneapolis address in its restaurant openings roundup.
Taizo is next to Nokko, the hand roll and chirashi restaurant Tozawa opened on Nicollet Avenue last fall, according to Mpls.St.Paul Magazine.
A Familiar Food, Reworked
Taiyaki is personal for Tozawa: he recalls eating the hot, fish-shaped treat as a child in Akita, Japan. He also lived in Tokyo for a few years in his late teens and early 20s; the magazine identifies Tokyo as the snack’s birthplace.
The magazine traces taiyaki to 1909, when Tokyo university student Seijiro Kobe adapted imagawayaki, a round pancake snack, using fish-shaped molds. The shop associated with that origin, Naniwaya Souhonten, is reportedly still open in Tokyo.
Red bean paste is the traditional filling, but taiyaki has also been made with sweet fillings such as chocolate and custard. Tozawa’s menu takes the snack in a savory direction as well, the magazine reports.
What’s on Taizo’s Menu
The menu ranges from red bean, Oreo, Nutella, Nutella and banana, and vanilla and chocolate custard taiyaki to savory versions filled with Spam and cheddar, cheese pizza, tuna mayo, or plain cheese, according to Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. The shop also serves taiyaki cones with soft serve.
Mpls.St.Paul Magazine reports that the batter and fillings are gluten-free, with rice flour used in the pastry blend. The report describes this as a feature of Taizo’s full lineup.
Taizo also serves an Ishigaki Island-style onigiri filled with fried items such as tonkatsu pork cutlets or curry croquettes, the magazine reports. That differs from the pressed-rice rolls associated with Tozawa’s Okome House.
Local Context and Gluten-Free Guidance
A May 2000 Nicollet Avenue Task Force report identified 46th and 48th streets as commercial development investment areas along the avenue. The historical plan does not establish the corridor’s current business mix. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says its gluten-free final rule applies to packaged foods and advises restaurants making gluten-free menu claims to be consistent with the agency’s definition. That guidance does not establish Taizo’s kitchen practices.
A Cautious Regional Comparison
Bring Me The News published a January 2025 story about a Mall of America ice cream shop, but the available verification does not establish a like-for-like comparison with Taizo’s taiyaki. Taizo’s reported menu feature is its rice-flour batter and gluten-free lineup.
