Log Cabin Bar – Robbinsdale
The Log Cabin Bar was located at 4900 West Broadway in Robbinsdale.
ELLIS LOG CABIN
The first hit on the Strib database comes on June 25, 1926, advertising for an experienced waitress. The location is given as “one mile north of Robbinsdale.”
There was a long tradition of dining and dancing on this site, perhaps starting with a dance at the Ellis Log Cabin on December 4, 1926. Below are some ads for the 1920s and ’30s.
Minneapolis Tribune, May 30, 1927
Minneapolis Tribune, October 1932
Minneapolis Tribune, April 4, 1934
Ad from Hennepin County Enterprise – Robbinsdale, October 1935
At one time it was owned by William J. Schindler. On December 29, 1957, Schindler died.
LOG CABIN BAR AND CAFE
In November 1951, ads announced its new owners, “Happy” Hall and his son Bill. Dancing every Friday and Saturday with music by Wally Mohr’s Dance Band.
In June 1952 the entertainment was provided by Bill Zerban’s Orchestra.
September 1953 ad, North Hennepin Press
Hap Hall advertised in the Minneapolis papers, Thanksgivings mostly, through 1954.
LOUIE’S LOG CABIN
The first ad for Louie’s Log Cabin in the Minneapolis papers was in November 1956.
According to the ad below, it was owned by Louie Paulsen, and there was dancing on Fridays and Saturdays.
Courtesy Pete Ritchie, Robbinsdale Historical Society
LOG CABIN CAFE
By October 1962 the papers were referring to it as the Log Cabin Cafe. By January 1963 the Dancehall joined the rock ‘n’ roll era:
Minneapolis Star, January 17, 1963
In February 1963, the bar was named in a dram shop lawsuit when a customer, Alan Richardson, sued the Bar to collect $100,000 in damages after he left the bar and caused a five-car accident on December. The bar had sold alcohol to the driver of the car in which Richardson had been riding, David Allen Gould, 19. The bar’s owner was revealed to be Allan Rosskraft, age 24.
Perhaps as a result of the lawsuit, the contents of the bar were advertised for sale in June 1963.
CABIN BAR AND LOUNGE
But the Bar (and Lounge) continued – as evidenced by an article in the Minneapolis Star in March 1965 reporting that a check forging ring had been broken up at the Log Cabin Cafe and Lounge.
The bar was advertised for sale in November 1967. Ads for help were resumed in June 1968 for the Cabin Bar. The last one found was in October 1978. By that time it was featuring local rock bands.
CRYSTAL LOUNGE
From January 1979 until the end of 1984, it was the Crystal Lounge. [There was another Crystal Lounge, in the Bungalow Inn, at Highway 52 at Bass Lake Road in Crystal from about 1970 to 1972.] The bar offered rock bands, but there seemed to be a lot of police reports from the place. There was an arrest for gambling on November 8, 1984.
STEVE O’S SPORTS BAR
In January 1985 it became Steve O’s Sports Bar.