Posted on 04/03/2011 4:59:17 AM PDT by LiveFreeOrDie2001
Large crowds gathered at Porky's in St. Paul Friday, a few days before the decades-old restaurant closes its doors.
Nora Truelson and her late husband opened Porky's in 1953, establishing it as the St. Paul gathering place on Saturday nights.
Truelson declined to speak on camera, but her son told 5 EYEWITNESS News light rail construction along University Avenue was a factor in the decision to close.
The Truelsons say they are selling their property to their next door neighbor, Episcopal Homes. The restaurant is scheduled to close Sunday; everything at Porky's will be auctioned off Monday.
The Preservation Alliance of Minnesota is putting the restaurant on its endangered places list. The organization is hoping the property can be preserved, possibly by moving the building.
Like "Happy Days".
Thanks to central corridor light rail, which is not self-sustaining and will only have a few hundled riders.
Sad Ping to list...
As a kid my first employment was at Porky’s and my Dad worked their for a bit to earn money for a second car for our family. Sad to see it go especially for light rail that will always be subsidized by taxpayer money.
‘light rail construction along University Avenue was a factor in the decision to close.’
Thanks Willie Green.
Urban renewal destroying YET another historic icon.
America disappears and like the basketball nets in Delaware, it'll be your friendly neighborhood cops that will enforce this madness.
This is Detroitification: in addition to destroying a community icon, it takes this productive, job-providing property off the tax rolls.
As a noun, it is the endpoint of democrat/labor union governance.
As a verb, “Detroitify,” is to willfully destroy a civilization.
Guys in my office used to run over for lunch when I worked at W. 7th and Otto.
I remember back in the 60s the carhops there were on rollerskates.
Light rail - a costly taxpayer-subsidized Liberal touchy-feely project that will continue to cost taxpayers money as the years go by.
I don’t know if anyone remembers Nora’s restaurant. Darn good turkey dinners with all the trimmings.
Now Porky’s is gone. The Truelsons had a good run in the restaurant business. Sad to see them go. Social engineering stinks!
It sounds to me as if the ownership is either unable to pass the business down to the next generation of their family or they’ve been losing money for awhile (property taxes, the recession, etc.) and blight rail was just the last straw.
A lot of family-run businesses have a certain lifespan and then die off because the next generation wanted to pursue other interests besides the family business.
Sad, nonetheless, but it could be a sign of changing neighborhoods, priorities, etc. as much as it is the rail line. Heck, if the food is good and enough commie-libs lived there, they’ve probably been forced to compromise their recipes because of salt, fat, cholesterol and other regulations by the health nazis.
The first Pig Stand opened in Dallas Oak Cliff in the 1920s. First in curb service, neon lights, onion rings, Texas toast.
That grew to a multi state chain and there are a few left around Texas. I recall the agonizing about the end of an era when the last Pig Stand in Dallas closed.
It got squeezed on one side by the Mexicans who preferred taco de carnitas and on the other side by urban pioneers who preferred the other white meat.
Original Pig Stand in San Antonio still going strong. My father’s favorite Saturday lunch stop. I had forgotten how good the onion rings were, only rivaled by Sonny Bryan’s on Inwood
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I lived about 8 block from Porkys back in the late 90’s.
Fun place to sit in a lawn chair and watch cars on a summer night.
Won’t be the same as watching muggings at light rail stop but then again, I don’t plan on visiting the area any more.
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