Walker Art Center Severs Ties With Restaurant, Citing ‘Core Values’
5April 20, 2026
Minneapolis’sWalker Art Centerhas decided to cut ties with its longtime internal restaurant, Cardamom, after the eatery said it planned to switch over to a QR code ordering system, therebyeliminatingits front-of-house staff.
As a result of its decision, Cardamom would cut sixteen hosts and servers, retaining only kitchen staff and bartenders,MPR Newsreported; the museum certainly feels aware that the optics on this are terrible, and said in a statement that it will begin to look for a new restaurant in the coming months.
Workers at the restaurant said this week that they were given barely any notice of their termination and that they planned to picket Cardamom during Sunday brunch.
“While we do not oversee the restaurant in our museum, our vision has always been to have a full-service dining option within the Walker to complement the museum experience,” Mary Ceruti, executive director of the Walker Art Center, said in a statement. “The reduced-service model, which favors automated efficiencies over a human-centered approach, does not align with our core values.”
“Cardamom was not immune to the continuing challenges for restaurants in Minneapolis,” DDP Restaurant Group, which operates Cardamom, said in a statement. “Our innovation was designed to preserve jobs and a restaurant at the Walker, just as dozens of other restaurants in Minneapolis have done to achieve financial survival.”
Cardamom, which was in operation at the Walker since 2021, is now slated to shutter within the next 60 to 90 days.