FOOD AND DRINK ON MINNETONKA BLVD.
From the Re-Echo, September 2007

In our last issue, we examined the various liquor establishments that made Excelsior Blvd. famous. Not to be outdone, we now look at what Minnetonka Blvd. and Lake Street had to offer in the way of refreshments.

It is interesting to note that several ads for gas stations, right after repeal in the mid ‘30s, advertised beer – on tap! Someone must have figured out rather quickly that this kind of “fill ‘er up!” was not a good idea.

Actually, Minnetonka and Lake didn’t have much in the way of bars and restaurants. There was Cliff’s Drive-in at Minnetonka and Highway 100. At first it was next to a gas station, but the highway swallowed it up – the rebuilt gas station is still there. There was the Jiffy Lunch across from the new Texa-Tonka Shopping Center, and there is a spectacular picture, taken in 1959, of a drive-in at 8105 Minnetonka, but alas by 1961 it was a Laundromat. The Bee Line Diner sounds inviting: now Beek’s Pizza since 1957 at 6325 Minnetonka. Probably your best bet to wet your whistle was Art and Esther’s Tavern, at Louisiana. This building became a grocery store and then the original Park Tavern.

What Minnetonka Blvd. had in spades was grocery stores. Here are some of them:

Esser/Stewart/McGilligan/Lee/Western: 5555 Lake Street (now Linsk Floral)

Stillman’s: 4000 Minnetonka

Giller Drugs and Liquor: 4008 Minnetonka

August Witt’s Super Valu: 4100 Minnetonka

Borchert’s Milk House: 4201 Minnetonka

Moldestad’s/Prall’s: 4805 Minnetonka

Klein’s, Piggly Wiggly, Don’s, Tony’s: 6312 Minnetonka

Moscrip’s/Jackson’s/Park Manor/Kent’s Big Ten Food Store: also the site of Beek’s Pizza.

Please let us know if we’ve missed any major sources of food and drink on the (other) Boulevard!

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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.