2-23-2025 12:24am

Maple Grove Restaurant Closing This Weekend After Two-Year Run

Tom Akaolisa Editor

Maple Grove Restaurant Closing This Weekend After Two-Year Run

This weekend marks the end of a relatively short era for a local restaurant.

After two years of providing food, drinks and entertainment to people in Maple Grove, Paulie’s is shutting its doors.

“Yeah, it sucks man,” said Damien Junco, a bartender/server at Paulie’s. “This place is like a family to me. They’ve always treated me well.:

As the old saying goes, ‘all good things must come to an end.’ Only for Paulie’s, that end is coming sooner than expected.

“I never thought that my endeavor into a full-service restaurant would be two years, right? A little over two years,” said Paul Sarratori, the owner of Paulie’s.

When Sarratori opened the restaurant in 2023, the concept was an entertainment-based dining experience.

You could enjoy a good meal and play a few games on a sports simulator machine.

“I told you it was a dream of mine, and it was also a dream of my late father’s,” Sarratori recalled.

However, that dream quickly took a turn.

Sarratori says that he was leasing the building, and his relationship with the landlord soured.

“It had to do with rent, and it had to do with the landlord fulfilling their obligations under the lease,” he said, without going into detail.

Sarratori broke the news to his employees earlier this month.

“Paul’s a great guy. I feel real bad for him. He put his heart into it,” said Junco. “We tried our hardest, but you know, things don’t work out sometimes. It’ll be sad.”

“Sad” because Paulie’s isn’t just a restaurant. In two short years, it became a home away from home for the staff and the locals who enjoyed the vibe.

“All the regulars, man. All the people that are so sad. Everybody that’s been coming in asking us why,” said Junco, when asked about the toughest part of closing. “We’re gonna miss it. It’s the only restaurant around here they like going to. So it sucks.”

“I consider not only my employees as family, but everybody that walks in the door, I treat ’em like family,” added Sarratori.

This chapter officially ends on Feb. 23, but the spirit of Paulie’s will live on.

If you’re a fan of the food, you’ll still be able to get pizza, wings and other menu items at Sarratori’s other business, Optimal Performance Golf in Maple Grove.