The Miracle of Matt’s

Nibs Martin had a trouble He owned a bar at th Street and Cedar Avenue in South Minneapolis a two-story building on the southwest corner dating to It had been a store and a dentist s office but sometime in the s Martin turned it into a bar with a small griddle and deep fryer by the entrance The obstacle in post-Prohibition Minneapolis was that city fathers were not big on neighborhood drinking Bars could only sell low-alcohol beer which required too multiple trips to the bathroom for the desired effect Nibs decided to open a joint at th Avenue and th Street known colloquially as the hub of hell for its density of sin establishments where he could purvey real beer booze and entertainment He sold the tavern on Cedar to his bartender Matt Bristol in Bristol changed the name from Nibs to Matt s and ran the place for years The exterior of Matt s Bar in Minneapolis Credit Tim Evans Twin Cities Business Early on a customer requested for a burger with the cheese placed inside two patties Bristol obliged Biting into the thing the diner exclaimed that s one juicy Lucy Not long after the gimmick made it on the bar s tiny menu for cents at present Spoiler It s no longer a gimmick The Matt s experience is multifaceted from the iridescent s wallpaper to the perfectly thin foodservice fries but without the Jucy Lucy the i was lost in a menu printing signage error that stuck Matt s would have been just another Minneapolis bar that presumably wouldn t have made it out of the s Bristol sold Matt s to his daughter Cheryl in Matt passed away on the day President Obama visited Matt s in His wife Donna in her s still lives in their Minneapolis home where rolls of Matt s old wallpaper sit in the basement Cheryl struggled to sustain the business while raising a young family and accepted a buyout from Scott Nelson a corporate restaurateur looking for his own thing I craved a timeless place not a trendy place I liked burgers Nelson recalls It wasn t as busy it had plateaued I was young and motivated I didn t want to ruin it I sought to grow it I loved the simplicity of it You just had to be consistent do a couple things well Scott Nelson has owned Matt s since Credit Tim Evans Twin Cities Business Over the years of Nelson s ownership Matt s has blown out as a Lucy is wont to transitioning from a local secret with a loyal following to a nationally recognized destination Seventy years after Matt Bristol agreed to a customer s special order the Jucy Lucy is the gift that keeps on giving sustaining multiple Twin Cities restaurants and putting an overlooked region on the map of American foodways As for Matt s it s the rarest of stories A business that has grown from obscure to iconic while retaining its essential soul It s doubtful Nibs Martin or Matt Bristol would have maintained that their neighborhood bar would one day become the the greater part productive tavern in the state But such is the miracle of Matt s Ten old guys at the bar drinking coffee Matt s has an incredible vibe one that s been built over decades like an oyster builds a pearl It s genuine and these days that s really unique Andrew Zimmern So what is Matt s and why is it so popular Certain say it s a dive bar that d class strand of the urban fabric where the upper classes migrate to reassure themselves they re still bohemian St Paul s Bill Lindeke literally wrote the book on Twin Cities dive bars Closing Time co-authored with Andy Sturdevant He says no It s true that Matt s doesn t have windows a hallmark of dive bars but it also doesn t have regulars it s too busy It s more of a vernacular food mecca a historic treasure like Al s Breakfast Matt s popularity is in part due to its ability to avoid polarization High-profile eateries have constituencies The suburban SUV crowd The Subaru neighborhoods Blue collar White collar Hipster Establishment Matt s appeals to almost everyone Matt s is a unifier not divider says Lindeke Related Landmark dive bar Palmer s to close Nelson bought the bar years after graduating from Edina High Though he d labored on the corporate side of the restaurant business he d worked for the best TGI Fridays in its Carlson Cos glory days and Lettuce Entertain You in Mall of America s rise years Matt s in the s was already well-known but locally so When I bought it we d still get Matt s friends ten old guys at the bar drinking coffee says Nelson But it s still a multi- generational restaurant if we can take care of people We had regulars we would call if they didn t show up remembers Ren e L who prefers her last name not be used a Matt s server whose tenure dates to just before Nelson s ownership It was still a neighborhood bar in that way Matt s stayed open until a m for the nurses and cops who needed somewhere to go post-shift Though Matt s has grown beyond the realm of a neighborhood tavern in hard times it reverts to that role after winter storms during Covid or after George Floyd s murder which took place a mile to the west That weekend Matt s picture window was smashed and the restaurant boarded up Nearby businesses were being firebombed or vandalized and were afraid to reopen Nelson returned from his Florida home to the bar took up residence and reopened Monday morning The neighborhood becomes a food desert in times of trouble We re used to feeding everyone the neighborhood needed us he recalls Matt s fed the National Guard which was not popular on social media but Nelson was undeterred I was terrified for my bar and my people but we needed to be there You go home with onions in your shoes We ve all sat at Matt s smelling the sizzling burgers and steaming fries staring at the grill man s back wishing he could move a little faster Though the grill maxes out at Jucys it can optimally manage up