Advertisements

this is an old site, is it still active?

I was the owner of the Roaring 20's from 1974 through 1984 when It closed. I worked Brady's bar in 69 and 70 and the cooper squirrel from 71 thur 74. I was in the 20's every night for 10 years. After 84 I went on the lam for 4 years until I was caught in Florida. I went to trial in Minneapolis and received 20 years. I got out in 2000 and am in New York City where I am in business for myself. No Not the bar business! Curt Anderson

Do you have any recollections you could share? Any thoughts or stories on how nightlife changed between the '60s and the '80s. I remember seeing a guy dressed up in a metallic color pants and jacket walking along Hennepin Ave in the mid-70s. Probably just an extreme David Bowie fan, but not the sort of thing a junior high school student from the west suburbs was used to seeing.

Dude, I have to tell you your memory is beyond "addled" as you yourself called it, or perhaps, you were simply misinformed and adopted this story as your own. The facts are as follows: The sucessor to Jay Berine at the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay%27s_Longhorn_Bar"]Longhorn Bar[/URL] was the notorious Hartley Frank. If this really happened, Hartley would have been the "scumbag" seen with the young blonde gentleman. I guarantee that Jay is, and always has been, a ladies man.

I have some stories to tell from the view of the McDonalds at 606 Hennepin (Block E) starting in 1976.

Me (Bob) and my Park Center High School buds (Mike, Gordy & Dan) needed jobs and they hired us on the spot (as I recall McD Corp couldn't run it profitably due to the location and clientele, so they sold it as a franchise to a Mr. Denny Teuful - good guy, stuttered a bit, but a great sense of humor and he appreciated hard work). Anyway, we took the 5E bus (Emerson/Freemont) from Brooklyn Center thru some rough area's early in the morning and late at until we got vehicles of our own. (looking back, we were young and extremely naïve). If we had time to kill before work we'd go up the tall stairs to Rifle Sport (pin ball arcade). Next to that was Brady's pub, Shinders, around the corner to DownTown Bowl. On the other side was the Rand Hotel, Northern Market (someone before mentioned a grocery story but could remember the name), Moby Dicks, Best Steak House, Hollywood Beauty School, Luigi's, and another Shinders.

Hennepin Ave in the 70's was a show! (good and bad) The lunch rush was business people, but dinner and late night was another story. You know the pimp costume you see at Party City? (big furry hat, long fox fur coat, silk shirt, chains, bell bottoms and platform shoes) Well, that was normal attire for a real pimp. We used to laugh under our breathe. Sometimes they would have a huge boombox on their shoulder and 'strut' (literally. I think they practiced it) up and down the streets. My first day on the job working dinning room I was propositioned by drug dealers. Homeless drunks would fall asleep and wet themselves, we'd escort them out onto the side walk and wait for the detox truck to pick them up. On welfare check day (back when you had to make an effort to physically pick up your free money) the old and vulnerable would sometimes get beat up or pick pocketed right in line. We saw it happen. One time my friend Gordie witnessed two women fleece an old man in line so he and another employee (Kropper?) followed them out of the store and confronted them on the side walk where they felt the weight of the bricks they had in their purses. The sad end to this story is that the night manager (Dave) was coming into work and saw two McD's employee's tangling with these women and not knowing why but trying to break it up he held Gordie's arms back giving the woman a free shot to his seeds (if you know what I mean). The women ran off and that was that.
I mentioned the Rand Hotel was next door. I remember opening Sunday morning when an old man came in and ordered a coffee and sat at a table along the end wall with a long plastic yellow bench (had a dip between the seat and back). On the other end of this long bench a woman was going to sit but came to the counter to ask if I could send someone out to wipe up some ketchup. I went out and found that it wasn't ketchup but blood coming from the old man sitting at the other end running 10 feet down the seat dip I mentioned. I approached him if and asked if he was alright, and he said that some guy stabbed him in the stairwell of the Rand Hotel (where I presume he was staying) and took his wallet (he only had enough change for coffee). I called 911 and I don't know what happened after that.
I recall a night when managers Don and Vern tangled with a customer after he was asked to leave the store (likely selling drugs or prostitution) they ended up wresting him out of the store only to find that Vern had been stabbed in the process. Vern got some stitches and returned to work by close. (Vern had a sweet Cherry Red Gibson Les Paul)


Saturday night was always exciting. Hookers, pimps, dealers, pick pockets, thugs and punks just looking for trouble. Oh, and then there was the 'Roller Skate Rush'. After the roller rink closed a flood of 10-13 yr old punk a$$ kids would flood into McD's before they caught their next bus home. They would rudely bark out their orders creating chaos and leave behind a huge mess. After that was spill over from Moby Dick's.
But I think the saddest thing I ever witnessed was when a teenage girl, maybe 12 or 13 (presumed runaway) came in with a packpack (it was common for runaways to get off the Grey Hound bus and go a place they recognized and felt safe - McDonald's right?). This girl sat alone staring out the window crying at times and looking like she had no idea where she was going next. A few hours later this 'pimp dressed guy' comes in and sits down, spies her, strikes up a conversation, sits with her, and they leave together. The movie Taxi Driver comes to mind. Who knows whatever happened to her.

Well, I have a ton of these stories. I don't know if anyone will ever read them or be interested. Sadly, two of my friends Gordy and Mike have past away. I still work downtown and every time I walk across the skyway from Mayo Clinic (formerly block E) to City Center I can't help but remember the time I spent on block e back in the day.


P.S. Denny eventually sold the store and held a going away party for anyone who ever worked there giving out t-shirts that read 'I Survived 606 Hennepin'. I still have mine and all my memories.

