Cornbread Harris and his band play at Palmers on Sundays.
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE
Things to do on Cedar Avenue
Near the northern end of Cedar, in the Seven Corners and Cedar-Riverside area, you’ll find many entertainment options.
Theatre in the Round was founded in 1952 and is the longest-running theatre in Minneapolis. Their 2025-26 season will kick off Sept. 12 with “Pride and Prejudice.” Before that, there is the current run of the very interesting “Endometriosis: The Musical” through July 13. The Fringe Festival is July 31 through Aug. 10, with TRP being a major venue. Also two short guest company performances are scheduled: Be That Neighbor’s “Hope 612” (July 18 – 20) and Jackdonkey Productions’ “Henry V” (Aug. 14 – 18).
Palmer’s Bar, 500 Cedar Avenue, is not only one of the iconic South Minneapolis dive bars, it is also a reliably good and relatively inexpensive music venue for a wide variety of music styles. Sundays at 5 p.m. are reserved for the Church of Cornbread (IYKYK). Second Tuesdays are free for the Zen Open Jam, and third Tuesdays are New Band night for $5. Both run from 8 to 11 p.m. Palmer’s is open from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. almost every day of the year.
May Day Books is a volunteer collective which sells left-wing and progressive literature. It is the only retail store left in an area that used to be a retail hub. Last year the owner of Midwest Mountaineering, the largest shop on the Avenue, retired and closed. Their buildings are on the market for $2M or so.
The Cedar Inn has jumbo chicken wings
Places to eat and drink along Cedar Avenue
The Cedar Inn is another noted dive bar in South Minneapolis, but it’s more family friendly and has very good food. Their Jumbo Chicken Wings are legendary. You can get a big serving of tater tots for $5 or such delights as battered mushrooms, mini chicken tacos, or chicken drummies for under $10. If you’re not imbibing, wash it down with a 1919 root beer or a nice healthy cranberry juice. Located at 4155 Cedar Avenue, it’s open 11 a.m. to 2 a. m., seven days a week.
Carbone’s, at 4705 Cedar Ave., has a great patio and live music. Besides, of course, pizza, the location offers (for takeout) calzones, broasted chicken, hoagies, fries, desserts, and more. If you’re dining in, there is all that plus beer. A fun fact: there is a Carbone’s in Apple Valley, 14.6 miles away, and you can drive from one to the other with no turns until you get there as they are both on Cedar Avenue/ Highway 77.
ie Italian Eatery by Travail is across the road from Carbone’s at 4724 Cedar Avenue. Preserving the name and much of the menu, this restaurant resulted from the group Travail buying local favorite ie from its founding owners last year. Its popularity has continued unabated, as far as I can tell. Check out italianeaterymsp.com for complete menus and reservations.
Painted Turtle is the seasonal restaurant on the shore of Lake Nokomis. They have fancy appetizers and fancy hot dogs (including a vegan brat option on all of them!) and a few other crowd pleasers like fish tacos and chicken tenders. They also have fancy ice cream, from MN Dairy Lab, paletas (fancy Mexican frozen bars), beer and wine.
Grocery Shopping on Cedar Avenue
Everett’s is the family-owned grocery store at the busy corner of 38th Street and Cedar, with its famous 90+ year-old owner/butcher Jack Pflepsen. They are known for their meat products like sausages, meatloaf, smoked brisket, and more. There used to be a candy shop facing Cedar Avenue around the corner that was owned by one of the Pflepsen family members. It closed, except it didn’t totally close, it’s just snugged up inside Everett’s now. The previous space is for lease.
Lunds & Byerly’s was sort of the replacement for Bergan’s (SuperValu) grocery which in turn replaced the old Red Owl at the same location. Bergan’s was torn down in 2019 and a low-rise multi-unit modern apartment building was built with a Lund’s on its ground floor. I shop there sometimes. It’s good, as Lund’s generally are.
Carbone’s hockey team
(Photo/Carbone’s via Facebook)
Services on Cedar Avenue
Soderlin is a great neighborhood asset. This plumbing, heating, air conditioning service and installation company is currently 111 years old and has tons of glowing reviews. They are locally owned, veteran owned and union-affiliated.
Washburn-McReavy is a well-known funeral services company in the Twin Cities, but I did not realize they had a facility just off of Cedar Avenue until recently. Washburn-McReavy is over 160 years old. Founded as a furniture company, the business began specializing in “undertaking” the year before Minnesota became a state. They are still operated by descendants of the same family, and have several cemeteries, 18 chapels, and a pre-arrangement center. Their services go beyond just arranging funerals, burials and cremations to include pre-arrangement, counseling for grief, help with flowers, food, and gifts, and even how to write an obituary or eulogy.
Washburn-McReavy Nokomis Park chapel
Parks and a historic cemetery
East Phillips Park (2399 17th Avenue) and Cedar Field Park (2500 Cedar Avenue) are only separated by a few blocks. At 1.9 acres, Cedar Avenue Field is one of the smallest parks in the 180+ Minneapolis park system. East Phillips is the area’s main park, with 6.6 acres and a full-size recreation center.
Soldiers’ and Pioneers’ Cemetery on the northeast corner of Cedar Avenue and Lake Street is one of the oldest institutions in Minneapolis, with markers dating back to 1853. It recently gained an additional historic designation for the part played by some of its deceased residents in the Minneapolis stretch of the Underground Railroad.
The cemetery is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, Apr. 15 to Oct. 15 .
