MANKATO — Less than a week after a longtime Mankato restaurant abruptly closed, another popular spot adjacent to the Minnesota State University campus is struggling.
Weggy’s on Campus is facing a potential liquor license revocation stemming from unpaid state taxes, although owner Steve Wegman is confident the issue will be resolved before the City Council acts on the Minnesota Department of Revenue’s request.
“We’ll have the debt paid by the time the City Council meeting starts,” Wegman told The Free Press Thursday. “… We had fallen behind on our taxes, and we’ve been working with the state for a couple of weeks.”
He said he has been in contact with city staff and expects to have the issue taken care of as soon as Friday afternoon.
The proposed action on Monday’s City Council agenda would revoke Weggy’s liquor license effective Tuesday.
A memo to the council explains that City Clerk Renae Kopischke received notice from the Department of Revenue on Oct. 26 seeking the license revocation, which is not optional for local governments when the state makes the request.
“This action must be completed within 30 days of receipt unless the city receives a clearance certificate from Minnesota Department of Revenue,” according to the memo. “As required, the City Clerk notified the licensee within 10 days of receipt that this action would be placed on the Nov. 9th City Council meeting agenda with a recommendation to revoke the license.”
The agenda item can be pulled as late as the start of the council meeting if — as Wegman expects — the clearance certificate is issued by the state.
“We’ve been open for 15 years, and it just shows it can happen to anybody,” he said of the cashflow crunch.
The struggles at Weggy’s, located in the University Square complex at the corner of Warren Street and Stadium Road, came just as Bakers Square was closing its doors after 34 years of serving breakfast, lunch and dinner three miles to the northeast.
Weggy’s, too, is known for an expansive breakfast menu, with the pancake options being particularly popular, and is a past winner in the “Best Breakfast” category in the annual “Best of Mankato” contest sponsored by The Free Press.
The menu also includes a wide variety of burgers, sandwiches, appetizers and wraps, along with shakes and adult beverages. The establishment leans into its location across from the MSU campus, with frequent food and drink discounts, flights of mimosas, bloody marys, screwdrivers and hard coffees and a “Hangover Omelot.”
So, although Weggy’s definitely has a different vibe than Bakers Square, the economic headwinds were shared.
“Like any industry, the restaurant industry is really tough right now,” Wegman said. “When gas is $4, a lot of people can’t afford to go out.”
The hard times come seven years after Weggy’s announced expansion plans, including the addition of a new Krusty’s Donuts next door. By 2025, there were unexplained temporary closures of the donut shop, something that was repeated earlier this year before Krusty’s revealed on its Facebook page in August that it was going out of business.
“Closing our doors was an incredibly difficult decision — one we did not make lightly,” the Krusty’s post stated. “While it was hard to say goodbye, it was something we knew we had to do.”
Wegman is hoping 2026’s difficult economy will take a turn for the better sometime soon.
“We’re just looking for brighter days,” he said.