About three weeks into the quiet reopening of Annie's Parlour, the Dinkytown burgers-and-malts institution, Tony Rimarcik was entrenched in the intricacies of ice cream scooping.
"We have a lot of people that have cooked in many kitchens for quite a few years, hamburgers and French fries and salads," said Rimarcik, who co-owns the Minneapolis diner with his brother, Tom. "But somehow, malts are a mystery. Come on guys, you have to put the ice cream in the can. Dig deeper."
Bringing the restaurant back to life after a four-year closure has been fun, Rimarcik said, and "only 15 percent frustrating," he laughed.
The offerings are limited, for now.
Annie's Parlour is open daily from 4 to 8 p.m., officially just for to-go orders of malts. Unofficially, however, some customers are being let into the newly refinished dining room to enjoy their malts ($9.95) — and being given test runs of burgers and fries (from $9.95) as Rimarcik trains a new kitchen staff.
Gradually, the dining room will be open to all, the menu will expand, and so will the hours. And once Annie's is back in full working order, Rimarcik will turn his attention to the next restaurant in the family business that awaits its revival: Convention Grill.
Fans of the beloved Edina eatery can expect it to open much the same way: quietly. "We'll just have to control the crowd, because the interest is overwhelming," Rimarcik said.
Both storied diners closed at the start of the pandemic. The Rimarcik family, then headed by restaurateur and real estate investor John Rimarcik, took the opportunity to put some much needed work into its properties. The Monte Carlo and Runyon's reopened quickly, but Annie's Parlour and Convention Grill needed more significant renovations.
The family had aimed to reopen Annie's Parlour and Convention Grill before the end of 2023, a goal that was complicated by the death of John Rimarcik on Dec. 11. Now, Tony and Tom Rimarcik are seeing their father's wishes through, one diner at a time.
"It feels really good just to have people in there," Tony Rimarcik said, "and feel a little life come back into the place."
Now open: Annie's Parlour, 313 14th Av. SE., Mpls. Coming soon: Convention Grill, 3912 Sunnyside Road, Edina
