I've only been to Red Dragon a couple times as an adult, but as a baby? I was a regular.
That's because my aunt Maggie Graham (née Boller) worked at the south Minneapolis drinking institution from 1981 to 1995, at first as a sever and later as a bartender. The Dragon—which'll sadly close for good December 29 after 49 years at 2116 Lyndale Ave.—became a frequent hangout for my large and loud Catholic family throughout Maggie's tenure.
Maggie joined the online mourners last week when news hit of Red Dragon's closure, which was reportedly brought on by a rough pandemic, profit-syphoning delivery apps, and increased competition along Lyndale Avenue, according to longtime employee Tony Wong. (Tony's dad, Lai Wong, opened Red Dragon and his uncle, Phil Wong, owns it now.)
When old businesses close, hack writers lean heavily on crutch words like "beloved" and "iconic," but in the case of Red Dragon those descriptors really do fit—throw in "infamous" when it comes to cocktail strength. That's why I got Maggie on the phone earlier this week to tap into her 14 years of Red Dragon knowledge, memories, and lore. I also cold-asked any yahoo online for stories, 10 of whom delivered doozies you can read below.
First, let's hear from my aunt!
On getting hired at Red Dragon...
I first became aware of the Dragon when I walked by it on Lyndale Avenue, and thought: Well, I need a job, I'll just walk in here and see if they need some help. So random, Jay, just completely random. Ya know, at the time it was just a little family restaurant. Lai Wong came from the Nankin Cafe in downtown, he was one of their head chefs, and he literally stole every food and drink recipe for the Red Dragon. [Laughs.] One of the gals who worked there at the time said, "What you wanna do?" I said I know how to serve, and she said come back tomorrow.
On what the place was like in 1981...
It was much more of a neighborhood bar. We had Jerry the Mailman, Goatface, Donnie the Bookie—it literally was a neighborhood joint everyone came for happy hour, got just hammered, and staggered home. It was awesome! Back then nobody had a care in the world, ya know? Everyone lived within a couple blocks and nobody gave a shit. Drink what ya want, have fun, see ya tomorrow.
On the food...
The food was awesome, I can't even tell you how good it was. Lai Wong did such a great job. We would save cherry juice from the bar to make the sweet 'n' sour sauce; the hot mustard was the hottest shit you've ever had, clear your sinuses out. Even the slop chow mein? That was delicious. It was the stuff my dad loved. Grandpa loved the chow mein and egg foo young, that was kind of his era. I was more of the curry chicken, beef 'n' broccoli, pepper steak. Just tons of great food. Do you remember pu pu platters from when we'd have big family lunches there? It was an appetizer tray, and it had a flaming Sterno grill in the middle that you'd put your teriyaki beef. Everyone could smell the teriyaki beef cooking, and then they'd order it. A lot of fun for kids, it was a hit.
On the changing vibes...
It got written up in the City Pages in, I think, the late '90s as the place to go, and it took off like wildfire with twentysomethings. Everyone came, drank Wondrous Punches, and got all fucked up. It became more of a party bar.
On cherished Red Dragon memories...
There's a bunch of things. Lai Wong, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, would always serve a free turkey dinner to everyone in the neighborhood. Whoever needed a turkey dinner, he'd provide that for 'em. It was really sweet. Janette, one of my best friends, got married there. Somebody brought her a live chicken as a gift, so there was this chicken flying around the Red Dragon as she was getting married. It was like, "What the hell?!" [Laughs.] One of the bartenders, Mary, she loved Billie Holiday and we had her funeral there. It was really a family-orientated, friendship-based place. A lotta love going on in that place.
On what it was like hearing the closing news...
I was sad, because you always want some places to survive. I met some of my best friends there. My hairdresser Joey, who I met there, texted me: "The Red Dragon is closing!!!" It's amazing they lasted almost 50 years in that location. That was life for me for 15 years. Yeah, you feel sad. I love the Wong family, they're great people. What a lovely family. You're sad to see it go, but happy you had the chance to be there. Kinda like Cheers, right? It was! Everybody knew your name, it was the neighborhood bar.
Thank you, Aunt Maggie. Love ya. Alright, what do you got, internet peanut gallery?
From Scott Shaffer...
I can't remember what year this was but it had to be sometime in the late 2000s. I was drinking with some of my friends and saw this guy and I yelled out "What the hell are you doing here?!" It was Anthony Bourdain!
This was before he was was really famous but I recognized him from his books. He said he was on a book tour, and some chefs brought him there to hang out.
He was super cool and sat down at our table, talking to us for awhile while bumming cigs. It was a experience I will always cherish and I'm so sad we are losing the Red Dragon.
From Nate Dybvig...
They had an impressive 86 list. A friend got tossed for unscrewing light bulbs in a booth that was far too bright for our level of sobriety at the time. He got 86ed. Went back nearly a decade later, he swears it was his first time back, and they not only recognized him, but they tossed us all.
