When bro-beloved Cowboy Slim's closed in 2012, it left a hole in Uptown the size of a prize steer. The closure made way for the Walkway mixed-use building, now home to Coup d'etat and Agra Culture. But like syphilis in an Old Western brothel, rumors that the 'boys would be back in Uptown burned persistently.
Confirmation of the Cowboy Jack's chain's Uptown return came as its license request was taken up by the Minneapolis City Council this week. According to city documents, the After Midnight Group -- the parent company of the Cowboy Jack's locations and the Cabooze -- has plans for a multi-level bar on the corner of Hennepin and Lagoon avenues.
A first-floor dining area will fill the location last home to the Social House. Above it, the cowboy bar barons (who do their patios proper) are adding second- and third-level rooftop decks with separate enclosed bars. Including the basement kitchen and storage area, the revamped space will total 8,760 square feet, with 147 seats inside and 186 outside.
The After Midnight Group currently has 10 cowboy bars -- eight in Minnesota, plus one in Iowa and another in Virginia.
