I don't know how many of you are into the hot rod/crusing scene, but it just got a little bit smaller. Most of the MN people have known about this for months, but the story broke last night that Porky's Resteraunt in St. Paul will be closing for good on Sunday.
http://www.kare11.com/news/article/916970/391/Porkys-in-St-Paul-closing-its-doors-Sunday
Kinda sad to see that a St. Paul landmark of this caliber is going away....... and it's being sold to a retirement community of all things.
It would be funny if they kept the name for the retirement community
The retirement community is the next door neighbor, so I imagine they'll expand their building eventually but in the short term it will probably turn into a parking lot.
I've been hearing that for a while, and finally saw it on the news last night. In addition, they have University Avenue all torn up for work on the new light rail system so the summer cruise season isn't going to work very well this year. I wonder what it's going to be like for the Back to the 50s weekend - 11,000 hot rods with no place to go.
I hope the MN historical society makes a deal with them to get the big Porky's sign, it needs to be preserved.
edited for hotlink:
That sucks. I really hate when things like this happen. Hopefully there will be a new hot spot somewhere.
Yeah, I'm hoping to get down there at some point during the open/sale thing they're having and get some memorabilia. I've spent my last 4 summers there 2x a week, and I'm honestly at a loss for what to do with myself on Wednesday and Saturday.
i've been there a couple of times and i don't get what the big deal is.. when the cool cars are out, the street is crowded so you can't really drive and the parking lot is full so you can't park.. maybe it's a city boy/country by thing, but as a country boy my idea of "cruising" doesn't involve idling in traffic.
Around here there's a whole "cruise night" circuit where everyone just goes to a place that has a fixed night and parks. No traffic, room to walk around, generally a nice time. They're usually well-organized, so there's not much in terms of shenanigans.
I bring my 99 Civic Si to a couple of them every summer. Partly to throw the musclecar guys a curveball and partly just to check out cars. There are usually a few "oddball" cars at each one. One that stuck out as a GRM-type car was a mint Saab 900 turbo. 
Honestly, it's been more the import guys keeping the scene alive around here. There's several VERY serious Evos/STis/ETC that show up on the weekends, and it's usually the same old 3 camaros from the domestic side. In any event, it's one less car thing I have an option for on the weekends. Lemme tell ya, going up there in my friends RHD FOB (fresh off the boat) STI-r is quite humorous. People get REALLY confused in MN where the steering wheel isn't where it should be.
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