North Loop restaurant sends urgent plea to customers to come back to downtown Minneapolis
In a popular night spot like Minneapolis' North Loop, it may come as a surprise to learn there are struggling restaurants there, but the owners of Dario said that is their new reality.
For two years, Dario has been serving up homemade pasta and cocktails.
"We're not going to last much longer, nor are any of the other places you like to frequent, if we don't get out here and try to experience these places," said Stephen Rowe, Dario's co-owner and beverage director.
Rowe and Executive Chef Joe Rolle recently sent a message to those on the restaurant's e-mail list, writing that the recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge, combined with a challenging winter season, has caused a nosedive in reservations. They're asking for customers to come back downtown.
"Like everybody else who owns a business around here and in the city, it's just kind of like a gut punch," said Rowe.
Customers, in particular from the suburbs, haven't been coming in as much, Rolle said.
"They see a lot of things online, they see things on TV," said Rowe.
"No one thought that North Loop was really affected, but we were," said Mary Binkley, president of the North Loop Neighborhood Association.
Binkley said the past few months have been tough for North Loop restaurants.
"January and February were certainly heavy and that's because people were spending their restaurant dollars elsewhere, in immigrant-owned restaurants, restaurants in neighborhoods where there was more ICE activity," said Binkley.
Recently, foot traffic has been steadily improving in the neighborhood, Binkley said. With St. Patrick's Day and Minnesota Twins games right around the corner, she said she is confident people will return.
"This is a place in a two-block radius where a lot of everyone's favorite restaurants are," said Binkley.
Dario's owners said they have been forced to cut back on hours and shifts for employees. Meanwhile, they've launched lunch service on Thursdays and catering with the hopes of boosting business and saving the jobs of their 80 employees.
"A restaurant can take, you know, one or two bad weeks, but we've all had eight bad weeks in a row, so we've got a lot of digging out to do," said Rolle.
