After serving up all-day breakfasts, hot commercial sandwiches, pies and other homestyle fare for more than two decades, Keys Cafe inside the Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis is closing. The last day is Nov. 7.
“We have loved Minneapolis and being in such a beautiful historical building,” owner Carol Hunn-Gregory stated on the restaurant’s website in announcing the closure. “It’s been an honor to be part of this iconic space for so many years.”
On Monday, founder Barbara Hunn told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the family sold the restaurant to the building’s owners in February.
Restaurant general manager Chad Shelton said staff was recently notified of the restaurant’s closing date. Shelton said he is not sure what future plans for the space will entail. The Foshay also houses Prohibition Bar, Living Room and W Minneapolis, a Marriott hotel.
“We are just happy that we [didn’t close so abruptly that we] were able to say goodbye gracefully to all of the neighborhood people that have been coming in here,” he said. “We want to say thank you to everyone in the neighborhood.”
With no location in downtown Minneapolis, it’s the end of a Keys era. The bakery and cafe opened in 1993 on Nicollet Mall before moving into the Foshay in 2005.
The Keys concept was founded in 1973, with the original location on Raymond Avenue in St. Paul that is still open today. Hunn’s four children, Carol, Jean, Celine and Roy, continue to operate that and eight Keys restaurants throughout the Twin Cities metro and western Wisconsin. Locations include Roseville, Woodbury, White Bear Lake, Forest Lake and Stillwater, which debuted last year.
