Annie’s Parlour closing its doors after more than 50 years as a Dinkytown staple

Dinkytown staple closes its doors

A Dinkytown staple has closed its doors.

Annie’s Parlour served its last burgers on Wednesday, and while the economy has been to blame for many closings, that’s not necessarily the case at Annie’s. There’s a sign posted on the front door thanking customers, staff and students.

“I love burgers, burger and milkshake, just splitting them with my friends, since they’re like, big portions,” said U of M student Antoinette Barsoum.

Barsoum is just one of many U of M students to share a memory at Annie’s.

“The original Annie’s was on seven corners and opened about 1974,” said Anthony Rimarcik, Annie’s Parlour co-owner.

Rimarcik’s late father started the business, but now they’ve hung up the chairs for the final time.

“We simply are going to lose more money being open than being closed,” Rimarcik said. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s the hard facts.”

He says not enough people were ordering.

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“I think, very simply, is that we lost a whole generation of undergraduates at the university, so with COVID and … not reopening afterwards right away, the people that come in were probably brought in by someone older who’d been here before,” Rimarcik added. “It takes that continuity of business to really bring us to where we were before.”

“It’s gonna be sad, like looking back at last year, that was a really fun place to go,” Barsoum said.

“You kind of knew that by coming to Annie’s, there could be something for everyone,” said Rimarcik.

As far as what’s next, the family still owns the building, and they’re deciding if they’ll lease it or reopen with something different.