Lights Out For 2 Downtown Minneapolis Restaurants
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Two popular downtown Minneapolis restaurants close near the Twins stadium, but will soon have new life.
The Refuge Bar and Grill and Rosen's Bar and Grill have been the favorites for the past 20 years. However, the owner says he feels it is the right time to move on.
Mike Jennings sold the space to the owners of Brother's. Jennings said trying to keep up with the
demands of young people became too much.
According to Grant Wilson, Minneapolis' deputy director of licenses, the owners of Brother's have been approved to expand into the space that was the refuge.
Rosen's and the area that used to house District Bar and Grill will become a new sports bar called Jack's Joynt.
Jennings admits downtown baseball helped his business, but he still did not make as much money as he did in the past.
Other business owners said rising rent and parking issues hurt business. Two-way traffic on First Avenue, they said, was also a contributor in the decline of business.
Tim Mahoney owns the Loon Café and says the changing of the guard will be good for the warehouse district. He says there is a new energy coming from the corner and it is something he hopes will continue to help this area grow.
