Rachel's, the old-school restaurant and bar in the Old St. Anthony commercial district -- just across the Mississippi River from downtown Minneapolis -- is calling it quits after Saturday's dinner service.
Owner John Rimarcik isn't ending his involvement with the property, however. He's planning a remake of the space.
"I have no idea what it's going to be, whatsoever," he said. "But it's going to be a complete renovation. Not a pot or a pan is going to be saved."
Five-year-old Rachel's is one of seven properties operated by Rimarcik's Masters Restaurant Associates, which also runs the Monte Carlo and Runyon's in the North Loop, the Convention Grill in Edina, Annie's Parlour and the Kitty Cat Klub in Dinkytown and Pracna on Main, which is located a short walk from Rachel's.
Rimarcik said that the restaurant's staff has been reassigned to other Masters restaurants.
Rachel's, which specializes in simple, all-American fare – corned beef hash, shrimp cocktail, a steak sandwich, a dozen different burgers -- has been a quiet neighborhood haunt from the get-go, a place "where people in their fifties and sixties could sit down, have something to eat and hear one another," said Rimarcik.
Diners with long memories will remember the handsome building, which began its long life as a funeral home, as the influential Bobino.
Its small-scale dining room and cozy bar rank as some of the Twin Cities' most charming eating-and-drinking venues. Ditto the adjacent patio.
"I have a lot of love for the place," said Rimarcik. (That's obvious. He just renewed the lease for another 15 years). "It's a fantastic location. It's just that nobody goes and sits for a few hours any more. The younger demographic wants a little bite and a cocktail."
The remake – Rimarcik doesn't have a name yet, either – will reappear in early 2017.
