This Restaurant Was Once Popular in Minnesota– And It’s Still Open

It's consistently listed as one of the restaurants we miss the most here in Minnesota. But did you know this restaurant is actually still around today?!?

When it comes to nostalgia, few things bring up as many fond memories as those once-popular restaurants that now are gone for good. To start walking down memory lane, all you have to do is think about some of those places your parents took you when you were a kid that are now long gone.

Remember going to Ponderosa Steakhouse when you were a kid? Yeah, they're not around anymore in Minnesota. Remember Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips? They used to have several locations in here in the North Star State, but all are now closed for good, as well. (Although apparently there is still a location open in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

While there have been a TON of restaurants that have come and gone here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the previously popular restaurant were talking about here is actually Shakey's Pizza. And Minnesotans have routinely listed that restaurant numerous times whenever they're asked about a local restaurant everyone loved but that isn't around anymore.

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But, wait a minute-- Shakey's Pizza IS still around! And, yes, it IS the same chain that once called many cities here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, as well as many other locations across the Midwest, home. While I never made it to any Shakey's locations here in the Bold North, I did go to Shakey's in beautiful Rib Mountain, Wisconsin, near my hometown of Wausau when I was a kid.

One popular Shaky's location in Minnesota was in Rochester. This Post-Bulletin story says the Rochester Shakey's opened in March of 1968. It was one of 342 Shakey's Pizza restaurants operating at that time, and was, according to the article, Rochester's first real pizza place. The story says it closed when MnDOT began to rework sections of the Highway-52 frontage road where it was located, and the owners didn't want to relocate the business.

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But, if you're a Shakey's fan, there's good news: According to THIS website, you'll see the Shakey's Pizza chain is still very much around! That's the good news. The bad news is that the closest Shakey's location to Minnesota is... almost 1,100 miles away in Auburn, Alabama.

The Shakey's site also lists several other locations that are still open out in California, Washington state, and down in Mexico. Road trip, anybody? Keep scrolling, too, to check out some other classic chains that have long since gone-- but that we still miss!

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