Minneapolis Modern Times Cafe Announces Year End Closure

Modern Times Café, an independent restaurant in Minneapolis, Minnesota, will close permanently by the end of 2026 after owner Dylan Alverson spent years trying to sustain the business while maintaining its community-focused mission. Alverson announced the decision on social media and said he would use the remaining two months to celebrate the restaurant's 16-year history and explore ways to preserve its approach.

The closure follows a series of changes to the restaurant's business model, including a six-month period without fixed menu prices and an initiative to provide free meals in protest of federal immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota.

Alverson said he had spent six years seeking ways to keep the establishment operating without compromising its principles. He acknowledged that his efforts had not produced a sustainable path forward.

"For the last six years, I’ve been trying to prove that Modern Times can continue to exist. I’ve exhausted every option without compromising the core fundamentals that make Modern Times what it is," Alverson wrote on social media.

The owner said the remaining months would provide an opportunity to recognize the business's history and consider how similar community-oriented establishments might survive. He argued that the challenges facing his restaurant reflected broader structural problems.

"The only way for places like Modern Times to exist in the future is to actively challenge the reasons why it can no longer exist," Alverson wrote.

In January, Alverson announced on Instagram that the restaurant had rebranded as Post Modern Times and would adopt a free and donation-based model. The initiative welcomed customers except Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, in protest of immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota and following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Alverson explained the decision as a rejection of generating revenue under circumstances he considered incompatible with the restaurant's principles.

"We absolutely cannot go on as we have. I am sick of generating money for the soldiers in our streets and for a government that won't protect us — a government who is actively inflicting daily harm on its citizens. Effective tomorrow we are done making money for the fascists that occupy our city," Alverson wrote.

The decision followed the fatal shooting of Pretti by Border Patrol agents, according to the source report.

Modern Times Café operated without fixed prices for approximately six months before temporarily closing in July. When the business reopened in August, it restored menu prices but continued offering 25 free meals each day.

By October, Alverson told The New York Times that the restaurant was operating with no profit margin. He hoped the initiative could provide a framework for other restaurants seeking to fund community hospitality through donations.

"If I can create a fundraising mechanism that can raise money to provide hospitality, we can take that program and add restaurants to it," Alverson said.

The approach also created operational challenges. Alverson acknowledged that the demands placed on employees were substantial and that customers sometimes waited as long as two hours for meals, about half of which were typically provided free. Neighbors also raised concerns that homeless people and people struggling with drug addiction might take advantage of the program.

In comments to Fox News Digital, Alverson maintained his position that independent restaurants face significant financial pressures. He pointed to the wider difficulties confronting businesses beyond his own establishment.

"I think a bigger question right now is how many independent restaurants are close to collapse?" Alverson said.