Minneapolis, MN
Lady Gaga casually dines at a local Minneapolis restaurant on Sunday night; wins hearts for simplicity
Lady Gaga was unknowingly seen in the Twin Cities this weekend. The pop star dined at Minneapolis’ Café and Bar Lurcat on Sunday evening. Meanwhile, the restaurant expressed their delight at having Lady Gaga for supper and thanked her for choosing their eatery in an Instagram post. Although it remains unclear why the star was in the city as she is currently not on tour.
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Lady Gaga dined at a restaurant in Minneapolis
On a peaceful Sunday evening, when there were no paparazzi in the vicinity, an extremely high-profile guest, Lady Gaga, walked into the historic Minneapolis restaurant Café & Bar Lurcat, much to the amazement of the staff.
Lurcat general manager Nick Gonzales revealed, “As she walked up the staircases, I thought, ‘Wow, this individual looks a lot like Lady Gaga,’ and then she was an arm’s length away from me, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is Lady Gaga.’”
The Bloody Mary singer and her dinner companion were sitting in the middle of Bar Lurcat, a glam space with the view of Loring Park’s vegetation that featured dangling crystal chandeliers, black-and-white tiles, and starched white tablecloths.
Her group of diners placed an order for some of the Lurcat classics, which included salmon, filet mignon, fried rice, and a beet salad. Gonzales shared, “There was a lot of sharing going on.”
Everyone was star-struck when they noticed the VIP in the room. However, no one approached her for photos or autographs. In the meantime, Gonzales further revealed, “She was quite courteous and kind to our workers and acted somewhat normally. But it was unlike anything else because it was Lady Gaga. It appeared that she was just looking for a nice dinner on a Sunday night.”
The reason why Lady Gaga was in Minneapolis is still unclear
As a Minneapolis restaurant, Café and Bar Lurcat has had its fair share of celebrity dinner guests. Over the years, Prince and Mick Jagger have both been spotted there. Lady Gaga was not in Minneapolis on tour, and her social media accounts reveal nothing about what she was doing there on a glorious July weekend.
When asked if the staff knew anything about why she was in town, Gonzales replied, “We made no inquiries. I have no idea why she’d be in town or how she ended up at the eatery. I’d like to think of us as a 20-year-old Minneapolis restaurant with a stellar reputation. But I have no idea why she chose Lurcat.”
The singer, who finished her Chromatica Ball tour without stopping in the Twin Cities last fall, has made surprise appearances in the Twin Cities before, including a 2010 hangout at the Turf Club in St. Paul followed by the first of two shows at Xcel Energy Center.
ALSO READ: Lady Gaga breaks silence on Tony Bennett’s death, grieves his loss and says their relationship ‘wasn’t an act’
MINNEAPOLIS — Small businesses along one of Minneapolis’ busiest corridor struggled to stay open through this summer’s construction and some didn’t survive.
But there’s new hope along Hennepin now that the first phase of the Hennepin Avenue South reconstruction project wrapped up. This means the stretch between West Lake Street and West 26th Street is open once again.
8 months ago, Robert Sorenson was bracing for a major economic hit.
“It’s been extremely difficult,” Sorenson said.
The good news, Bobby Bead still stands though on shaky ground.
“It’s been a disaster for all businesses on this block,” Sorenson said.
Since construction began, Sorenson says his sales have plummeted by 90% forcing him to take out a loan just to keep the lights on.
Hoban Korean BBQ is also feeling the heat. Tarpeh says the lack of customers directly impacts his pockets as a server taking home about $500 less a paycheck since the construction began. But he’s banking on the reopening and customer support to help them bounce back.
Last year — Americans spent a whopping $17 billion on Small Business Saturday. A boost that these businesses say they need.
“Looking forward to business returning to normal,” Sorenson said.
The second phase of the project will reconstruct Hennepin Avenue from 26th Street to Douglas Avenue in 2025.
Uptown small businesses ready for Saturday surge
Small Business Saturday is coming just in time for Uptown Minneapolis. FOX 9’s Corin Hoggard has the full story.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Small Business Saturday is here, and it’s coming just in time for Uptown Minneapolis.
Shopping local
Nationally, people spent $17 billion at small businesses on the day last year.
The beeps have started on a milestone weekend for Comma, A Bookshop.
Small Business Saturday is the second anniversary of the store’s opening.
“We’re doing some specials and giveaways,” said owner Victoria Ford. “We’re going to have birthday cake, we’re doing a book drive for the Queer Space Collective.”
And maybe most importantly, they’ll be doing great sales as people turn their holiday shopping focus away from big box stores and to small, local businesses.
“A day like that makes a huge difference in our overall success over the year,” Ford said. “It’s typically our second busiest day of the year.”
The boost is especially appreciated in places like Uptown, where businesses have struggled recently, and construction on Hennepin didn’t help.
Foot traffic returns
Seven months of closures ended Tuesday.
“With the roads opening up this week and with the holidays and everything, it actually brings that regular business,” said Uptown Diner general manager Pablo Forero. “This is what it’s usually been like for us. So it’s nice to see.”
People packed the Uptown Diner for lunch Friday, but small business owners aren’t sure yet if they’re back to normal or if it’s just a holiday weekend bubble.
They know for sure a lot of the neighboring storefronts have gone vacant in the last four or five years and they’d love to see foot traffic back where it was before the pandemic.
“People were scared away for various reasons,” said Jeff Veigel, who owns Isles Bun & Coffee. “So it’s like, come back. The lakes are still here. It’s still a nice area to walk around. Still a nice area to shop and to live.”
His coffee and pastry shop — known for the frosted cinnamon twists called puppy dog tails — filled up on Friday as well, but Uptown sidewalks were mostly empty as wind chills dipped near zero.
But businesses like Isles, and Magers and Quinn, and the Uptown Diner are hoping to see big crowds for Small Business Saturday.
And that their success spills over.
Community impact
“We bring in more people and then more people come around and check out the businesses that are around us as well,” Forero said.
The U.S. Small Business Administration estimates that when you spend $100 at a small business, $48 stay in the community.
If you spend it at a big-box store or national retailer, only $14 stays.
“We hope for more of it,” said Veigel. “We hope that people remember that year-round.”
Baking in the best-case scenario before another round of construction in 2025.
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