From Lindsay Thompson...
One evening, I was at the Dragon with friends. We were there often and even had a secret Facebook group in ode to the Dragon, this was 15 or so years ago when Facebook was maybe cool. We had a long table—maybe three or four four-tops pushed together? At some point in the evening, a guy we didn’t even know dove straight down our table like a Slip 'n' Slide. Drinks everywhere, sheer chaos. He didn’t get kicked out.
Took my now-husband and his friends there one night because they’d never been. (Although they were regulars at Mortimers and Rudolph’s, they never crossed Lyndale apparently.) They each had a Wondrous Punch and, later that, night one of his friends somehow tore the back door off his house trying to get in when he got home via Uber.
Also went there on a first date! I was young and he was new to town and didn’t know the… reputation. Dating didn’t work out but we’ve stayed friendly over the years, and I messaged him on Instagram when the news broke. We had a laugh about how he was so smooth taking a first date there—I was too naive to know it was a red flag.
From Xopher Besinger...
Like a real blackout I can't conjure any specific incident only fragmentary impressions across a dozen of nights: the heavenly shrimp toast, a table next to ours explaining the use of "blades" in a Southside Playaz song, waiting a lifetime for service, climbing snow mountains with Wondrous Punch ringing our heads like a gong, the equally deadly Zombie, the amount of steeling yourself mentally for what might transpire during the night, that you were putting your fate into the hands of a god of chaos.
But mostly I am going to miss the frozen bunker quality of the lounge, no windows, sealed off from the world and as proven by a recent birthday trip, time as well. It wasn't great or anything but I was happy there could still be outposts like it in a shrinking world.
From Racket's own Jessica Armbruster…
Years ago, before I knew any better, I had two Wondrous Punches, which I call "Wondrous Punches to the Head," and got so drunk I knew I couldn't bike back home. I wore a bike helmet on the car ride home and my coworker never let me forget it.
I've seen so many people barfing at that bus stop over the years. That one and CC. And Up-Down—that's the place to barf now.
From Tom Lukanen...
Circa late June 2002. Minneapolis, greater Minnesota, had been experiencing heavy rains. One such night heavy rains caused localized flooding in south Minneapolis.
While at the Red Dragon with friends the crowd noticed water begin seeping in the front door. Another drink or two later the water was pouring in. There was no concern or sense of urgency from the bar staff or patrons. I recall the stools were in high demand to keep your feet out of the water.
The jokes were about the water helping clean the floor for the first time. I don’t recall any official bar slides across the wet floor… hard to say. I wasn’t a Red Dragon regular, maybe once every two to three months while out cycling with usual suspects from QBP.
Good times.
From Phelan O'Neill...
I spent Thanksgiving eve, 2019, in the Red Dragon. Met a guy who called himself Nightclub Dwight after the Lifter Puller lore. He had to cut off his story about how the City of Minneapolis was run by the illuminati to go get his "home-grown halal turkey" from a guy in Powderhorn, so he grabbed his skateboard and left.
Three Wondrous Punches later, I found myself in a love triangle with a woman and her gay best friend. We were all going to go home together before the lady decided she couldn't go through with it.
From Bennett Hartz...
Here is my lone Red Dragon story: In about 2014, I went there with an ex-girlfriend and a couple of shady friends-of-friends of hers, which—to ensure my reputation remains unbesmirched—I will note that I didn't know and had never met before. We sat down to order drinks, but when the server checked our IDs he noticed that one of them had that "DO NOT SERVE ME ALCOHOL" warning on the back of her card. The bouncer then, understandably, vigorously removed us from the establishment. RIP Red Dragon, thrown out of my only visit before I could even get a drink.
From John Kelsey...
My wife and I live about two blocks away from Red Dragon and have for quite a while now. We heard from some old timers in the neighborhood that they used to have a bookie there (not sure if it was a bartender or just a guy that'd set up shop there), and it used to be where you would place sports bets in the '80s and '90s, pre-internet.
Also, we used to go a decent amount in our 20s but now that we're in our 30s we've only been twice in the last eight-ish years. One of the times I threw up, the other time my wife threw up. Can't handle it like we used to, but hoping to get there before it closes. We'll see which of us throws up this time.
From Ethan Komoroski...
Nothing unique to share, but if you’re just counting the number of people who say, “I knew exactly what I was getting myself into and I don’t really remember anything after the Punch.” I am among them.
Still with us? Thirsty? Demand double vision? Here's that Wondrous Punch recipe we promised way up top, courtesy of the Wong family.
Wondrous Punch
- Shot of Bacardi light
- Shot of Bacardi dark
- Shot of Myers’s Rum
- Shot of Bacardi 151
- Orange juice
- Pineapple juice
- Sweet-and-sour mix
- Splash of grenadine
Pour everything over a full glass of ice.
