Medcalf: Talk of Twin Cities restaurant closings hits home

When the owners of Revival, the local chain that made a chicken and waffles dish I always enjoyed, announced the closure of their four locations a few days ago, I thought about Tim Niver and others like him.

The first time I visited Saint Dinette with a buddy, Niver seemed more like a new friend than the owner of the restaurant. When he announced he would close his establishment in March, I felt sad, both for him, his staff and the patrons who enjoyed his hands-on approach to the dining experience.

“It hurts,” he told me.

When my brother visited the Twin Cities last weekend with his fiancée, I wanted to show them some of my favorite spots. As I weighed my options, however, I also had a pressing thought: Are any of them still open?

The restaurant business has faced a complicated chapter since the pandemic, which altered consumer behavior and fueled a culture of folks who prefer a $10 delivery charge on a DoorDash and Uber Eats meal over a night on the town. With margins already narrow for the owners of these establishments, the fiscal turbulence of the last five years has created insurmountable challenges for some of them. Also, for some families, perhaps many, dining out is not financially feasible right now. That has to be acknowledged. I’m also in favor of fair wages for all employees and minimum wage laws have impacted labor costs, too. But too often the conversation about the restaurant business becomes political.

The other side of that dialogue is the losses our communities endure when an establishment leaves. The restaurants in the Twin Cities remain among the few hubs where people gather and mingle outside of their comfort zones. They force us to exit our silos and see other communities we might not enjoy otherwise.

“Our industry is in the business of placemaking and creating experiences and emotional connection,” said Angie Whitcomb, president and CEO of Hospitality Minnesota. “When those businesses can’t be sustained, it’s heartbreaking for everyone, for the customers who feel tied to those places, who know the employees, who know the staff; and it’s heartbreaking for the internal family at a restaurant. And that’s really what you have when you work in a restaurant. It becomes a family.”

When Niver closes Saint Dinette in two months — due to the same financial headwinds others in the industry have encountered — I’ll miss it. Not just because of the cheeseburger (the most underrated in the Twin Cities), the fries or the Brussels sprouts. I’ll miss it because I made memories with friends there and and because of my interactions with Niver.

“I think people found a different quality of life [during COVID],” he said. “Many of them are working from home. So when you work from home, going out just feels bigger. But when you’re already out at work or you’re downtown and someone says it’s happy hour, it’s more natural. So it’s a myriad of things. The cost of products that you buy has gone through the roof. You can keep raising prices. Of course, I can raise my prices. It’s very easy to raise my prices. How does that affect people? Who’s going to be able to afford anything, ultimately?”

I’ve lived in the Twin Cities long enough to know that new restaurants will arrive soon. I get that some of this is cyclical. But when I thought about a place to take my brother and his fiancée over the weekend, I realized I often define different pockets of this town by the food hubs I’ve had the privilege to enjoy.

I navigate the nation through restaurants. Just last week on a work trip to Winston-Salem, N.C., I visited a pho spot and spoke with the owner about the unseasonably cold weather that part of the country had experienced in recent days. We laughed about finding ways to get rid of winter.

I don’t know anyone in Winston-Salem other than my work colleagues and a few friends, but I attached a face to the community simply because I wanted some good pho. And you know what? Whenever someone asks me about that city, I’ll tell them about the friendly people there who have a great sense of humor. Based on that one interaction.

That’s not fair, but it is how we judge other communities. And an experience at a restaurant can brighten or ruin a city’s image. That’s the power of restaurants. It’s more than food.

Niver said he’s thinking about his staffers and supporters as he prepares to close his place in Lowertown. Before we got off the phone, however, he reminded me that he’s still open for business.

“We just want it to be smooth and a good ride to the end,” Niver said. “I want [my staff] to feel celebrated for the work that they put in, for the energy towards others, the positive energy and the love towards others that we provide there. It is a personal vibe. It is personal. There’s no separating it with me anyway.”