Palmer’s, legendary Minneapolis dive bar, leaves eclectic legacy
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A Minneapolis West Bank institution closes Sunday after 119 years.
Palmer’s Bar will celebrate its last day with a full lineup of live bands, from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Always eclectic and filled with characters, the bar has faced challenges in recent years — some unique and others mirroring the challenges of dive bars across the state.
Freelance journalist Seth Richardson wrote a requiem for what he calls Minneapolis's “Weirdest and Wonderfullest bar” for the local alt-weekly, Racket.
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He spoke with MPR News host Emily Bright about the watering hole’s legacy. Click on the audio player above to hear their conversation. The transcript below has been edited lightly for clarity and length.
What do you love about Palmer’s?
It’s such an eclectic mix of people, which I love. It’s not a bar that is for a specific group. There’s a very egalitarian feel when you’re in there. It’s this vestige of the old pub scene, where it is the neighborhood bar — people come to this place to see each other. Not to mention the cheap Hamm’s — that doesn’t hurt.
Talk us through the history of the place
It’s got a really interesting history. Founded in 1906, it was owned by the Minneapolis Brewing Co., which is the predecessor to Grain Belt. It survived through Prohibition, with some longstanding rumors that it was a speakeasy.
Supposedly there was a tunnel that went underneath Palmer’s from the basement over to bar called the Five Corner Saloon at the time. There’s some skepticism around that, but it’s a fun little tale. Also there was allegedly a brothel upstairs. Another long standing rumor: They found a corset in the walls when they were remodeling.
It became Palmer’s in 1950, and became what we know it as, in those decades of the ‘60s and ‘70s into the ‘80s — a kind of counter-cultural meeting spot, because the West Bank was full of arts and music venues.
Let’s talk about some of the financial trouble that Palmer’s got into
Yeah, so former owner Tony Zaccardi — I want to be clear, he didn’t respond to any of my requests for comment. I’d welcome him to tell me his side of the story. too. I’d actually really love to hear it. But, you know, his co-owners at the time ended up finding out that hundreds of thousands of dollars were basically missing, right? And that’s a pretty big bind.
The remaining owners, Pat and Sarah Dwyer, they plowed a bunch of money into this place because it means a lot to them, too. They actually had their first date at Palmers back in the ‘80s. And then you have this changing landscape that really makes running a bar like Palmer’s really difficult.
The West Bank neighborhood is also changing, as well as the habits of Gen Z, the youngest drinkers. Did that play a role in the bar’s demise?
Yeah, a huge role. People, just in general, aren’t really going out or drinking as much, and it’s something that. personally, I lament a little bit because, we are losing some of that community space.
Then you also have, as you said, the West Bank is just a changing neighborhood. You have East African immigrants who’ve really kind of made it their home. And I want to be clear that if you talk to anyone in the bar who’s a regular, they will not blame them, but it does present something of a dilemma where you have a primarily Muslim population who doesn’t drink surrounding the bar.
What use does that population have for a bar? Of course, they’re not going to go into it.
Will there ever be another bar like Palmer’s, or is this all-day watering hole destined to be a thing of the past?
I’m not gonna sit here and be like, “Oh, this is the end of the dive bar,” but I don’t think there will be another bar like Palmer’s. It's simply unique.
One of the patrons I talked to said, “Well, it’s not, not a gay bar,” which made me laugh. But that’s the thing about the crowd there — it’s extremely diverse, and it’s this place where everybody kind of came together no matter their background.
Am I going to be able to find another place to hang out? I’m sure. But do I want to? Not really.