I'll check this blog from time to time to see if any '606 survivors' check in and share their experiences.

Oh, and watch out for that Wanderer's Punch at the Nankin, they'll sneak up on you!

I had two aunts who worked downtown - one for the IRS and the other in the Lumber Exchange. You should have seen the way they dressed to go to work. They wore hats, gloves, the whole nine yards. That was expected attire downtown back then.


After work they'd cocktail at Murray's where one of them met her husband. (She told the family she'd met him in church. Hah.) Gosh, those aunts were high-steppers! We ate at all the good supper clubs. Anyone remember the Black Angus?


My husband and I honeymooned at the Northstar Hotel in 1967. Their package included two night's stay, a meal in the Rosewood Room with a waiter in attendance at your table, breakfast in bed, fruit basket and pink champagne delivered to the room, a pink peignoir and Sunday breakfast in their café. The total was a little over a hundred dollars. We took a late night stroll downtown with little fear of problems.


As a kid I loved seeing the seedier, forbidden side of life and a drive down Washington Avenue held surprises. But after the Vietnam War was over and we returned to MN things had changed and our interests turned to the parks, museums and safer environs. I wouldn't consider going downtown at night anymore.


Citizens of Minneapolis, never fear. Your City Council has recently okayed public spitting and loitering so it's a step on the way back to gritty. Guess no one remembers the reason why spitting was frowned upon.


All the working girls and drugs in a city like Minneapolis shouldn't come as a surprise. It's the same reason the spitting rule has been reversed - Minnesota Nice. Don't want to make anyone feel they can't feel at home. Even if it's a health issue.


I remember another bar that I think no one mentioned - Augie's. Last year I read an interesting book about it called Augie's Secrets: The Minnesota Mob and the King of the Hennepin Strip.

Edited to add: I also remember the live turtles in the Nankin, salmonella be damned.

I grew up in Minneapolis (graduated from Washburn HS in 1973) but went into the Air Force and have never managed to live in my home town since. During my childhood, there were three "premier" restaurants in Minneapolis: Charlie's Cafe Exceptionale, Harry's Cafe, and Murray's.

I only went to Charlie's Cafe once (a lunch to celebrate my college graduation). My parents loved fine dining, but I think the occasional French on Charlie's menu intimidated them. But they wanted me to be able to say that I'd been there at least once. A very elegant place with a winding stairway in the entryway. The fountain out front had a nude sculpture entitled "Scherzo," which had originally been placed in the courtyard of the Foshay Tower. (The nurses from a local nursing college held their graduation banquet at Charlie's every year, and decorated "Scherzo" with a nurse's uniform and cap.) The nude statue caused quite an outcry from local churches when the building was first constructed. It was torn down to make way for a hotel. Charlie's widow sold because she wanted to retire, and didn't want the restaurant to be taken over by some who wouldn't maintain her exacting standards (and the service and food WERE truly exceptional).

I would go to Harry's Cafe (74 S. 11th Street) as a child with my mother and her girlfriends for lunch; they were dressed in crinoline skirts, hats, and gloves. I'd describe Harry's as "swank." The ground floor had wood-paneled bars on either side of a central hallway. There was an elevator up to the second and third floors. The second floor was "modern" with white-painted brick walls, brightly colored Naugahyde upholstered chairs, fake "windows" (lighted to appear that they were actual windows to the outside), and little round white pendant lights. The third floor was decorated in typical chop-house style; leather booths, dark wood, crystal chandeliers, and deep red walls. All the women would have their Manhattans and gimlets, of course, and I had my Shirley Temple (ginger ale and Maraschino cherry juice). Those were the days! It was gutted by fire on January 8, 1978, and was never rebuilt.

Murray's is still there; go see for yourself and make some memories of your own. Bring your VISA platinum--but it'll probably be the best steak you'll ever eat in your life.

I know this is an old thread, but it brought back so many great memories! My husband & I both worked in DT Mpls in the late 70's to late 80's. Funny, I was just trying to remember the name of the comic book store on Hennepin, the other day & came across this thread today, yup, it was Shinders.

I remember taking in movies at the Skyway, Theater when we'd 'sneak' away from work & I remember the arcade & the Nankin, though hubby is telling me I remember the Nankin when it moved into City Center. I used to go to Shinders every now & then & the guys at work would go to Cafe DiNapoli & Moby Dick's sometimes. We all worked in corporate America in central downtown. Our stomping ground were more along the lines of 9th Street Saloon & I remember a bar called Felty's in the warehouse district, on 1st Ave N if I remember right & I def remember seeing ladies of the evening outside their windows late at night, even though Felty's was a nice place. I also used to go to the Northern Lights record store across from Block E on Hennepin, all the time.

Mpls had it's notorious areas, but it was never really seedy or scary that I remember. Even as a young woman going to the Block E area, I was never scared. Had my wits about me, but never truly fearful.

Now, maybe someone can help me remember a bar on around 5th or 6th, between I want to say Hennepin & Nicollet. It had a classic car front end or rear end, sticking out of the face of the building. It was probably mid to late 80's & had a small dance floor & a retro 1950s feel. Black & white squares, classic car motif & I remember meeting Scott Ledoux there one night, handing out autographed pics to everyone. Hubby & I have been trying to remember the name of the place for the last 2 hours now. Anyone??

Thanks for the memories!

I'm pretty sure that was Jukebox Saturday Night, where Sneaky Pete's and Dreamgirls are now.

Yup, that was it! Thank you so much! I knew someone would remember.