Sometimes you just want to eat a burger. Eating a burger at The Cove, is like eating at your older brother’s apartment; your older brother that was into records, fishing, hunting, and skateboarding. The Cove has a relaxed hang-out type vibe where you can be comfortable, kickback, and hang with some friends. That is what “Good Vibe Ambassadors” and brothers, Bruce and Brock Larson, are trying to do with their burger joint. The menu is simple and inexpensive pub food. The hamburgers and hot dogs are served in basket with good fries. And, they have “appetitzerz” and pizza as well. This is dude food that even a chick might like!
I stopped by during The Cove’s soft open to talk to Bruce Larson who recently opened The Cove, with his brother Brock. The pub is decorated with skateboard decks, music posters and memorabilia. Bruce, who formerly worked in sales and marketing for EMI and Warner Brothers, said he has been collecting stuff since he was eight years old and wanted to share it with people, in a relaxed atmosphere. He wanted a restaurant with a solid food menu, and a pub vibe that revolves around music.
What inspired you to start your business? A love of music, beer, wine, and simple food. After twenty-five years in the music business, and after kicking the idea around for almost ten years, I was looking for the right opportunity.
What other restaurants and travels inspired you? I wanted good food and good music, something like the Hard Rock Café or Denver, a mountain town-chalet type place with a fireplace, to be the best burger joint you ever went to.
What is your favorite food memory? My wife and I use to go to a place in Colorado, above Boulder, in Nederland, CO, where all they served was spaghetti. There was a line out the door. It was the best spaghetti you ever had. It shows it doesn’t have to be fancy, just good, reasonable, fair, and a fun experience.
Where do you see you’re self in the next five years? For this place to have a cool vibe and maybe a couple of more locations in the area south of the river (south of Minneapolis).
What’s a fun fact that you’d like people to know? My brother is a hunter and a fisherman and a lot of the fish mounts in our place were caught locally. I live and breathe music.
How is music going to play a role here? It is going to be a mish mash of good music, something for everyone.
How would you describe “the vibe” here at The Cove? I just want people to be happy, to be able to go to a place that is different and fun and escape for awhile.
I enjoyed hearing a little about the inspiration behind the restaurant and hope that anyone in the Minneapolis area who finds them selves “south of the river” and looking for a “Jucy Lucy” ventures into the hometown hospitality of The Cove.
