With Twins game, downtown businesses are ready for the most action in a year

Restaurants and bars are happy to see sports fans again

Apr 08, 20210

Aaron Lavinsky - Star Tribune count

Nigel Melvin, right, a bar manager at O'Donovan's Irish Pub, and Eddie Hoaglund, a beer rep with J.J. Taylor, hung a "Now Open" sign outside O'Donovan's Wednesday in anticipation of the Twins' Opening Day on Thursday.

After shutting his downtown Minneapolis pub for the first few months of the pandemic, Dermot Cowley initially tried reopening last June. He called it quits after two weeks.

"It was a ghost town down here," said the owner of O'Donovan's Irish Pub, which is across the street from First Avenue and Target Center, and a block or so away from Target Field.

This week, Cowley and some other business owners are reopening for the biggest event downtown - and likely in the state - in more than a year: the first home game of the season for the Minnesota Twins.

https://www.startribune.com/with-twins-game-downtown-businesses-are-ready-for-the-most-action-in-a-year/600043394/