The Dinkytown McDonald's has closed: Remembering the U of M's golden arches

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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No one's nostalgic for the Dinkytown McD's. But some of us are nostalgic for who they were when they went there.

For college students scraping by on loans and service jobs to pay for those sky-high tuition bills (in 1978, we're talking almost $800 a year) the golden arches were a blessing. You could fill up on bread and meat divots and sear the roof of your mouth with an apple pie. If you'd been pounding pitchers of 3.2 beer in the Dinkytown pubs, you could stop at McD's to soak up the suds.

Would the food be fresh? Maybe. Would the seats be sticky? Probably. Would you like fries with that? Oh, yes.

The Dinkytown McDonald's was built in 1963. A newspaper ad trumpeting this new boon to Gopher cuisine shows a building different from the current structure. It's a clean, bright, modern structure that could be a bank, if you shaved off the arches.

www.startribune.com

The Dinkytown McDonald's has closed: Remembering the U of M's golden arches

www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 

I get it, but hard to think of Dinkytown without McDonalds as a cornerstone.
 

Hard to believe a mcdonald's that close to campus couldn't survive.

Must have been that throw-up in the second floor booth from 1986 that did it.
 





Vandy said:
Ah, another faceless high end campus area apartment building. The charm of Dinkytown and Stadium Village continues to disappear.
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"Charm". Fair enough.

It's not like McDonalds isn't some faceless national chain, though? It's sad that the Library is no longer that, but Burrito Loco, Al's Breakfast, Blarney's, and others are still there and aren't chains.

RE: the new apartments. They print money. Otherwise they wouldn't be flying up as fast as they are. Kids pay several hundreds of dollars per month per occupant. Not even per unit. It really is nothing more than a glorified dorm hall, for those who(se parents) can pay.
 





Was it ever not under some form of construction / remodel the last few years?

I'm a little sad about McDonalds there ... but Annie's Parlour is more the burger place I think of when I'm down there.
 

Otis said:
Hard to believe a mcdonald's that close to campus couldn't survive.

Must have been that throw-up in the second floor booth from 1986 that did it.
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It’s not that it couldn’t survive, it just that a McDonald’s with a giant parking lot is a horrible waste of great real estate.

hoping a McDonald’s opens on the ground floor on one of these uptown apartment buildings.


The uptownification of America is everywhere. They’re building these same apartment buildings in northfield for heavens sake
 

I remember wandering there from a Dinkytown house party, with a Metrodome stadium cup filled with booze, giving the on-duty police officer working the door a high-five, walking in like it was just another party.

I also have made trips there that I don't remember, like the time I found an ATM receipt from the night before in my pocket from there, using a card for which I didn't know the PIN. How did I get there? How did I get money to eat burgers I don't remember? Did I just use trial-and-error and keep guessing until I got enough for the dollar menu? One of the many mysteries of the Dinkytown McDonalds.
 

It's called "density". Not at all a new concept, and Uptown (Minneapolis) was hardly the birthplace of it.
 



Enjoyed a meal there after watching the Road win vs Nebraska in 2014. No idea why that sticks out in my mind
 

MplsGopher said:
"Charm". Fair enough.

It's not like McDonalds isn't some faceless national chain, though? It's sad that the Library is no longer that, but Burrito Loco, Al's Breakfast, Blarney's, and others are still there and aren't chains.

RE: the new apartments. They print money. Otherwise they wouldn't be flying up as fast as they are. Kids pay several hundreds of dollars per month per occupant. Not even per unit. It really is nothing more than a glorified dorm hall, for those who(se parents) can pay.
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A 2-bedroom with 4 tenants is ~$250 cheaper per month than living in the dorms.
My daughter pays $545/mo., shares a bathroom with her roommate, has a full kitchen, small living room, full laundry per unit, and a walk-out patio. Next year she wants to live in a duplex or house. She'll be paying more and walking further.
 

I first ate at that McDonalds in the early 70's going to games as a kid. Last semester of college in 1980 I lived fairly close to it and ate there way too often.
 


