For a lot of Minnesota families, a slice of French silk or a whole lemon supreme from Bakers Square wasn’t just dessert. It was how you said thank you, celebrated a birthday, or got through a holiday when nobody had time to bake.
The chain’s story goes back to December 1969, when a single restaurant called Mrs. C’s opened in Des Moines. Its fresh fruit and cream pies built enough of a reputation that it reached Minneapolis, where Pillsbury took notice.
Pillsbury bought the restaurant and renamed it Poppin’ Fresh Pies. After VICORP, the owner of Village Inn, bought the chain in 1983, it became Bakers Square.
At its peak, Bakers Square had more than 140 restaurants. However, the decades that followed were rough, with bankruptcies in 2008 and 2020 that left the chain with just 14 locations.
Famous Dave’s parent company, BBQ Holdings, bought the brand in 2021. A year later, Canada-based MTY Food Group bought BBQ Holdings in a deal worth about $200 million.
Today, the company’s own website lists only a handful of full-service restaurants, spread across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Minnesota. Until this week, Minnesota had two of them. That number has suddenly dropped to one.
Mankato’s Bakers Square Closes Without Warning
The Bakers Square at 1861 Madison Avenue in Mankato appears to have closed as of Monday, November 2. Online ordering for the restaurant is listed as “unavailable at this time,” and calls to the restaurant went unanswered Monday morning.
The Mankato Man Facebook page first reported the abrupt closure, and employees have been sharing comments on the post. Bring Me The News has reached out to MTY Group for more information. So far, there’s been no official announcement explaining the decision.
The Mankato closure follows several others in the state. The Apple Valley location closed in 2019, West St. Paul followed in 2020, and St. Paul’s Highland Park restaurant closed in January 2023. That left Coon Rapids and Mankato as the last two standing.
Minnesota’s Last Bakers Square Is in Coon Rapids
The lone remaining Bakers Square in Minnesota is at 12951 Riverdale Drive NW in Coon Rapids. Sources indicate that the restaurant confirmed it was open and operating as usual on Monday.
If it’s been a while since you’ve had a booth and a slice, now might be the time to go. With Mankato gone, there are only about five full-service Bakers Square restaurants left nationwide.
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You Can Still Get the Pie
The good news for pie lovers is that you don’t need a Bakers Square to get Bakers Square pie.
The company lists more than a dozen Famous Dave’s restaurants across Minnesota that carry its pies, from the Twin Cities suburbs to Rochester and beyond. Several Famous Dave’s locations in Wisconsin sell them as well. Selection can vary, so it’s worth calling ahead.
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Gallery Credit: Troy Dunken
