Edina's Ban on Happy Hour Reflects Historical Liquor Limits

St. Louis Park has it. Minnetonka has it. Eden Prairie has it. Hopkins has it. Even Bloomington has it.

But there's no such thing as happy hour in Edina.

From the all the way to 50th & France, you simply can't find the long-standing promotion at any of the city's wine, beer and spirits establishments. Usually held around mid- to late-afternoon and going until early evening, happy hour is a reduced-price drink promotion, often with reduced-price or free appetizers and food. It's the sort of thing retailers, bars, bistros and restaurants have utilized to attract patrons, increase sales and create a loyal following.

Except in Edina.

The history of Edina and alcohol is a storied tale, going all the way back to a time before on-sale—allowing customers to both purchase and consume alcoholic beverages at a location—within the city even existed.

The City of Edina has boasted off-sale liquor licenses since 1954, though only three municipal liquor stores—at 50th & France, and on just west of Highway 100—actually exist. The original, at , was actually the result of the city buying out a private liquor store in 1954, which had been across the street from the present location since the '30s.

Promotions are fair game at the three Edina Liquor stores, with reduced-price items and specials of the month occurring year-round. 

Ted Engler, 57, a longtime resident of Minnetonka, grew up in Edina. In 1972, he graduated from Edina High School. Engler turned 18 in March of that year, back when the legal drinking age was three years lower. Many states, including Minnesota, lowered the age from 21 amidst arguments during the Vietnam War era, that if citizens (almost exclusively males) could go fight and die for their country in a war, they could vote and drink. 

"When I turned 18, I didn’t even think about buying a drink at any establishment in Edina," Engler said. "The few buddies of mine, who were 18, and I just automatically headed outside of the city limits because we knew Edina was dry."

It would be twenty years from the time of his first foray to a saloon before Edina finally passed a referendum allowing any alcohol to be served within a business. Even then, it only included wine and beer, with both only available within an eating establishment. There were to be no separate bars, saloons or taverns in the city—a restriction that applies to this day. 

It took one particularly bizarre incident to help move along the review process of those old rules.

The then-Radisson South Hotel (now the Sheraton) was built in the late 1960s on a parcel of land, the north portion being in the City of Edina. When the Radisson went to apply for an on-sale liquor license it ran into a roadblock because of Edina’s dry laws. To solve the problem, the City of Bloomington annexed the portion of the parcel that had been preventing hotel guests from quenching their collective thirsts.

Engler chuckled when told that story.

"Think of the lost property taxes for Edina," he said. "Growing up in Edina, I always thought many in the city thought of themselves as being quite precious and seemed to have a gated community attitude."

Check back for part two of the story behind liquor laws in Edina, where we take a look at the ongoing battle over happy hour within the first-ring suburb.