EDINA, Minn. — A Perkins is closing.
Why is that so important? Well, this one was always one of high visibility, and its "Free Pie Monday" signs could always be visible from Highway 100.
"I brought the children here when they were little," 91-year-old Marge Kruse said.
"I've been coming here... I mean seriously since I was probably 12, 13?" Jan McCullouch said. "My family always came here after church."
Combing through the nearly 50 years of this Perkins on Eden Avenue, the loss is worth a lunchtime lament.
"It's very sad that it's closing because it's really a landmark for a lot of people here," MuCullouch added.
"I think it's just a staple in the community, we've all kind of grown up with it," Kruse said.
And if a restaurant could raise a high school kid, Kris Dowson would know.
"I grew up down the road and back then this was a place where everybody worked," Dowson said. "All my friends would work at Perkins, it was fun."
So fun that she never left. Her service started in 1979, but it's ending on Tuesday — at least at this location.
"[It's] very hard, very hard, because a lot of us are going in different directions," Dowson said. "This has been in the works for over a year and we just kept thinking it wasn't going to happen and then slowly, slowly, slowly, and now it's reality. Like two weeks ago, I think it finally set in where it's like, this is going to happen."
So what made this Perkins so special? Well, everyone had different reasons — but similar.
"I think just the neighborhood because we've gotten people from birth, and you watch people grow," Dowson said. "And everybody is friends and family and they know somebody who knows you, who knows you."
"The location may close, but our group will always be together," Nancy Young said.
"We just wanna say goodbye to all our friends and really sad that they're leaving," McCullouch said. "We found out where some of them are going so we may go to those places."
This Edina Perkins served its last meal and closed Tuesday at 4 p.m.
A lot of the employees, including Kris, say they're headed to other Perkins locations nearby.
As for what's going up in its place, the Edina City Council approved plans for an apartment complex on the site.
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