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The Malt Shop Cometh… Backeth
If you’re anything like me, Racket’s resident townie Jay Boller, your south Minneapolis childhood included visits to The Malt Shop, a neighborhood institution since 1973. The no-nonsense burgers rocked; the ginormous malts rocked; that easy-breezy pre-9/11 hiccup in time, depending on your lot in life, generally rocked.
Original proprietor Richard Henke ran the spot until 2022, when he offloaded the building to Arbor Commercial Group and restaurateur Rebecca Illingworth Penichot took the reins. Online reviews of The Malt Shop 2.0 were uncharitable (“Something called The Malt Shop should not have a chef,” one Redditor posits, accurately), and earlier this year the restaurant closed after failing to retain its liquor license, Southwest Voices reported in March. Illingworth Penichot reportedly hightailed it to France.
Here’s the potentially good news: A new owner is now poised to carry The Malt Shop mantle, if we’re to believe this recently launched placeholder website. “With a refreshed vibe and a return to everything people have always loved, The Malt Shop is back to being the place where friends meet, families gather, and good food brings everyone together—any day of the week,” the site reads, while social media accounts tease “the latest craze—dirty sodas.”…