Modern Times Cafe closing at end of year after providing 30,000 free meals in wake of ICE surge

A south Minneapolis staple that made headlines after offering free meals in response to Operation Metro Surge will be closing its doors.

Modern Times Cafe will close at the end of the year in what the owner says is an "incredibly difficult decision."

"I announce this decision now, with the hope that we can spend the next two plus months celebrating the nearly 16 years that Modern Times has stood for creativity over cost, kindness over profit, and uncompromising values as a business in this country," owner Dylan Alverson said.

The cafe rebranded as Post Modern Times and began to serve free meals in January after a Border Patrol agent shot and killed Alex Pretti in the streets of Minneapolis. 

After six months of operating without prices, the restaurant temporarily closed in July before returning the next month under a new model, bringing back prices and offering 25 free meals each day. In those six months, Modern Times said it served over 30,000 free meals with the help of over 2,000 donations.

Alverson says the cost of temporarily closing the cafe "was too much," and that Modern Times has accrued nearly $70,000 in debt since reopening.

"We never had money, we always lived paycheck to paycheck, and we didn't care because that was never the point," Alverson wrote on the Modern Times website. "The stress of this business has nearly broken me and my family too many times. I have processed so much grief in front of the grill. I am for the first time in my life putting my own well being and my family's in front of the cafe."

Alverson encourages people to come celebrate Modern Times, as well as share their memories, pictures and stories.

"I want to go out on my terms and will do so by not stripping away the soul of this place.  I want to cook for people and provide positive memories and experiences until it's over," he said.

An official closing date for Modern Times has not been announced.