Restaurant closures have continued to reshape local dining across the country in 2026. In Minnesota, June brought three notable goodbyes in Minneapolis and Richfield as Borough, El Tejaban Mexican Grill & Lito’s Burritos, and Red Cow’s Uptown location all shut down.
Three familiar Minnesota restaurants closed in June
Borough in Minneapolis closed on June 27, 2026, ending a 13-year run at 730 N. Washington Ave., according to parent company Jester Concepts. The North Loop restaurant opened in January 2013 and that same year landed on Bon Appétit’s list of the 50 best new restaurants in America. Jester Concepts said the space will become Revival, with a reopening target of September 2026. Parlour, the burger bar in the same building, closed June 28 through July 5 for renovations and reopened July 6.
Red Cow’s Uptown Minneapolis location closed earlier in the month, on June 1, 2026, after about 10 years at 2626 Hennepin Ave. Owner Luke Shimp said sales fell 60 to 70 percent during the Hennepin Avenue reconstruction that ran from 2024 through fall 2025. He said business was still down about 50 percent when he chose not to sign a new five-year lease.
In Richfield, El Tejaban Mexican Grill & Lito’s Burritos at 6519 Nicollet Ave. closed this month after nearly 20 years in business. The family-owned restaurant opened in 2008 and expanded into a 150-seat restaurant with a full bar. In 2023, the owners added Lito’s Burritos as a breakfast concept attached to the same business.
What these closures mean in Minneapolis and Richfield
The local impact is clearest in the neighborhoods these restaurants served. Borough helped define the North Loop dining scene for more than a decade, and its final service on June 27 closed one chapter in a part of Minneapolis that has changed quickly since 2013. What is confirmed is that a new restaurant is already planned for the address, with Jester Concepts saying Revival will reopen there later in 2026.
In Uptown, Red Cow’s closure removes a longtime tenant from one of Minneapolis’ best-known commercial corridors. Uptown Business Association president Andrea Corbin told KSTP that more than 60 businesses have closed along the Hennepin Avenue corridor in recent years. Red Cow said employees were offered jobs at its other locations, and the brand still operates five other Minnesota restaurants plus two Red Rabbit locations.
Richfield’s loss looks different because El Tejaban was an independent restaurant with one main location that had served customers since 2008. The owners said in their farewell statement that the restaurant began as a dream for two Mexican immigrants building a better future. The company did not give a reason for the permanent closure, and no broader list of affected Minnesota locations applies here because Lito’s Burritos on Lake Street remains open.
Why these restaurants closed and what comes next
Each closure had a different documented cause. Borough did not close because the parent company was leaving the market. Jester Concepts confirmed it is replacing Borough with Revival, a Southern comfort food concept founded in 2015 that had closed all four Twin Cities locations in January 2025 before Jester acquired the brand in 2025.
Red Cow’s reason was more direct and more measurable. Shimp said the two-year Hennepin Avenue reconstruction cut sales by 60 to 70 percent from 2024 through fall 2025, and he told Mpls.St.Paul Magazine that the business took hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep operating. He said the restaurant never recovered enough traffic to justify a new lease after construction ended.
El Tejaban’s final announcement did not name a specific cause, so that remains unconfirmed. What is documented is that the restaurant temporarily closed in January 2026 during Operation Metro Surge, when immigrant-owned businesses in the area were targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, before reopening. For customers, the immediate picture is straightforward: Borough is gone, Red Cow is gone from Uptown, El Tejaban is closed in Richfield, and at least one replacement, Revival, is expected later in 2026.
