Jim Yanz is the owner of Bierstube, a restaurant that serves authentic German cuisine at three different locations across the Twin Cities (Hastings, Oakdale, Red Wing).
Founded in 1962 by Jim’s father, Larry, Bierstube (pronounced beer-stoob) was a working-class restaurant where families dined, and proletarians indulged in libations.
One day, Larry, a hard-working entrepreneur, hired a young woman named Hilde, a native German, who, in seeking to liven up the menu, convinced Larry to adopt some of her culinary tastes.
Larry agreed, but that’s not the only change Larry made.
Soon, Larry and Hilde got married, and the two embarked on a career in the restaurant business together.
Quality food and stiff cocktails drew patrons inside Bierstube, but it was Larry who kept Twin Cities residents returning, his warm and congenial personality a welcome reprieve for Minnesotans seeking solace from their jobs, or the frigid Midwest winters.
The stories of Larry’s generosity are countless, but Jim’s favorite is how Larry would pay caddies to wash his car, even when his car was spotless.
“My dad, he knew that families were struggling, so if there was ever something he could do to brighten someone’s day, he wouldn’t think twice,” Jim tells me from a booth inside the same establishment where my volleyball teammates and I go after games on Thursday nights.
“My dad was my idol,” Jim adds, “and he still is.”
For Jim, getting into the family business was never expected, but by age fourteen, he was cleaning out urinals and scrubbing toilets.
“I also was a dishwasher, and I got the crumbs out of the booths,” he recalls.
“To incentivize my brother and I to help out, my dad would leave quarters in the booths so that we would race to clean them up in hopes of getting a couple bucks.”
Eventually, Jim, and his brother Mike, became the owners of Bierstube, and like all business owners who have stayed afloat for decades, Jim has experienced and felt the tumultuous nature of the American economy, and its effect on small businesses.
Here in 2025, as Corporate America further imposes its will on a variety of industries, Jim and Bierstube are still fighting to make their business viable and profitable.
“All the new rules and regulations make it challenging though,” he laments.
These days, inflation has practically turned double cheeseburgers into gourmet food, what with price increases happening seemingly every day, and retaining staff is hard.
“We have had great employees over the years, but since COVID, the landscape has changed drastically, and that has made staffing difficult,” Jim explains.
Not too long ago, the government was handing out checks for amounts that superseded the wages of many Americans, and as the most famous virus in history spread, people became accustomed to not working.
When Twin Cities restaurants were finally given the green light by state officials, restaurants were already in survival mode.
“Running a restaurant was difficult before COVID, but the pandemic presented many new obstacles,” Jim says.
Post-pandemic, much of the work ethic that united Americans has appeared to vanish, the social fabric of this country simultaneously exiting with it, but Jim insists that “there are still a lot of good employees out there.”
In that sense, the onus is on business owners to attract and retain talent so that it does not walk out the door, although doing so is an easier said than done proposition, particularly in an industry as competitive as food and beverage.
Yet Jim, like many determined business owners, has persevered, because like his father, he doesn’t give up, even when the future isn’t bright.
For reference, in the last few years, Jim opted to sell two Bierstube locations, citing fledgling profits and overwhelming workload as the key reasons why.
“So why do you still do it?” I ask Jim, because all I’ve heard about the restaurant industry since I was a little kid is that margins are tighter than rush-hour traffic and more elusive than a Vikings Super Bowl victory.
“That’s a good question,” Jim says, exhaling and letting out years of highs and lows that he and his family have intensely felt.
The humble and devoted restaurant owner then describes how there is a misconception about owning a restaurant, in that so many think someone like Jim plays golf all day and then retreats to his massive estate to bask in luxury, but as readers could probably imagine, reality is far from paradise for most restaurant owners.
“If customers don’t see me behind the bar or out on the floor, I’m probably in one of the offices buried in administrative work,” Jim notes, because there are no days off in this business, even for someone as seasoned and knowledgeable as Jim.
In a way, to own a restaurant, there must be a bigger purpose.
One cannot simply pour pints of Bud Light and grill cheeseburgers for years on end and stay sane.
For Jim, his passion is like that of his father Larry:
People.
“Giving good service and serving awesome food at an affordable price gives me satisfaction,” the Hastings native bluntly states.
The MO is that simple.
“You can go to McDonald’s and easily spend $20 for a cheeseburger meal,” Jim says.
“Or you can come in here and get a massive, quality burger for the same price and support a local business.”
Americans love their fast food and their chain restaurants, cholesterol-riddled french fries and overpriced cocktails with precisely one ounce of liquor a staple of many of our peers’ Saturday nights, but those template-like experiences don’t tap into the essence of what it truly means to be an American.
“I should promote this more in my advertising, how when you come to eat and drink at one of our restaurants, you’re supporting our family and our local employees,” Jim says as we walk around his establishment, local newspaper clippings and sports memorabilia adorning the walls.
I tell him that he should, because eating out at a chain restaurant is staler than a week-old bag of potato chips, and there is likely no history behind a place that charges you an extra buck if you want extra ranch with your wings, or pickles and olives thrown into your glass of Mich Golden.
“You don’t go to McDonald’s because you want a great experience,” Jim says with a laugh, although, to be fair, The Founder was a great movie (still can’t believe those two brothers didn’t get lifetime royalties in their final deal!!)
At Bierstube, every shot of Grey Goose poured goes directly to supporting Jim and his family, all of whom assist their beloved father in some capacity.
“My son Sam has dived headfirst into this business,” Jim says.
“If it wasn’t for him, I would be screwed. If I had to come back and catch up [after health issues] on my own, this business would not have survived. That’s how amazing my son Sam has been.”
Resiliency is at the forefront of all of Bierstube’s efforts, but I won’t pretend that Bierstube is in for a renaissance, or that soon they will explode in popularity.
It would be disingenuous to suggest as much, and a disservice to a superb man like Jim, who, along with his family, old and new, have put their hearts into giving their local communities a place to call home.
“I wish I could say that things will get easier from here on out, but that wouldn’t be true,” Jim affirms.
“Getting to where we want to go will still require so much time, effort, sweat, and tears, but that’s life. It’s not supposed to be easy, and the reward isn’t in the destination, but rather the journey, and all the lessons and memories that come from that for me and my family.” QS
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