MANKATO — Dave Hruska has high hopes for the 10 p.m.-3 a.m. hours being added this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at The Dam Store on South Front Street. He expects not only college students, but overnight shift employees from cops to nurses will stop in.
For a little extra excitement, there will be larger Minnesota State University homecoming crowds for their opening weekend.
While bar visitors returning home are likely after midnight, he said they’ve heard from other students looking for a place for late-night studying and others who get hungry after many other restaurants close. In addition, some overnight workers welcome new food options.
When they posted the new hours a few weeks ago on Facebook, commenters were concerned about drunken bands of college students creating problems. Hruska said he’s not so worried.
“’The police office is right across the street, you know. And those nights, there’s a lot of law enforcement down there within a block or two all the time,” Hruska said. “I think we’ll be just fine.”
Another common theme of comments made to that original announcement was disappointment that they used an AI-generated poster on social media. As if to prove their adjustment policy, a menu page posted since notes, “Menu created by Jordyn Erickson.”
Because they’ve cut their daytime hours to 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., Hruska said he and his sister, Jenny Barnes, and her husband, Mark, will be working the late shift. Mark has experience handling unruly folks, he said.
Just in case, they’re planning some specials for officers. “We have some family that are in law enforcement, so they’ve been talking back and forth and stuff. So they’re excited about it, too.”
They will have only a breakfast menu with pie available, of course. For now, Jenny will bake a few extra pies to see how sales go. And as with most everything he was asked about, he said they can adjust as they go. To-go orders are available.
In the past they were a cash-only establishment with an ATM on premises. The menu states, “We accept: cash, check, credit cards and Apple Pay.”
Hruska hopes to create some positive memories like when he was younger, when the family would visit Embers or Perkins late at night. He thinks there’s a need for such a place during those hours, and he believes people will behave.
“I think it’s going to go (well,) and we’re hoping it does. And hopefully everybody enjoys it. It goes well, and we can keep on doing it,” Hruska said.