Ask three Minneapolis restaurateurs to assess their Super Bowl experience, and you'll likely receive three different answers.
With ESPN broadcasting about 25 feet from her IDS Crystal Court kiosk, Bogart's Doughnut Co. owner Anne Rucker said sales were four to five times greater than normal.
"It was really cool to see downtown bustling, it was like a different city," she said. "And now I'm totally decompressing."
Bep Eatery co-owner Thanh Myhre has one word for Super Bowl week: Horrible. "All the little guys got kind of screwed over."
His double-whammy theory? His two skyway restaurants — in LaSalle Plaza and Fifth Street Towers — were too far from tourist-centric Nicollet Mall, and his regular customers stayed home.
Bar La Grassa in the North Loop, 112 Eatery in the Warehouse District and Burch Steak and Pizza Bar on Lowry Hill all had mixed results, said co-owner Nancy St. Pierre. Early in the week was quiet and "Sunday was a bust," she said. "But Thursday, Friday and Saturday? They were fantastic, exactly what we thought they would be. The people were really nice. They were here to have fun, and you got caught up in that when you were around them."
For the first time, Bar La Grassa and Burch were open at lunch, all week. Neither was particularly busy.
"That's OK," said St. Pierre with a laugh. "We live and learn."
