Minneapolis Restaurant Offering Free Meals to Protest ICE Raids to Close

Modern Times Café, a Minneapolis restaurant that transformed into a donation-based establishment offering free meals to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, has announced it will close permanently by the end of the year.

Owner Dylan Alverson stated on social media that he has “exhausted every option without compromising the core fundamentals that make Modern Times what it is” over the past six years. He plans to use the remaining two months to celebrate the 16-year-old business and explore possibilities for similar establishments to continue operating. "The only way for places like Modern Times to exist in the future is to actively challenge the reasons why it can no longer exist," Alverson wrote.

The restaurant initially rebranded as Post Modern Times and began operating as a free and donation-based establishment in January. Alverson had cited the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, along with ICE operations in the state, as motivations for the change. He stated, “Effective tomorrow we are done making money for the fascists that occupy our city,” following the fatal shooting of Pretti by Border Patrol agents.

After a brief closure in July, the restaurant returned to a price-based model in August but continued to offer 25 free meals daily. By October, Alverson told The New York Times that the restaurant was operating on a “zero profit margin,” aiming to serve as a model for other businesses. He acknowledged that the model led to significant wait times for customers, with some waiting up to two hours for meals, half of which were provided free.

Concerns were also raised by neighbors about potential exploitation of the free meal offer by individuals struggling with homelessness or addiction. Alverson, however, suggested to Fox News Digital that the broader issue was the precarious financial state of many independent restaurants. He questioned, “how many independent restaurants are close to collapse?”