to six tables at once It s common for diners to order multiple sandwiches Raw Jucys start at the rear flat and barely dissimilar from a regular burger where they re doused with a salt pepper mixture As they cook they balloon but shrink in diameter When the grill man flips they move to the front When done the Jucys stack almost vertically against one another like a customer at a bar and very little surface contact with the grill The grill man can t be too fast or too slow explains Ren e Too fast and you have no time to clean to BS with a regular Too slow and you re standing around The sweet spot is minutes to get your order The famed Juicy Lucy Credit Tim Evans Twin Cities Business Matt s offers a cheeseburger double cheese don t sleep on this one a grilled cheese and a chicken sandwich which has supplanted the hot ham and cheese due to changing tastes There s ketchup mustard and tiny paper cups of mayo for a charge That s it It takes minutes to melt the cheese in a Jucy arguably a bit too long to keep the meat optimally moist The double burger takes twice the space on the grill but cooks in half the time Buns aren t toasted Matt s has no oven and toasting on the grill would slow it way down It takes minutes to melt the cheese in a Jucy arguably a bit too long to keep the meat optimally moist The double burger takes twice the space on the grill but cooks in half the time Buns aren t toasted Matt s has no oven and toasting on the grill would slow it way down People steal everything A walk through Matt s in the minutes before opening shades pulled to keep the A C at peak is like a moment in a time capsule There s the textured wallpaper different at the booths than behind the bar Napkin dispensers from the same era general manager Amy Feriancek buys up all she can find on eBay There s something about the milieu I can t put my finger on it exactly says Nelson Because you can get a burger anywhere The booths Formica tables and napkin holders are original Matt s requests you don t steal them Credit Tim Evans Twin Cities Business Among the s pictures of Matt s and ancient Formica and Naugahyde booths are advertisements made for Matt s in the oughts by a local ad agency Maverick Englehart press clippings spanning generations and wall odds and ends both classic and modern Much of it is nailed down because for several a T-shirt Matt s has sold over the years is not enough People will steal anything chuckles Feriancek Customers have stolen a vintage carved duck from the wall glassware salt shakers They steal our laminated hours sign out of the entryway Cheryl has a space for you Matt s is not a Minnesota Nice experience with a lot of forced smiles and fake bonhomie The function is direct with an eye to efficiency If you don t ask for ranch or a burger wrapped in lettuce you might get a sentence or two of genial chat It s hard relentless work but turnover is low I work from to and I work a six-hour rush Any shift at Matt s you assume you work from start to end says Ren e Chosen people don t like the way we talk to them the rules the things we don t have I know there are people who leave dissatisfied No ice surprises people But if that s what ruins your day you re doing pretty good Ren e has been with Matt s since just before Nelson bought the bar Her sister worked at Matt s at the time She called me and stated Cheryl has a space for you I was planning on going to college Matt s is a family place Current servers Jessi and Tina are sisters Not long ago Matt s had eight -year employees Customers love to see the same people says Nelson It s a great job Working here is like theater It leaves room for your personality Ren e explains That s what makes Matt s so great freedom and money And profit-sharing Money goes a long way You get used to lifting the bull Beyond the nostalgia and romanticism Matt s is a business with certain features that provoke envy in other restaurateurs It s all cash no checks or cards meaning no NSFs no interchange fees There are two ATMs in the bar in affair one goes down because no one carries cash anymore We cut hours after Covid and it didn t hurt sales notes Nelson The smoking ban helped business Matt s is optimized for efficiency and its limited space All drinks but beer are served in a can or bottle because there s little room for glassware or ice Matt s is no longer a bar but Nelson is just fine with strong beer alone It s Grain Belt Premium s largest Minnesota account but Matt s gets less than of its sales from liquids melted cheese notwithstanding I ve never desired the problems that came with a lot of alcohol sales Nelson explains Three employees work the entire place grill bar server plus sometimes a helper who restocks Nelson owns the building and lives on the second floor when he s not in Florida so there s no rent A major remodel or expansion would require moving bathrooms out of the basement to comply with code but Nelson is content with Matt s in situ Feriancek says in the summer roughly of customers are visiting while in winter are Sports events concerts and local gatherings drive crowds Matt s is a bucket-list box to check off That was not the episode when Nelson bought the bar Amy Feriancek is Matt s general manager Credit Tim Evans Twin Cities Business We just got busier and busier after Scott and wife Cathy bought it says server Ren e We got college hipsterish The internet and food TV shows boosted us People excursion and come to Matt s It s a pilgrimage We learned to adapt it was gradual I call it lifting the bull It gets a little heavier each day For the newbies the pace is a lot to get your arms around It s been more than Nelson might have imagined a quintupling of business with no marketing or physical expansion I was when I bought it he recalls he