After a 10-year run on Hennepin Avenue, the Uptown Red Cow is getting ready to serve its last burgers and beers. The neighborhood staple will close on June 1 when its lease expires, leaving behind a patio-sized hole in a stretch of Uptown that has already seen plenty of turnover.
Owner Luke Shimp called the decision "not easy" in a statement, and the company says staffers will be offered positions at other Red Cow and Red Rabbit locations in the Twin Cities and in Rochester, according to the Star Tribune. The paper reports that the lease ends June 1 and that five other Minnesota Red Cow locations will stay open. Shimp did not cite any reason for the Uptown shutdown beyond the end of the lease.
Red Cow traces its beginnings to 2013 and has grown into a small local chain with outposts in the North Loop, St. Paul, Rochester, and Wayzata, among others. The company emphasizes its focus on burgers, craft beer, and a neighborhood-tavern vibe, and keeps an updated list of open locations on its site, per Red Cow.
Other Locations and Staff Plans
While Uptown prepares to say goodbye, the rest of the Red Cow lineup is getting facelifts rather than farewells. The North Loop restaurant underwent a renovation in 2025, and the south Minneapolis spot is currently closed for a remodel, the Star Tribune reports. Over in Edina, the 50th & France location is temporarily closed for an update that is slated to run through June 1, according to Bring Me The News. Company leaders say those restaurants are expected to remain open after the Uptown lease runs out.
What Uptown Loses
The closure is another hit for the Hennepin and Lake area, where a steady churn of openings and closings has become the norm. Pandemic fallout, civil unrest, and prolonged street reconstruction have left empty storefronts and uneven foot traffic, a pattern examined in recent coverage of Uptown's slow rebound. Losing a decade-old patio hangout is both a symbolic and everyday loss for neighbors who relied on the strip for casual dinners and prime people-watching, even as new concepts try to coax life back onto the corridor.
June 1 will be the Uptown Red Cow's final day of service. Fans who want to squeeze in one more burger have a deadline, and anyone craving Red Cow after that will need to look to the chain's other metro and regional locations. This story will be updated if Red Cow or the building's owners share what might come next for the space.
