WJON continues our series of supper clubs in the St. Cloud area. The Persian Club opened on New Year’s Eve 1961 on the south side of St. Cloud at 33rd Street and Oak Grove Road Southwest. The owner of the club was Al Kirmeier. The Stearns History Museum commemorates the history:
In the 1950s, Al Kirmeier operated a marina in Long Beach, California. While in California, Al fell in love with a bar and restaurant called The Persian, which was known for its generous drinks and delicious food.
When Al opened a restaurant in St. Cloud on New Year’s Eve 1961, his favorite Long Beach eatery inspired him to name it “The Persian.” The restaurant was built on land owned by the Kirmeier family. Al and his brother Roger cut down 130 trees, dug a 40-foot-deep well, and poured the cement foundation themselves.
The Supper Club thrived on customer service and good food. When the club first opened, Al wore a suit and his wife, Pat, wore an evening gown, and they greeted guests by name. By 1982, the Persian Supper Club had over 1,000 seats, hosted an average of 150 weddings per year, used over 2 tons of charcoal per month, and hosted numerous other parties and banquets. What made Al so successful?
He was said to have been “ahead of his time with his foresight and to have created his own enthusiasm with an added touch of warmth and personal attention to his customers.”
After running The Persian for over 30 years, the Kirmeiers retired in 1995. In 1997, the restaurant was reopened by Pete and Michelle Benincasa as Gambini’s Fine Dining and Nightclub, and today the building is occupied by ProcessPro.
The photo above shows an advertisement for the Persian Supper Club from 1982.
John Decker and Steve Penick of the Stearns History Museum and longtime St. Cloud resident Jim Grabinski were guests on WJON this week. They talked about the three times they spent at Persian and what made it so special and so successful for so many years. If you’d like to hear my conversation with them, you can listen to it below.
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