Originally published by Bill Lindeke on July 9, 2025, via MinnPost. Read the full article here
Photo credit: MinnPost / Bill Lindeke
Palmer’s Bar, a beloved Minneapolis dive located in the heart of Cedar-Riverside, will be closing its doors in two months after more than a century of operation. The bar, first opened in 1906 as Carl’s Bar, has long stood as a symbol of resistance, music, and community in a neighborhood constantly reshaped by waves of immigration, urban development, and cultural change.
🍺 Known for its triangle-shaped building, rotating art on the walls, and intimate music stage, Palmer’s was more than a bar. It was a sanctuary for folk musicians, punks, academics, and wanderers alike.
🎶 The venue hosted everything from nightly local shows to weekly “hippienanny” folk jams. Musical legends like Cornbread Harris and Spider John Koerner found a second home here.
🏙️ Over the decades, Palmer’s survived prohibition, freeway construction, gentrification, and COVID-19. Its closure now marks the continued disappearance of historic music and bar venues from Cedar Avenue, a corridor now defined by Minneapolis’ vibrant East African diaspora.
🎤 Writer Bill Lindeke calls it the “counterculture cathedral,” a place where city planning collided with gritty real-world life. The patio’s mural now reads, “Our days are #’d.”
📉 Declining liquor sales, ownership challenges, and changing neighborhood demographics are contributing factors to the closure. Palmer’s joins a growing list of shuttered cultural landmarks in the West Bank area.
