Mr. Pedro’s Supper Club
This venue is located at 788 Grand Ave., 5 blocks east of Lexington, in St. Paul.
TALLY’S BAR
According to an article Dated June 25, 1948, Chester C. Tallaksen built the building in the summer of 1947 as Tally’s Bar. On June 16, 1948, a sheriff’s sale was ordered against the bar in order to pay a $23,959 claim by Dunnigan Construction Co. and $15,000 in other liens.
VOGES
On June 25, 1948, Tallaksen’s liquor license was transferred to Harold H. Voges, who was a sporting goods salesman and a well-known bowler who was in the newspapers frequently for his bowling prowess. There is only one mention of Voges in the Minneapolis papers other than Harold himself, and it was in 1949, referring to the Voges Cafe. The St. Paul papers are not online.
Photo courtesy Pam Ford
MR. PEDRO’S
Mr. Pedro was Joe Pedro, nee Pitera, from Calabria, Italy
In 1963, Mr. Pedro’s was described: Gracious decor with Tennessee marble, teakwood paneling and parquet floor for dinner dancing. Exquisite dining room chandelier. Dinner and dancing music nightly.
First ad, November 27, 1964
Minneapolis Tribune, February 26, 1965
Here’s a touching story from Rosemary Mueller Perreault, reprinted by permission from Facebook:
Went there with my fiancee to celebrate our wedding engagement in April of 1966. My fiancee was told he could not enter the restaurant without tie and sport coat. He was presented with a sport coat and tie to wear (the likes of a not particularly handsome Robert Hall ensemble), and we were escorted to a booth. After being totally embarrassed and laughing quietly to ourselves, we ordered our meal. Cannot recall the actual meal, but presumably delicious, we were serenaded by wandering violinists who stopped by each table and booth. To this day, it is a favorite tale to tell. The music was beautiful as I recall.
It was such a special occasion for us, celebrating our engagement. My fiance’s uncle joined us for dinner; he wore a sport coat! My fiance didn’t look like a scum bag. He wore a white shirt and dress pants; however, we were naive “kids” from small town Minnesota, did not realize the guy had to wear a sport coat to enter the restaurant. I, on the other hand, most assuredly wore a dress and high heels, which was the norm back then. Times have certainly changed and become more relaxed, possibly a bit too relaxed! I have no recollection what we ordered from the menu, as I believe I was too “star” struck with the violinists and just becoming engaged! It is a fun recollection.
Yes, our marriage survived the humiliating “no sport coat, no eating” rule at Mr. Pedro’s, and on July 2nd, 2018, we will celebrate 52 years of marriage!
From Dorene Peifer:
My step father died a year ago and I remember these glasses from when he and my Mother were married. So I kept the two he (they)carried around since the 1960s. Never did adjust the story. Assume it was s first date or favorite place to go.
Dorene sent a photo of one of the glasses from the ’60s.
In 1970, the Roustabouts were the house band.
Courtesy Mark Youngblood
Menu courtesy Bryan Kruger’s Mom
Matchbook posted by Ron Ciccone
The last ad in the Minneapolis papers was dated May 15, 1970.
NOBLE ROMAN
The location became the Noble Roman in January 1972.
The Noble Roman’s Chariot Room featured some of the best gimmicks in the Twin Cities. At first it appears that it was enough that the musicians in the bandstand looked like they were sitting in chariots.
January 23, 1972
January 30, 1972
Fone-A-Fun
These ads were tacked on to various Singles nights ads at other venues, starting on June 2, 1972
On June 24, 1972, Jim Klobuchar of the Minneapolis Star reported that the Chariot Room had been fitted with telephones at every table, so that patrons could call each other and chat or arrange for dances. Connections were made through a mini-skirted operator who sat behind the bandstand. The concept had started in a club in West Berlin, which Klobuchar had tried but had been foiled by the language barrier. It then traveled to San Francisco, but again Klobuchar had no ring-a-dingies, blaming it on his Vikings beanie. He was traveling with the team at the time, and the team was losing at the time. He figured he might have a chance at the Chariot Room, “assuming not all of the customers were under 30 and not all were reared in St. Paul.”
He was tipped off that a red-haired secretary from the First National Bank Building always dialed Station 36, so he sat there. Something about her Zodiac sign.
I was tastefully dressed in a style carefully intended to conceal any clues to my Iron Range breeding or Minneapolis background. I smiled easily, almost urbanely but not quite, avoiding a natural impulse to let all of the latent suaveness hang out.
Alas, his phone did not ring (actually a light flashed on a pole if you got a call), and it turned out that the redhead had dropped the Zodiac and took up Yoga. The operator took pity on him and gave him a call, giving him the time and temperature. “In our place, no customer is ever completely ignored.”
Phone-A-Fun was still in operation in October 1972 when Will Jones wrote a column about it. He didn’t have any luck either, but then again he sat at table 13.
The last mention of the Noble Roman in the Minneapolis papers was on December 25, 1973. It was reportedly a gay bar before it closed.
McCAFFERTY’S BAR AND RESTAURANT
Raymond McCafferty bought the place in 1976 and turned it into an Irish bar, with the accompanying Irish music and food. In August 1980 (or 1979) McCafferty sold the principal interest in the restaurant to three Irishmen, that is, men from Ireland. (or two Irishmen, Sean Clearkin and John Logan. McCafferty ran a gift shop in the basement of the complex called McCafferty’s Irish Village. (Minneapolis Star, November 6, 1981)
GRAND CENTRAL NIGHT CLUB
An article in the Star and Tribune dated June 20, 1986, by R.T. Rybak mentions that McCafferty’s was turned into a disco named Grand Central three years ago, which would be 1983.
LYON’s PUB
Lyon’s Pub on Grand (March 1991 to May 1997). This was a second location of Lyon’s Pub that was located at 16 So. 6th Street in Downtown Minneapolis from 1984 to at least November 2011.
WILD ONION
Wild Onion (May 1997 to March 31, 2018) Owned by Jay Salmen, former CEO of Sun Country Airlines
RED RABBIT
Owned by husband and wife Luke Shimp and Tracy Bachul, owners of the Red Cow restaurants. Red Rabbit is an Italian restaurant.
