MINNEAPOLIS — Betty Danger’s Country Club is for sale again, and yes, the Ferris wheel is included.
Off Marshall Street NE and Lowry Avenue NE in Northeast Minneapolis, the country club-themed restaurant is currently being listed at $4.2 million.
The property, renovated in 2014, is being sold “as is,” owner Leslie Bock told KARE 11. However, Bock said she is not selling the business itself, but rather the location: two stand-alone buildings plus the iconic Ferris wheel. All three can be purchased separately or together.
The offer includes the restaurant and bar, a single-family house, the Ferris wheel, a mini-golf course that meanders inside and outside, and a Caddie Shack.
The owner cited her mental health as the main reason for the restaurant's listing.
"I want to retire at some point. It's getting to be too much... [Being an owner] is not the life I want anymore," Bock said.
Bock said that at one point, having four operational businesses was just too much. She felt like she was having to choose between money and her life, and stated, "I wanted my life."
Back in peak pandemic times in 2020, Bock said Betty Danger's shut down per "state orders," for around four months. The restaurant shut down for a second time in August 2020 for a remodel and reopened in May 2021.
Bock briefly put the Betty Danger's location on the market in 2020, but pulled it off a short time later. She said the stress of the empty, unused Betty's Danger's buildings brought back memories of when she relocated Psycho Suzi's from that same spot, and it sat empty for almost three years.
In 2020, the building was listed with an asking price of $5.2 million. Bock credits the $1 million difference in price to what's being offered. Previously, she was selling Betty Danger's as a whole. That included the title, structure, land and everything in between. Now, two years later, she has decided to keep the business and ditch the buildings. She said she's pondering the idea of opening Betty's back up in a new way and in a completely different location -- although that is not confirmed.
Bock said Betty Danger's will close for good August 27.
"Staff was informed three weeks ago," Bock said. She also noted that when Betty Danger's shuts its doors, they will be "offering many of them jobs at Psycho Suzi’s. The entire kitchen staff is going there plus the management. Unfortunately not all the front of the house at Betty’s can go to Suzi’s.”
When asked if Psycho Suzi's would stay open, Bock said, "that's the plan... at some point I will sell it. I don’t have any kids and that’s part of my retirement money. There is no emergency and I am happy with how it’s going.”
In addition to the restaurants, Bock formerly owned Saint Sabrina’s Tattoo Shop, which permanently closed in July 2020. She cited her mental health and self-care as the main reason for the shop's closure. “Everyone was frustrated and there was lots of emotions and drama in the tattoo artistry world," she said.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities in our YouTube playlist: