LINCOLN DEL

The SLP Historical Society has one menu from the Lincoln Del dating from probably the early 1960s, but other than that we have no recipes and no information as to how to contact the family. 

It all started with Frank Berenberg, who came to America from Romania in 1900. The story goes that he was so enamored of the freedom of America, and of Abraham Lincoln in particular, that he named his first son Abraham and his business Lincoln.

Frank opened a bakery on Lyndale Ave. in Minneapolis in 1933, and brought sons Irving, Abraham, and Morris into the business in about 1935. The Lincoln Bakery was on Olson Highway in Minneapolis. The store was a “cold shop” where baked goods were sold but not made. The location was displaced in 1957 with the improvement of Highway 55, and the operation was moved to St. Louis Park.

There were at various times three Lincoln Del locations:

• Lincoln Del East, 4100 W. Lake Street (Minnetonka Blvd.). Opened 1957, closed in 2000.  Click here for a picture from 1966.
• The Lincoln Del West at Highways 100 and 12 (5201 Wayzata Blvd.). Opened in September 1965, closed in 1994.
• The Lincoln Del South on 494. Opened in 1975, closed in 2000.

In October 1970, workers picketed the Wayzata Blvd. store protesting the firing of two cooks who reportedly were fired because of union activities.  Owner Morrie Berenberg denied the accusation, even though the two had recently joined the otherwise non-union shop.  At the same time, the Lincoln Del was slapped with a sex-discrimination complaint brought by the State Human Rights Commission on behalf of Mrs. Nancy Juhl.  Mrs. Juhl claimed she was being paid less than men in the same job, and that she was fired in retaliation when she filed her claim. 
 

The Lincoln Del story ends when grandson Danny Berenberg decided to sell his 6.8 acre tract on the Bloomington strip to Walser Automotive for $6.4 million. Since the Bloomington store was also supporting the Park store and the Park location was too antiquated to run by itself, both had to go. The St. Louis Park store was closed in June 2000. Berenberg retained the rights to the name and all the recipes, and no, the St. Louis Park Historical Society does not have any of those recipes.  Many of the recipes came with family members who immigrated from Russia and Romania, Berenberg said in a Dispatch article.  At the time of closing, the borscht chefs moved to Zaroff's Deli in Minnetonka.


 


2000

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.