Tavern on Grand wasn't even a year old when its founder, David Wildmo, leaned on his St. Paul connections to get a plate of the restaurant's grilled walleye in front of Mikhail Gorbachev.
The Soviet leader was in Minnesota in 1990 for a state luncheon at the governor's residence, and when Wildmo learned that Wisconsin walleye was on the menu, he intervened.
"David twisted some arms pretty hard to make that happen," said Eric LeMay, Wildmo's stepson and a current owner of Tavern on Grand. "And ever since then, it's just kind of grown from there."
The legend of the Gorbachev lunch will live on, but Tavern on Grand will serve its last walleye this spring. The North Woods cabin-themed Grand Avenue restaurant, famous for its many preparations of Minnesota's state fish, will close in early June, the owners told the Star Tribune.
The decision to close is "multifaceted," LeMay said.
The end of a lease, a slowdown in business since COVID, steep price increases, a dip in foot traffic on Grand Avenue, and personal transitions for the family members who own the restaurant all were considerations.
"I think we'd rather leave on a high note and be happy and thankful rather than trying to take another shot and potentially turning it into a grind," LeMay said. "It just feels like even though it hurts, that this is the right time."
Over nearly 35 years, the St. Paul institution has cultivated a core of regular customers with near-fanatical devotion to its main dish. The Tavern on Grand serves some 15 tons of walleye a year, and claims to sell more than any other restaurant in the world. "That's a monumental legacy," said former Star Tribune restaurant critic Rick Nelson.
The fish used to come from Red Lake, before the state banned commercial walleye fishing. It now comes from Canada. It's served grilled, fried or blackened; in cakes, spring rolls or tacos; on pasta, in a BLT or on a Caesar salad; and more.
Lent, said LeMay, "is our Super Bowl."
An avenue in flux
The loss of the Tavern is the latest bruise to Grand Avenue's retail scene. Beset by a decline in foot traffic since COVID, the prominent shopping street has lost several national retailers, most recently Anthropologie and Pottery Barn. The vacant storefronts, in turn, deter pedestrians, business owners say.
"It's very empty over here," said Damla Erten, vice president of Sencha Tea Bar, which has a location on the western stretch of Grand Avenue. "When people from outside the neighborhood and community come visit, they feel the energy. And for a long time, it felt like that energy hasn't been there." As a board member of the Grand Avenue Business Association, Erten is working on solutions to fill the avenue's vacancies.
Earlier this month, the restaurant Salut Bar Americain closed after 15 years, at the end of its lease. The reasoning included, but wasn't limited to, the health of retail on Grand Avenue, said Donna Fahs, COO of Parasole Restaurant Holdings, which operated Salut.
"In the long run, we thought, we don't know if we could really get behind another 10- or 15-year stint on Grand Avenue," she said.
But some restaurant owners, like Luke Shimp, are "bullish" on the avenue, even as they've noticed changes. Shimp opened Red Rabbit there in 2018, and has seen steady growth in his customer base as high-density apartments have been developed nearby.
"I think Grand Avenue is going through a transformation and kind of a reset to redetermine who and what Grand Avenue is," he said. "It needs it. It's been in flux for a period of time, and it seems like it doesn't have the personality down like it used to."
Opposite Tavern on Grand, another legacy restaurant returned after a nearly two-year pause. Saji-Ya, which opened in 1979, closed in 2021 when the landlord redeveloped the site into apartments and retail. Both Saji-Ya and its sister restaurant, Emmett's Public House, reopened last fall.
"I've been confident all along," said Saji-Ya general manager Pat Kallemeyn. "Short term, if something closes, then those people will find another place to eat. Long term, that is concerning if businesses are leaving the avenue. But it's full steam ahead on our side. We're here, we're open, we love the community."
'It just doesn't feel the same'
The Tavern on Grand family has noted a marked change in the district, one they say leaves their brand of homey comfort behind.
"When the Tavern was established, it was a huge walking street," LeMay said. "Friday, Saturday nights, if you were walking around, the sidewalks were packed."
Today, "It just feels a little more sterile," said Tara Padilla, LeMay's sister and co-owner. "It just doesn't feel the same."
But it took more than those external forces to close this chapter for the family. One important factor was extremely personal. "Losing mom," Padilla said.
Wildmo founded both the Tavern and the Glockenspiel. When he died suddenly in 2001, his wife, Mary, a retired nurse, kept the Tavern going but eventually sold the Glockenspiel. Her children, LeMay, Padilla and Ashley LeMay, all came into the business at various points, as did her widower, Daniel Ryan.
"She had no background running two restaurants," said Ashley LeMay. "It was a rough road. It was a blessing and a curse, very hard in the beginning and then over time, her love for it grew."
Mary "was the heart" of the Tavern, Ryan said. She became ill last winter, and over three weeks of hospice care, taught her children the intricacies of the business. She died Jan. 15, 2023, at the age of 69.
"I'm so thankful that we had that time with her and that she was able to power through that, because she wouldn't have wanted us to go through it the same way that she did," Padilla said.
With many longtime customers and employees feeling like extended family, the owners say the closing is "bittersweet," Eric LeMay said. "We're going to have great relationships with some of these people the rest of our lives. Looking back on the last three and a half decades, I feel love and warmth and gratitude for that, but it's sad to see it go."
There will be a long Minnesota goodbye. They aim to close the Tavern the first week of June, sometime after Grand Old Day, which will be held June 2.
"Let's let this be a party, let this be a celebration, and have this be a really awesome send-off," Padilla said.
And they've hinted that nothing is final when it comes to their famous walleye.
"The name and the recipe book will stay with the family," Ryan said, "cause you never know."
Tavern on Grand, 656 Grand Av., St. Paul, 651-228-9030, thetavernongrand.com
