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Palace Theatre's Pizza Fiasco: When 'Live Music Ethos' Meets a Million-Dollar Lawsuit
Alright, folks, settle in. Because if there's one thing I can't stand, it's a good old-fashioned corporate love affair gone sour, especially when it involves pizza, rock clubs, and lawyers. And lemme tell ya, the drama unfolding between the venerable Palace Theatre and the once-lauded Wrecktangle Pizza? It's a real masterpiece of mismanagement, served up with a side of legal papers demanding over $1.6 million. Yeah, you heard that right. Millions. For pizza. For more details on the legal proceedings, see Palace Theatre sues Wrecktangle Pizza for $1.6 million over failed restaurant partnership - Star Tribune.
This whole mess, this "Wrecktangle Wrestaurant" experiment, closed its doors in less than two years. Less than two years! And now the Palace Theatre, operated by First Avenue, is suing Wrecktangle Pizza in Hennepin County District Court, alleging breach of contract. They fronted over $3.3 million for this partnership, apparently. Three point three million. I mean, I love pizza as much as the next guy, but that's a whole lotta dough, no pun intended. Who green-lights these kinds of numbers without a rock-solid exit strategy? It's enough to make you wonder if anyone actually does due diligence anymore, or if they just get swept up in the "vibe."
The Dream That Just Wasn't Meant to Be
Remember back in early 2023 when Wrecktangle Pizza was riding high, crowned "best pizza in the United States" by "Good Morning America"? Man, that must've felt like hitting the lottery. And then First Avenue, with their Palace Theatre, swoops in. They bought the old Wild Tymes space next door to the Palace, decided to create a whole new restaurant for pre/post-show dining, daily foot traffic, the whole nine yards. A 51/49 partnership, Palace Pizza, LLC, with First Avenue holding the majority. Sounds like a match made in heaven, right? A celebrated pizza joint and a legendary music venue. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, everything, apparently.
Wrecktangle Wrestaurant opened in August 2023. Critics were all over it, praising the "diverse menu," the "walk-up slice window," and a "superfun nightlife" atmosphere. Dayna Frank, First Avenue's CEO, even gushed about Wrecktangle's "live music ethos," "willingness to push the boundaries," and "real joie de vivre." Joie de vivre! Give me a break. Sounds like someone was chugging the corporate PR Kool-Aid. What it really translated to, I'm guessing, was "we thought this was a guaranteed money-maker."
But let's get real. A loan agreement in April 2023 had Wrecktangle borrowing up to $3 million from the Palace for its capital contribution, with payments due to start in October 2023. Alex Rogers, one of Wrecktangle's owners, allegedly signed the guarantee for that repayment. And now, the lawsuit. So much for "joie de vivre," huh? It's like winning the Super Bowl, then immediately fumbling the ball on the first play of the next season and getting sued by your own team. This whole thing is a joke. No, 'joke' isn't right—it's a classic example of ambition outstripping common sense, leaving everyone scratching their heads and lawyers rubbing their hands.
The Fallout and the Future (Or Lack Thereof)
The Wrestaurant closed. Both parties "jointly agreed" to shut it down in December 2024, but the lawsuit came before that. See how that works? "Jointly agreed" often means one party saw the writing on the wall and the other had no choice. I can still picture it: the sticky floors, the faint echo of a bass drum from next door, the smell of grease and ambition hanging heavy in the air, right there on downtown St. Paul, and then... silence.
Now, the Palace Pub is in that exact same space, opened in June 2025, run entirely in-house by First Avenue. Pizza, burgers, sandwiches. Sounds like they're trying to cut out the middleman, which, after dropping $3.3 million and getting sued, is probably a smart move. But seriously, what was the real story behind this sudden agreement to close, only for a lawsuit to drop before that date? Were the "unconfirmed rumblings of water damage" just a smokescreen, or a symptom of something deeper, something that made both sides realize this partnership was a sinking ship? The lawsuit doesn't cite it, but you gotta wonder, don't you?
Meanwhile, Wrecktangle Pizza ain't exactly out of the game. They've still got their Lyndale Ave. and Lake St. spot in Minneapolis, outposts at Malcolm Yards and Graze Food Hall, and a food truck. They even opened a new restaurant inside Wild State Cider in Duluth in August 2025. So, they're clearly not dead, just... legally entangled. Makes you wonder what really went wrong in St. Paul that didn't go wrong elsewhere. Was it the location? The partnership dynamic? Or just a classic case of too many cooks in the kitchen, and one of 'em ended up with a subpoena?
And speaking of pizza, let's not forget Mesa Pizza. Those guys were a legend for late-night munchies, a real institution for generations of hungry students, last-call dwellers, and anyone needing hot, substantial food at 1 a.m. $5 slices that tasted like home for East Coast transplants. Now? Poof. All their Dinkytown and Uptown slice shops have shuttered. Francesco Gambino, owner of Andrea Pizza, another Twin Cities institution known for its late-night slices in Dinkytown. For a guide to other great slice spots, check out Where to get New York-style slices in the Twin Cities - Star Tribune. He summed it up perfectly when he said, "For us, if people don't come to work, that's tragic." It's not just about the money for these places; it's about the people, the culture, the late-night solace. And honestly, losing Mesa hits harder for some folks than any high-profile corporate lawsuit.
The Real Slice of the Pie
Look, here's the deal. These big, splashy partnerships always sound great on paper. Two titans, joining forces, yadda yadda. But more often than not, they end up like this: a legal battle, millions of dollars wasted, and a lot of finger-pointing. The Palace Theatre and Wrecktangle Pizza had all the ingredients for success – critical acclaim, a prime location, a "live music ethos," whatever that means. But when it came down to brass tacks, when the money started flowing and the expectations got real, it all went sideways. It’s a cautionary tale, plain and simple, about how even the "best pizza" can't save a partnership that's fundamentally... well, wrecked. And us, the public? We just get to watch the legal drama unfold, wondering how many more millions will be spent before someone finally calls it a day.