Last call for Wondrous Punch: The Red Dragon plans to shut its doors on Dec. 29. The stalwart Chinese American restaurant-slash-dive bar opened in 1976 on Lyndale Avenue in south Minneapolis and quickly became known for its boozy, tiki-style cocktails.
Minneapolis’ once roaring Red Dragon dive bar faces its final closing time
For nearly 50 years, the Lyndale Avenue dive bar packed a Wondrous Punch.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
December 6, 2024 at 3:07PM
The Red Dragon’s sprawling space attracted groups splitting plates of shrimp toast and cream cheese wontons to soak up the beverages’ powerful punch. In its heyday, the place was crowned with City Pages “Best” titles — Cocktails, Dive Bar, Happy Hour and Jukebox among them — and jam-packed with patrons who didn’t want to go. (In one era, a mulleted bouncer used to walk around with a baseball bat to herd crowds through the door at closing time.)
More recently, a sign on the front door announcing the “strictly enforced” dress code and the menu’s declaring there were “no refunds on drinks for any reason” might make younger folks say the place seemed a little “sus” — if the younger folks came around as much anymore.
The Wong family, which has owned the Red Dragon since the 1980s, cited a declining customer base among its reasons for the closure. And the place hasn’t proved as invincible as City Pages once predicted: “A nuclear bomb could drop on the Red Dragon and people would drive in from Dinkytown to drink Fog Cutters in the glassy crater.”
But it will live on in many Minneapolitans’ memories.
The recipes are quick, simple and can be made in advance, making entertaining a breeze.
