Yesterday we published a piece by Pat Borzi about a certain kind of Twin Cities restaurant that he and his wife used to enjoy—and that seems to no longer exist.
"The restaurants are closing!" is a perpetual plaint. But Borzi addresses a larger point: The gap between casual and fancy has grown ever wider, with fewer middle options.
It's a shift you see across U.S. culture today, in nearly every industry. And we could go into all the economic reasons behind this, but that's more thought and work than an Open Thread should require.
Instead, I'm going to ask a simple question: What's a regular restaurant hang of yours that you miss?
I have grown heartless/zen (pick one) about the businesses closing. Bands break up. Restaurants shut down. The great world spins on.
There are easily more good places to eat in the Twin Cities than there were when I first moved here nearly 30 years ago. Still I'll toss out a couple of my own lamented faves: Giorgio's on Hennepin and Taco Morales on 26th near Nicollet.
I was sad to see Giorgio's gone when I moved back to town in 2009. In a Pioneer Press story from a year earlier, the owner cities "the slow economy and rising prices" (same as it ever was) as his reasons for closing.
Taco Morales was a Whittier fave when I first got here, in 1997, back when I wasn't the only one still making fun of calling the nearby thoroughfare "Eat Street." I recall it being a victim of its own success—they fancied up the menu without improving the food.
OK, your turn!
As always, feel free to ignore this post and talk about whatever you want. This is your Open Thread, after all.
