"I have a restaurant that's empty during the day," Quang Nystrom told CCX Media this summer. Nystrom owns Latuff's Pizzeria at 10820 Highway 55. Mike and Barb Latuff founded it in 1971, and Nystrom and his wife, Kelly Westhoff-Nystrom, took it over in 2024. He decided to fill those empty hours with breakfast. While he worked on the plan, the City of Plymouth tore up the highway in front of his door.
Both projects came out of the same stretch of road. Each one changes who uses this part of Highway 55 and when. The Station 73 TRIP project was designed for people crossing the highway on foot, by bike or by bus. Latuff's now opens at 7:30 a.m. for a breakfast crowd it never served before. If you live near County Road 73, the version of Highway 55 you drove around for two construction seasons is being replaced by a different one.
The detour years at 10820 Highway 55
Construction started Monday, June 16, 2025. The city closed Highway 55 between West Medicine Lake Drive and Revere Lane and sent regional traffic on a detour over I-494, I-394 and Highway 169. It promised that residents and local businesses would keep access. Covering the closure the day before it started, the Star Tribune called it a major summer travel disruption.
Latuff's sat right at the center of it. On July 1, a Sun Sailor photographer shot the work directly in front of the restaurant and noted that its frontage road was untouched and still open. An August 2025 city advisory listed Latuff's among the businesses you reached from Revere Lane and Highway 55. Holiday, Plymouth Liquors, Famous Dave's, Mister Car Wash, Absheron Palace and MNPokePulls were on the same list. Starting Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, the route to Latuff's moved to Revere Lane, 10th Avenue and South Shore Drive, and the Revere Lane and Highway 55 entrance closed. The city's notice said the businesses were still open.
The breakfast project moved forward at the same time. In June 2025, CCX reported that Latuff's was building a 1,000-square-foot addition so it could fit breakfast operations into the building. Plymouth Magazine reported that the merger took a year plus a kitchen remodel before launching in June 2026. That puts the restaurant's biggest change in decades inside the stretch when getting to its parking lot took the most effort.
What reopened on Sept. 15, and what hasn't yet
The city's Sept. 15, 2026 bulletin said the realigned County Road 73 was substantially complete and reopened several connecting roads with it.
| Road segment | Status as of the Sept. 15, 2026 city update |
|---|---|
| County Road 73, realigned | Open to the public |
| Zachary Lane | Open to the public |
| Sunset Trail | Open to the public |
| Frontage road south of Highway 55, west of County Road 73 | Open to the public |
| Old County Road 15 | Closed to through traffic, local and business access maintained |
| South Shore Drive | Closed to through traffic, local and business access maintained |
| 10th Avenue | Closed to through traffic, local and business access maintained |
The city expects the last three to reopen "later this fall." That matters for Latuff's in particular, since South Shore Drive and 10th Avenue have been part of its detour route since last September. As of this writing, the city has not posted a road-status update since Sept. 15. Questions go to the project hotline at 763-251-1010, and the Station 73 TRIP project page has eNotify sign-ups. The full project is scheduled to run through the end of 2026.
What the city actually built, and for whom
The new road layout is the part drivers notice. The reason for the project is the crossing. In the city's description, the old intersection of Highway 55 and County Road 73 had "no direct or safe route" for people on foot or on bikes to get across the highway to parks, regional trails, the Station 73 transit facility and nearby businesses. The project's stated goals include helping "facilitate reinvestment in the area."
The city's list of what's included shows who the project is meant to serve:
- A trail underpass beneath Highway 55
- New bus stops on both eastbound and westbound Highway 55, along with about 3,000 feet of reconstructed highway
- About 1.2 miles of new Eagle Lake Regional Trail, from the Luce Line Trail to 1st Avenue North, plus added sidewalks
- Roundabouts at County Road 73 and Sunset Trail, at South Shore Drive and 10th Avenue, and at Zachary Lane and Sunset Trail
- At Station 73, wayfinding, a bike fix-it station, a charging area for e-bikes and scooters, and a dedicated spot for rideshare and ride-hailing pickups
None of the reopening bulletins we reviewed said whether the underpass or the new trail segment is open yet, so check the project page before you plan a ride around them. Once they open, the corridor connects to the Luce Line by trail. For anyone south of the highway, the bus stops and the Station 73 upgrades make crossing Highway 55 something you can do without a car.
What fills the morning now
The other half of the corridor's change is on a plate. The breakfast at Latuff's is a revival of Pannekoeken Huis, the Dutch breakfast diner that ran in St. Louis Park for 25 years before closing in 2024 over a lease issue. A Latuff's server introduced Nystrom to the former owner of Pannekoeken Huis, Derek Moberg. Nystrom bought the recipes and the name and hired Moberg and his team. Moberg runs the breakfast hours and brought some of his St. Louis Park staff with him.
"We knew keeping the same recipes, the same staff, as much as possible, and yelling 'Pannekoeken!' were important," Nystrom told Plymouth Magazine. He explained the tradition this way: the pancake used to come out of the oven six to eight inches tall, so servers shouted to get people to look before it deflated. The pannekoeken are oven-baked and puffed, and you can get them sweet with fruit and syrup or savory with meats and cheeses. Plymouth Magazine's feature shows the Strawwwwwberries Pannekoeken and the Ham & Mushroom Medley Skillet, with French toast sold a la carte.
The restaurant's website lists these hours:
- Pannekoeken breakfast: Tuesday through Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- Pizzeria: Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Sunday: both menus, 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- Monday: closed
The site also says you can order from both menus at lunch all week. Breakfast takeout is available Tuesday through Friday. Lunch is when the two concepts meet. Nystrom told CCX that midday is the hardest part of running both, because the breakfast crew is wrapping up as the evening crew arrives, and staff on each side are learning a whole new menu. He runs about 40 employees across the two operations.
"It's kind of like having two restaurants in one," he said. The evening side still serves what Plymouth Magazine called the restaurant's signatures back in 2019: pizza, homemade lasagna, veal parmesan, fried chicken and handmade fries.
A fall Saturday that starts on the corridor
Saturday, Oct. 10 is a good test run for the new morning routine.
- Get breakfast at Latuff's when it opens at 7:30 a.m. If you drive in from the north side, use the reopened Zachary Lane and Sunset Trail. Keep in mind that South Shore Drive and 10th Avenue may still be closed to through traffic.
- Head to City Center for Plymouth on Parade, which comes back at 10:30 a.m. after a two-year hiatus. It runs from City Hall, 3400 Plymouth Blvd., to the Plymouth Community Center, 14800 34th Ave. N.
- Grab lunch from the food trucks, which the city says will be selling concessions at the parade. This year's grand marshal is Greg Gibson, former president of the Wayzata Youth Hockey Association.
Later in the month, Halloween at the Lake is set for Friday, Oct. 30, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Parkers Lake Park, 15205 County Road 6. The city lists it as free.
If you've spent the last two construction seasons asking how much longer the cones would last on your stretch of Highway 55, Rathmanner Real Estate Team is keeping track of the corridor as it reopens. If you live near County Road 73 and want to see where your home stands now that the detours are mostly behind you, ask us for a free home valuation.
