After 43 years, Rudolph's Bar-B-Que closes in south Minneapolis

Rudolph's Bar-B-Que, which served up ribs and brisket on Franklin and Lyndale for 43 years, closed its doors for good this week.

"Hey all, the rumors are true. We have decided to close our doors as of yesterday," the restaurant tweeted Friday. "Thank you for 43 wonderful years. Please continue to support all the great independent restaurants in the Twin Cities. We will miss you."

Calls to the south Minneapolis restaurant went to voice mail, which still gives a rundown of their usual hours.

A yellow sign telling customers "Sorry, we're temporarily closed" appeared on the door Thursday. That afternoon, WCCO's Jason DeRusha tweeted that the spot was "closed for good," after employees contacted the station. This led to lots of chatter online, before the restaurant confirmed that it had served its last rack of ribs.

Named for silent film star Rudolph Valentino, the spot was owned by Jimmy Theros' Theros Restaurant Group, which also ran the recently shuttered St. Paul neighborhood favorite St. Clair Broiler. It became an institution after occupying the corner for so long. Prince used to go there when he lived around the corner in the early days of his career, and Jimmy Jam called it "our old spot" during a 2010 visit after performing with the Time.

More recently, Rudolph's parking lot was closed during Lyndale Avenue construction, and the restaurant promised customers on its website that once work was finished, it would have "a big, beautiful ramp" across the street.