Photo by Deb Gau Business partners Troy Schutte and Paul Begnaud officially took ownership of Minneota’s City Hall Bar & Grill in April. Over the past few weeks, they said it’s been exciting to see people support the restaurant, and they plan to get to know the community more.

MINNEOTA — When they bought a Minneota restaurant last month, business partners Troy Schutte and Paul Begnaud went to work immediately. Schutte said they got the keys to the City Hall Bar & Grill on a Friday, and then opened that same evening.

“It was a little nerve-wracking at first,” Begnaud said. But the response from customers and the Minneota community has been good over the past three weeks, he said. “It’s amazing how fast it’s taken off.”

“You’re not going to find a more supportive community,” Schutte said.

Schutte and Begnaud said they’re looking forward to getting to know the Minneota community, and offering good food and drinks.

City Hall Bar & Grill went up for sale in 2024. Previously, the bar and grill was a cooperatively owned business that had renovated the former Bubba’s Bar location on Highway 68 in Minneota.

Schutte and Begnaud said they had been looking for an opportunity to run their own restaurant. Both partners have had past experience in the industry.

Schutte is from Dawson, where his family farms. His first job off of the farm was in a restaurant, and it made an impact on him. Most of his career has included working as a line cook, head chef or kitchen manager, he said.

“This is the only job where I go to work day in, day out and I’m excited,” he said.

Begnaud grew up in Hastings, and later moved to South Dakota, where he worked in restaurants and in construction. Begnaud met Schutte at a business in Madison, where he was managing the bar and Schutte came on to manage the kitchen.

Schutte and Begnaud looked at different possibilities to start their own bar and restaurant. City Hall Bar & Grill seemed like a great fit, they said.

“As soon as we came in here we were like, ‘this is the one,'” Begnaud said.

Schutte said he would mainly be working with the kitchen at City Hall, with Begnaud at the bar and the customer-facing part of the restaurant.

“I knew Paul would be the perfect fit for front-of-house,” Schutte said.

Begnaud said City Hall retained most of its staff, and had a total crew of about 20 people.

“We are looking at expanding our team,” he said.

At this stage in the business, Schutte said they were working to get to know both the local community, and their staff and business. That would help in developing a menu that worked well for the customers, he said.

City Hall Bar & Grill has been offering a variety of nightly specials, in addition to regular menu items like appetizers, burgers and sandwiches. Over time, Schutte said, they hoped to be able to also “kick things up a notch” with items like different kinds of steaks, and dishes with cajun, Asian and Mexican flavors.

Schutte and Begnaud said they did plan to keep the name, “City Hall Bar & Grill.” It’s a nod to local history: the building where the bar and restaurant is now was once Minneota’s city hall. Not only is the original City Hall sign still part of the building’s brick, but the restaurant’s décor features items like the bars from the original Minneota city jail, and blueprints for the city hall, Schutte said.

“This building has such a cool story to tell,” he said.

Begnaud and Schutte said they were happy to see people showing interest in City Hall Bar & Grill over the past few weeks.

“I’ve talked to every person who’s come into this bar. Everyone is excited,” Begnaud said.

City Hall also got a strong reaction on social media, when they announced they were opening outdoor seating in the front and back of the restaurant. Schutte said they posted about the patio seating on Facebook on Tuesday.

“Within a few hours, it had hundreds of likes,” he said.

City Hall Bar & Grill is open from 4-10 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays.