Legendary Minnesota Bar Announces Its Closing After 119 Years

A Minnesota bar known for its live music history announced this week it will be closing after more than 100 years in business.

Palmer's Bar, located at 500 Cedar Avenue on the West Bank in Minneapolis, revealed in a social media post Wednesday night that its final day of operation will be Sunday, September 14. The bar has been open since 

"This has been an incredibly difficult but necessary decision and we are devastated to do so," the post reads. "Thank you so very much to everyone that has been keeping this bar alive since 1906, especially our very faithful regulars, and the incredibly talented musicians that have played our stages over the years. 

"Above all else, our staff - who make the place so special and who really are the best in the business. We wouldn’t have made it this far without you all."

The iconic dive bar, which was hosted its share of prominent musicians along with countless local acts over its 119 years, said it will remain open regular hours until closure, promising a "jam-packed calendar" of events and performers to send the bar off in proper fashion.

"Please join us in saying goodbye to a West Bank institution, raise a glass to all the good times and great people, and make it a last summer to remember here at Palmer’s Bar," ownership concluded.

Back in 2014, the publication Esquire included Palmer's on its list of "The Best Bars in America," ranking it 10th.

"There are dives and dives in this world," Esquire explained. "There's the type Guy Fieri calls out, old joints that might not feel like they need to get their hair done before seeing company but are nonetheless fundamentally clean and comfortable and unchallenging. Then there's Palmer's.

"Consider, for example, the "Wall of Shame" behind the bar: 30 or 40 slips of paper tacked to a bulletin board, all saying things like "Jose 'Joe' 86'd for being a fool," or "86'd … gutter punk for showing me his dick when he was cut off." Or the clientele, which does not exclude street people and the sort of untidy old men and women who drink bottom-shelf blended whiskey and make M.B.A.'s shudder. The urinal is a trough. There are punks at the tables and there's punk art on the wall. The drinks are cheap (make sure to get a beer back with your shots, which are poured double), and the garden pleasant, at least in those three months of the year when you can stand to be outdoors in central Minnesota."