Say Goodbye To Another Downtown Rochester Bar

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Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) -  A bar that was one of the hot spots in downtown Rochester for several years is apparently closing for good.

The City Council is being asked to seek proposals for a lease of the space that has been home for Dooley’s Pub for the past 10 years.

The bar/restaurant is located in a city-owned building along 1st Ave SW, across the street from the former City Hall building. The city is currently "in the process of working with the current tenant to terminate the lease."

The site includes a bump-out at the corner of 1st Ave. and 3rd St. which has been used for customer outdoor seating.

The city says the space “has been fit up with a full kitchen and bar and it seems a logical future tenant of the space would be a restaurant operator. “ It also appears the kitchen equipment will remain as the city has been told it would be “very difficult and expensive to bring in and hook up new equipment.”

Dooley’s owner had a rough year during 2020 because of the pandemic shutdown. It also temporarily closed two times because of Covid outbreaks and a third time when its food and beverage license was suspended by the county health department.

In its glory years, Dooley's was among the most popular downtown bars. This is what it looked like on St Patrick's Day 2017 - and this was the noon hour:

This is the third downtown bar to shut down in less than a year.

The Legend’s bar closed its doors last month. It was also located in a city-owned building. The Loop shut down permanently last July.

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