On Second Street SW, a Customer Is the One Kind of Help the City Can't Provide

About 95 businesses line the Second Street corridor that Link Bus Rapid Transit is rebuilding. The public money set aside to help them comes with one firm rule. It can bring customers to a business, but it cannot make up for the customers who stopped coming. Link's fare-free buses are not expected to run until August 2027. Between now and then, what a small café across from Saint Marys earns depends almost entirely on whether people make the trip.

That is why a breakfast special, a Wednesday wine night or a sign pointing to a back parking lot matters more on this street than any funding vote.

What the Public Money Can and Cannot Do

On September 24, the state Destination Medical Center Corp. board voted unanimously to move $500,000 from Link's contingency fund into Business Forward, the city's support program for affected businesses. The program started with $350,000 and has spent $231,000 so far, on things like wayfinding signs and free professional photography for businesses on the corridor.

Here is how the next round is planned:

Deputy City Administrator Cindy Steinhauser said the first round reached businesses before the construction did. "We've learned that timing matters," she told the board. "We've learned that the closer we are to actual impact, the better businesses can tell us what they need." The new plan starts from one question for each owner: "what would help bring your customers to the front door?"

Patrick Seeb, executive director of the DMC Economic Development Agency, put the limit plainly. "We can't subsidize a particular business," he said. Will Forsman, who owns Cafe Steam, told MPR News that direct cash is what owners need most. Minnesota has done that before. When light rail was being built in 2011, St. Paul and Minneapolis offered small retailers and restaurants $20,000 interest-free forgivable loans. Rochester has said that kind of aid is not currently under discussion. The Rochester City Council is set to vote on co-signing the $500,000 on Monday, October 5.

Whatever the Council decides, the program can only point people toward Second Street. Coming in is up to residents.

The Losses So Far This Year

MPR News reported on October 4 that four Second Street shops and restaurants have closed in 2026, two of them in the past week. The two earlier closures were made public. Tinn's Grilled Philly Steak Subs, which stood between Thai-Riffic and Uni Uni, moved to Northfield in March. In late August, Jamphen "Pen" Seeley closed the dining room at Thai-Riffic, 1217 Second St. SW, across from Saint Marys Hospital, after what she described to the Post Bulletin as "two long years of navigating construction challenges and roadblocks." Thai-Riffic still takes catering orders.

The drop in traffic shows up in the numbers owners have shared. Cafe Steam opened its Second Street location in March. Once the opening rush passed, it was serving 30 to 40 percent fewer customers. Spyhouse Coffee Roasters says its business is down 30 percent from last year. Thesis Beer Project says construction has cut its business nearly in half. Yingling Fan, a University of Minnesota planning professor, told MPR that single-location businesses and restaurants tend to be hit hardest by projects like this. Most of the businesses below fit that description.

Who Is Still Pouring, Plating and Pouring Pints

The shops still open have found their own ways to give people a reason to come. Each listing below includes how to get in.

Canadian Honker Restaurant, 1203 Second St. SW. The Honker is running a "Detour Deal" for a limited time, breakfast for $6.99, Monday through Friday from 7 to 11 a.m. The city's access guide lists the restaurant's own parking lot as open.

Cafe Steam, 1147 Second St. SW. This is the newest location in Will Forsman's small chain of downtown coffee shops. Construction blocks it on both the east and west sides. For a month this year, Mayo Clinic paid for discounted coffee for its staff here, and Forsman said daily sales rose a lot as a result.

Francisco's, 1137 Second St. SW. This Caribbean restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday and takes online orders. The city guide lists walking access and a parking lot nearby.

Uni Uni Bubble Tea, 1227 Second St. SW. Construction has blocked the front entrance for months. City signs marked "Uni Uni Bubble Tea Business Access" lead to the parking lot in back. "When we signed the lease, we had no idea this would be going on," owner Joy Loera told MPR. The shop has also been doing pop-ups around southeast Minnesota.

Spyhouse Coffee Roasters, 601 Second St. SW. This location is a franchise, so the Twin Cities shops can't help carry it. It also sits across from Mayo Clinic's hospital expansion. To bring people in, manager Gil Paz has added live music, board-game nights, watercolor and cupcake-decorating workshops, and coffee tastings. Wine Wednesdays are the biggest draw.

"We're seeing 16 to 20 people show up. They're crocheting on the side or they're working on puzzles over there. It's just been really cool to see that community gathering space exists here." Gil Paz, Spyhouse Coffee Roasters, to MPR News

Thesis Beer Project, 1929 Second St. SW. Owners Adam Fredericksen and Allyson Palmer announced in August that Thesis will close. They hope to keep brewing and hosting events into December but say they may have to stop sooner. In their letter, they counted 700 batches brewed and 450 bands hosted. Sleeping Jesus and Sallyforth are on the calendar for Friday, October 16, at 7:30 p.m. The city guide lists a 60-car lot behind the building. If Thesis has been your neighborhood taproom, these next few weeks may be the last time to go.

Two Second Street businesses closed in the past week, and MPR did not name them. Check hours before you go.

Getting There This Month

The city says most walking detours add 30 to 60 seconds, using barricaded paths, maps, signs and arrows on the ground. Uni Uni is the clearest exception, because its front door can't be reached from the street. Several changes from the past two weeks affect the drive:

1. Second Street at Civic Center Drive was scheduled to reopen September 25 with one lane each way.
2. Traffic at Second Street SW and Highway 52 was scheduled to shift to the south side on September 26.
3. Starting Wednesday, October 7, you will no longer be able to turn from Second Street SW onto 3rd Avenue SW and continue north. The change is permanent.
4. For everything else, use the city's construction impacts map. The city updates it daily when staffing allows, but it is not real-time.

The work won't stop for winter. KIMT reported that the city expects the Second Street roadway to reopen in late 2026 and the remaining construction to wrap up by March 2027. The finished line will run 2.8 miles through seven station areas from West Transit Village to the 6th Street terminal, and Mayo Clinic is covering operating costs for its first 20 years. Seeb told the board, "We're trying to get out that what feels like a horrible disruption in front of you right now is time-limited."

He also described what is at stake. "We know that what makes many of the businesses downtown special is that they are locally owned, entrepreneur driven, but by definition they don't have as deep of pockets," he said. Many of the owners who make it to August 2027 will get there on sales from this winter, and a weekday breakfast at the Honker or a Wednesday evening at Spyhouse counts toward that.

For more on independent businesses moving into familiar Rochester addresses, see our look at the summer 2026 food openings. For a downtown stop with a long history of its own, read about the Chateau Theatre's second act.

Link's 2027 opening will change how people get to the Saint Marys end of downtown and how they think about living nearby. If you'd like to talk through what the new corridor could mean for a home you own or are considering, Michelle Kalina offers a private White Glove consultation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.