FredCoxRocks said:
A 2-bedroom with 4 tenants is ~$250 cheaper per month than living in the dorms.
My daughter pays $545/mo., shares a bathroom with her roommate, has a full kitchen, small living room, full laundry per unit, and a walk-out patio. Next year she wants to live in a duplex or house. She'll be paying more and walking further.
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Thanks for sharing. Not surprised that dorms are more expensive. U makes a pretty penny on it. Either way, you're paying dearly to be short-ish walking distance from campus, with so much demand and so little (relatively) supply. And not saying they aren't nice. I'm sure they are.

I was comparing in mind more the option of cheaper housing further away and busing in.
 

MplsGopher said:
Thanks for sharing. Not surprised that dorms are more expensive. U makes a pretty penny on it. Either way, you're paying dearly to be short-ish walking distance from campus, with so much demand and so little (relatively) supply. And not saying they aren't nice. I'm sure they are.

I was comparing in mind more the option of cheaper housing further away and busing in.
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Less than you think. Most of money is used to maintain the buildings.
 

Vandy said:
Ah, another faceless high end campus area apartment building. The charm of Dinkytown and Stadium Village continues to disappear.
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While agree, one issue is many of the buildings in Dinkytown are old crappy buildings, charming yes, but not efficient be it space or energy. ADA compliance issues, plumbing, electrical, all which would be extremely expensive to fix.

i'd hate to lose Wallys, Als, Annies, Varsity and we're seeing things change. I worry we're going to Lose stubs, we already lost big ten.

Change is inevitable though, and it's a mixed bag. And some of the places that closed, close because while people remember them fondly and sad to see them go, they no longer frequented there after moving away/graduating, etc
 


MplsGopher said:
I only meant revenue. The U is not a for-profit business.
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Oh for sure, most of money they go goes right back in the buildings. U has a lot of renovation/repairs etc that are constantly put off. There about three people in the world (hyperbole) that know how to work their boiler system.
 

speaking of wallys they put the beef shwarma back on the menu!

I'll need to run over there for some takeout this weekend or next week
 


FredCoxRocks said:
A 2-bedroom with 4 tenants is ~$250 cheaper per month than living in the dorms.
My daughter pays $545/mo., shares a bathroom with her roommate, has a full kitchen, small living room, full laundry per unit, and a walk-out patio. Next year she wants to live in a duplex or house. She'll be paying more and walking further.
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Ever wonder why that is? Makes sense when you consider tax credits, subsidized rent, limited partner payoffs, depreciation writeoffs, etc. And if so, that means the government is giving more money to private developers than The U.

Sorry, what were we talking about...McDonald's? I ate more at the Stadium Village Burger King.
 

Pour one out! Living 2 blocks from there for a few years while in school there were a lot of memories there! But without a doubt the one i will never forget is after a football game we ended up there and were trying to get some of the cheerleaders to come home with us to party. They seemed interested but asked if he had any cocaine, to which we said ahh no, and they promptly said they were not interested in our party. That is a 100% true story ha and I will never never forget it.
 

leib0039 said:
Pour one out! Living 2 blocks from there for a few years while in school there were a lot of memories there! But without a doubt the one i will never forget is after a football game we ended up there and were trying to get some of the cheerleaders to come home with us to party. They seemed interested but asked if he had any cocaine, to which we said ahh no, and they promptly said they were not interested in our party. That is a 100% true story ha and I will never never forget it.
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Lesson learned is.....lie next time.
 

2nd Degree Gopher said:
Bad news:

Stub and Herbs
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Yeah, I know that. But also note they signed a 7 year lease with the U.

I believe they also have ability to lease out space in any new building.

Stubs has been shut down for sometime now, they didn't even open patio due to a structural issue in the building and I'm not even seeing them do take out.
 


salzie said:
Yeah, I know that. But also note they signed a 7 year lease with the U.

I believe they also have ability to lease out space in any new building.

Stubs has been shut down for sometime now, they didn't even open patio due to a structural issue in the building and I'm not even seeing them do take out.
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They should open in the bottom level of a new apartment tower. I seem to recall another establishment that has successfully done that not too long ago ...
 

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