More than a restaurant: Perkins in Edina closes after 50 years

EDINA, Minn. (FOX 9) - One Perkins Family Restaurant has served up everything from early morning breakfasts to late night snacks over the years. But there were a lot of emotions as employees and customers prepare to say their final farewells.

Kathy Dilley and her friends used to come to the Perkins in Edina on the last day of class every year when they were students at St. Louis Park High School. Now they are back to have one last meal.

"Really bummed. I want it to stay, we want it to stay," said Dilley of her final visit.

The restaurant that has been near 50th street and Highway 100 for nearly 50 years will serve its last piece of pie on Tuesday.

The general manager says the building has been sold to a developer who will demolish it and build a 7-story apartment building in its place.

"I'm devastated by it. I've been crying for the last two days. I'll probably cry tonight," said Dawn Depriest.

For the last few days customers have been coming in to take a stroll down memory lane.

Dawn Depriest

"Some stories that I’ve heard is people met here 20 to 30 years ago and have come back in the last day or two to sit the same booth where they met," Depriest said. "I had a mother and daughter who came in when she was pregnant with her daughter and her daughter is 39 and they came in to eat and sit in their same booth."

They say the restaurant has been a gathering place for the community as well as a second home for some employees for decades – and it's hard to say goodbye.

One Perkins Family Restaurant has served up everything from early morning breakfasts to late night snacks over the years. But there were a lot of emotions as employees and customers prepare to say their final farewells.

"It's been a real honor and it's shaped who I am today and I know that sounds silly about a place that serves pancakes, but I can't imagine myself any other way," she said.

Dilley and her friends will find somewhere else to get together in the future, but they'll always cherish the memories they made in this piece of their past.

The restaurant will close early at 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. The 45 employees have been moved to other Perkins in the area.