TV Restaurants

What Happened to Bronk's Bar and Grill? (Lake City, MN)

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Bronk's Bar and Grill has closed — confirmed via Yelp, June 2026.

Primary source
Yelp ·
Secondary source
foodnetworkgossip.com ·

Last verified

What the source shows: A Yelp listing for The Bronk's Bar & Grill at 101 E Center St shows a permanently-closed status as of a June 2026 update; the fan blog Food Network Gossip (unverified) reported in November 2013 that the business had closed effective November 4, 2013.

  • Season / episode Season 5, Episode 3
  • Original air date
  • Address 101 E Center St, Lake City, MN 55041

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What happened after Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network)?

Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) visited Bronk's Bar and Grill in Lake City, Minnesota, for an episode that aired December 5, 2012. The bar and grill, owned by husband-and-wife team Erik and Tracy Brunkow since 2001, had a sprawling menu of more than eighty items, most of them frozen, and had fallen into a sales slump by the time Robert Irvine and the production crew arrived in September 2012.

According to a report in the Republican Eagle, a Lake City-area newspaper, Irvine's crew pared the menu down to about twenty items prepared from scratch -- including hand-breaded chicken and made-from-scratch condiments and dressings -- and updated the dining room with new carpet, signage, pendant lighting, bar stools, and booth upholstery, while removing a small stage and leaving the restaurant's existing tin ceiling in place. The same report described Irvine's on-air treatment of the Brunkows as including pointed questions about strain in their personal relationship tied to the stress of running a struggling business.

The newspaper reported that the reveal night drew more than two hundred customers, served in roughly three and a half hours, and that the restaurant saw a sustained lift in traffic through the fall before business slowed again in November 2012. Some regulars pushed back on the loss of familiar items such as quesadillas, nachos, and the restaurant's signature burger, prompting the kitchen to restore about fifteen of the previous menu's dishes.

Despite that initial rebound, the business did not remain open long-term. The fan blog Food Network Gossip (unverified) reported in November 2013 that Bronk's Bar and Grill had closed effective November 4, 2013, just under a year after the episode aired. A Yelp listing for the Center Street address currently shows a permanently-closed status, most recently updated in June 2026, consistent with the business remaining closed since then.

Featured on Restaurant: Impossible

Season / episode
Season 5, Episode 3
Original air date
Episode title
Bronk's Bar and Grill
What was featured
80-item frozen-food menu cut to 20 scratch-made dishes; dining-room redecoration
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Bronk's Bar and Grill

Frequently asked questions

Is Bronk's Bar and Grill still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Bronk's Bar and Grill has closed — confirmed via Yelp, June 2026.

What happened to Bronk's Bar and Grill after Restaurant: Impossible?

Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) visited Bronk's Bar and Grill in Lake City, Minnesota, for an episode that aired December 5, 2012. As of September 2026, Bronk's Bar and Grill has closed — confirmed via Yelp, June 2026.

Is Bronk's Bar and Grill permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Bronk's Bar and Grill has closed — confirmed via Yelp, June 2026. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Bronk's Bar and Grill located?

101 E Center St, Lake City, MN 55041. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Restaurant: Impossible featured Bronk's Bar and Grill?

Season 5, Episode 3 of Restaurant: Impossible, first aired December 5, 2012. The episode is titled “Bronk's Bar and Grill”.

Did the makeover last at Bronk's Bar and Grill?

The episode first aired December 5, 2012. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 14 years later —: As of September 2026, Bronk's Bar and Grill has closed — confirmed via Yelp, June 2026.

Is Bronk's Bar and Grill still using the Restaurant: Impossible menu or branding?

The bar and grill, owned by husband-and-wife team Erik and Tracy Brunkow since 2001, had a sprawling menu of more than eighty items, most of them frozen, and had fallen into a sales slump by the time Robert Irvine and the production crew arrived in September 2012. Anything newer than our last check on September 7, 2026 may not be reflected here.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

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Visit info

Address
101 E Center St, Lake City, MN 55041
Venue type
bar
Official website
None found

Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources

  • republicaneagle.com — https://www.republicaneagle.com/things_to_do/food_and_drink/bronks-staff-reflects-on-televised-makeover/article_9ca2e794-b9f1-56e8-85dd-5f4ef221e362.html
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-bronks-bar-and-grill-lake-city
  • foodnetworkgossip.com — https://www.foodnetworkgossip.com/2013/11/bronks-bar-and-grill-from-restaurant.html

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