As Minnesota "dials back" and on-premise dining is in the middle of a four-week pause, many Twin Cities restaurants have announced closures. Some are temporary, as restaurant operators wait for spring, indoor dining, a vaccine or all three. Others have shuttered permanently.
The Grand Cafe
3804 Grand Av. S., Mpls.
The longtime restaurant in south Minneapolis' Kingfield neighborhood has ended its second chapter. Established in 2006 at the corner of 38th and Grand by Dan and Mary Hunter, the Grand Cafe was reborn in 2017 under the tutelage of chef Jamie Malone. Malone and her team quickly won national praise for the kitchen's whimsical approach to Parisian classics — including a Paris-Brest pastry filled with chicken liver mousse that landed on the cover of Food and Wine magazine when the Grand Cafe was named a 2018 Restaurant of the Year.
Malone's version of the Grand Cafe served its last dinner Nov. 14.
Handsome Hog
173 Western Av. N., St. Paul
The flagship restaurant from "Top Chef" contestant Justin Sutherland is taking a break. Since indoor dining was halted for a four-week shutdown Nov. 20, running a takeout-only business has been a losing proposition for the Cathedral Hill restaurant, Sutherland said. The restaurant will serve its last takeout meals on Dec. 5.
Town Hall Tap and Town Hall Lanes
4810 Chicago Av., Mpls.; 5019 S. 34th Av., Mpls.
Town Hall announced Nov. 27 that two of its locations, Town Hall Tap and Town Hall Lanes, would close until sometime in 2021. Town Hall Brewery and Town Hall Station remain open.
Able Seedhouse + Brewery
1121 Quincy St. NE., Mpls.
The northeast Minneapolis brewery closed Nov. 21 for 10 weeks "to reconfigure and get ready for the spring."
Granny Donuts
1555 S. Robert St., West St. Paul
A fixture in West St. Paul since 1987, this bakery has been closed since the start of the pandemic. In November, its building was sold to developers.
Just/Us
275 4th St. E., St. Paul
The Lowertown St. Paul restaurant announced Nov. 15 that it had closed "indefinitely." It had only been in this location since the beginning of the year, after moving a few blocks from the original downtown St. Paul location due to disputes with its landlord. "After losing half of our original team of founders in March of 2019, those of that still believed in what just/us could be stuck it out," wrote one of the founders in an Instagram post. "While our belief in just/us remains strong — the sacrifices we've had to make in order to survive COVID have made our vision in this location unattainable."
Falls Landing and Oly's Roadhouse
1223 4th St. S., Cannon Falls
Two residents at Artisan Plaza Food Hall — Oly's Roadhouse and the supper club Falls Landing — will be closed until "at least spring or summer," while Artisan Market remains open for take-and-bake family meals, soup and sandwiches to go.
Sharyn Jackson • 612-673-4853
@SharynJackson