s now I longed to feed my family make a decent living eventually move to Florida I don t like stress and I d seen a lot of failure I desired to do it right I think I ve run it pretty well all things considered Feriancek has worked for Nelson for almost as long as he s owned the bar She started at as a server and though she had dalliances with corporate jobs she perpetually kept a shift at Matt s I ve learned so much from Scott she says He s really got a genius for this business Nearly a decade ago Feriancek gave Nelson a polite ultimatum She wished to be in leadership stop working nights see her commitment rewarded Reported she would seemingly leave otherwise Nelson worked consecutive days when he bought Matt s but now spends most of of the year in Florida Feriancek had become his eyes and ears She says Nelson seemed peeved at first but soon after named her general manager The concept of enough Matt s doesn t use a computerized point-of-sale system servers place orders on old-fashioned paper guest checks which go in the trash after provision But Nelson tracks Jucy sales every day every week and we ve never had a down year Matt s he says maxes out at on a weekend day basically for every seat in a restaurant that is open hours a day Takeout is limited and inconvenient and only comprises of Matt s revenue Customers have to wait to get a table at Matt s virtually from open to close p m in winter might be the only reliable time to find an open table or stool When we see a line we relax quips Feriancek For Matt s to grow it would either need to alter the historic bar or add another location which would not have the vibe of the original Neither option appeals to Nelson Feriancek had been fielding requests for Matt s to cater special events or close for private parties for years requests she couldn t fulfill But in recent days she began to explore the idea of a food truck Customers want more of us but I don t want to cannibalize the restaurant Nelson explains So we re going to grow the truck and then turn bulk of that over to Amy I owe a lot to her and want her to have something for her family Related Rethinking the Minneapolis drive-thru ban Ren e puts the generosity into context Scott has enough and is content to grow the business to sponsorship others she explains The concept of enough is hard for specific people to understand at present Nelson has that luxury because Matt s is a very profitable business Almost every component of its operation is optimized Everything we do is based on eliminating approaches he says Twin Cities food icon Andrew Zimmern who operates his own burger joint Patty and Frank s out of an Atlanta food hall has been observing Matt s for decades Their hard and soft costs are as tight as you can find says Zimmern Because they serve an iconic item it s going to attract visitors from out of town which fills the dead hours that afflict most of bars and restaurants I would guess they re doing between million and million a year in food beverage sales and I have to assume they are bringing to the bottom line and it wouldn t shock me if that number was bigger A typical restaurant produces margins around with the majority of lucrative generating around Numerous do far less Zimmern s estimates which TCB ran by several other longtime local restaurateurs would place Matt s among the the greater part profitable restaurants in the metro area with earnings similar to the highest-grossing steakhouses One or two food trucks which operate seasonally and for limited hours may not ever outpace the original bar but given Matt s margins they extend its brand further bolstering th and Cedar and deliver incremental profitability Since the truck can serve twice as countless customers per hour as Matt s can a six-hour shift at a popular event could generate nearly the same revenue as the bar on an entire day Where the magic happens A Jucy was cents when it debuted it s at this time Credit Tim Evans Twin Cities Business Family or sell For the first time in a very long time Matt s is in a time of transition A lot of my original hires are aging explains Nelson It s a new regime My son s cooking for us and he s starting to learn it Add the challenges of managing a food truck and Matt s future is suddenly not just more of the same Nelson is vital and has no interest in selling yet But he wants to figure out if son Sean has a feel and thirst for the business Otherwise sometime in the next decade Matt s will once again change families Feriancek is a logical successor Family or sell is the question Nelson says but I m not there yet Expansion may unnerve Matt s traditionalists but Feriancek frames it this way We needed something new that kept us the same Once she matures the food truck operation there s another peak to scale The ultimate goal is the State Fair she says estimating it would require six grills cooking Jucys an hour Time marches on and the old bar at th and Cedar will never again be the joint that Nibs Martin or Matt Bristol built But a couple days each winter when ice and snow keep the visitors in their hotels and the suburbanites afraid to brave the not-yet-plowed city streets Matt s fills with locals as it did back in the day And on those days reputedly one can find an open stool order a double cheeseburger and a cup of coffee for and watch Mitch Ditlefsen tend the grill while snowflakes fall No consultant can engineer it yet now and then a joint becomes so special that it only transcdends the sum of its parts I detest overcooked burgers I am not a fan of cheese on my burgers I am persnickety about beef and bun quality Zimmern says And yet I would crawl across a desert of broken glass to have a hot-off-the-griddle Jucy Lucy The post The Miracle of Matt s appeared first on MinnPost