An iconic Minneapolis gathering place and music venue dating back nearly 120 years has announced it will close in September.
Palmer’s Bar on the West Bank announced on social media late Wednesday that its final day of business will be Sept. 14.
“This has been an incredibly difficult but necessary decision and we are devastated to do so,” the statement read, without elaborating on the reasons for the closure.
The sudden announcement on Palmer’s Facebook and Instagram pages came just a couple hours after a post on the music lineup for the bar’s annual three-day Palmfest in late July.
“We will be open regular hours until bar close on September 14th with a jam-packed calendar and plenty of time to party and say farewell,” the closure statement read. “Please join us in saying goodbye to a West Bank institution, raise a glass to all the good times and great people, and make it a last summer to remember here at Palmer’s Bar.”
The post also gave thanks “to everyone that has been keeping this bar alive since 1906, especially our very faithful regulars, and the incredibly talented musicians that have played our stages over the years. Above all else, our staff — who make the place so special and who really are the best in the business.”
Among the legendary musicians closely associated with Palmer’s is James “Cornbread” Harris — now 98 years old, with a career spanning more than 70 years on the Minnesota music scene. He still plays a weekly gig at the bar on Sunday evenings.
Folk musician “Spider” John Koerner, who died in 2024, was another longtime Palmer’s regular — both as a performer and as a patron, with his own reserved barstool.
In 2014, Esquire magazine included Palmer’s on a list of the best bars in America, noting its cheap drinks and “Wall of Shame” of people who’d been kicked out of the bar.
“There are dives and dives in this world,” the Esquire article read. “There’s the type Guy Fieri calls out, old joints that might not feel like they need to get their hair done before seeing company but are nonetheless fundamentally clean and comfortable and unchallenging. Then there’s Palmer’s.”
