Lyndale Tap House to Open New Restaurant in Former Major's Location in Apple Valley

The vacant Majors Sports Cafe building in the heart of Apple Valley will soon have a new occupant.

The owner of The Lyndale Tap House—located in Uptown, Minneapolis, near Lyndale Avenue South and Lake Street—has plans to open a new Valley Tap House restaurant and bar in the building.

Crews already have been working on the interior of the restaurant, which Apple Valley Chamber of Commerce President Ed Kearney said could open in mid-November. 

“We’re thrilled someone’s in there,” Kearney said. “Majors being closed was a major visible thing that wasn’t good.”

Kearney said two other groups were looking seriously at opening a restaurant in the Majors building. Majors, which was a small Twin Cities chain, has been closed in Apple Valley for more than a year, Kearney said; its other locations also were closed and turned into different restaurants, or sold.

Kearney said The Lyndale Tap House's General Manager Tony Ostlund told him the new restaurant and bar would have a look similar to the flagship location, and would look to attract a crowd in their 30s.

The Lyndale Tap House website says its specialty is Baltimore-style pit meat, which is rubbed with a blend of spices, marinated for three days, seared and sliced thin. It also has 26 tap beers and another 30 not on tap, the website says.

Kearney said he likes the idea of a locally owned venture because the owners are familiar with the Twin Cities market.

“They can adapt to the environment,” he said.

He said having more restaurants could help create a buzz and attract more visitors to Apple Valley—as long as restaurants have “a little bit of a unique slant,” there’s plenty of business to go around, he said.

“Whenever you have synergies working, it always increases the size of the pie,” Kearney said. “People feel very comfortable going to where there’s a critical mass.”