Mall of America officials say that Twin Cities-based Famous Dave's barbecue and a sister restaurant will soon close out their tills for the last time, but the owner of those businesses is saying not so fast.
Mall spokeswoman Sarah Schmidt said the mall has a lease agreement reached in October that calls for a March 1 move-in by two new dining options in that third-floor space, which Famous Dave's shares with the Kokomo Island Cafe. The two had been operating there since 2003.
The new businesses, one of them making their initial entry into the Twin Cities market, will open in late summer, Schmidt said. One of them is new to the Twin Cities market, she added. The identities of these "exciting dining concepts" will be revealed later, she said.
However, franchisee Tim Buffham, who operates the Famous Dave's and the Kokomo Island Cafe with his wife, Pat, said any departure "has not been confirmed. We're in the middle of negotiations with the mall, and there is very little I can say right now."
Schmidt insisted the "lease is signed for those spaces" and the changeover will occur. "That's cut and dry."
The potential closing of Famous Dave's at the mall was met with disappointment at the restaurant's corporate headquarters in Minnetonka.
"With Minneapolis as our hometown, we consider the Mall of America as an iconic location," said Famous Dave's spokesman Richard Pawlowski. "We would be disappointed if Famous Dave's didn't have a presence there."
Last fall, the company suffered a setback when the first Famous Dave's, in Hayward, Wis., was leveled by a devastating fire. That restaurant, still owned by company founder Dave Anderson, has yet to reopen on the site, where it debuted in 1994.
