Uptown restaurant Kim's to close less than 2 months after staff voted to unionize

Kim's in Uptown Minneapolis is closing.

"We've made the decision to close Kim's effective August 30, 2024, due to ongoing financial losses," the restaurant – operated by James Beard Award winner Ann Kim – wrote in an Instagram post with closed comments.

The planned closure comes less than two months after restaurant staff voted to unionize .

Disruptive road closures along Hennepin Ave. in Uptown may have contributed to its financial struggles. The restaurant made a similar claim about losses when it cut lunch service and closed its basement Bronto Bar less than a month ago.

Earlier this summer, the staff of Kim's voted to unionize through Unite Here 17 after Vestalia Restaurant Group declined to recognize the union voluntarily.

Kim said publicly that she didn't believe the restaurant needed a union , and management pushed staff to vote against unionization in the weeks leading up to the vote.

Those efforts were revealed in leaked internal messages , first shared by independent food writer Joe Rosenthal. Management repeatedly told employees that organizing was not the solution to their problems and that "it's just not who we are." At the time, Unite Here told Bring Me The News the messages were "textbook union-busting tactics."

Unite Here issued the following statement on Thursday:

Despite the unionization vote, the union and restaurant had not yet negotiated a contract, which means it's unlikely that organizing efforts placed any immediate financial burden on the restaurant. Kim's had, as recently as Aug. 5, listed open jobs for front-of-house management and hourly positions.

Representatives for Kim's declined to comment further on the closure.

The restaurant's announcement says reservations through Aug. 30 will be honored and gift cards for Kim's or Sooki & Mimi, the restaurant run by Kim in the same location prior to Kim's, would be honored at other Vestalia restaurants, which include Pizzeria Lola, Hello Pizza, and Young Joni .

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