Friday will be the last full day the Ulmer is open. Saturday the restaurant closes at 11 a.m. after breakfast service.

News of the Ulmer’s closing has brought many customers back to the restaurant for one final meal and to congratulate owner David Berg on his retirement.

It has also led to a packed dining room. Berg said of the five busiest days in his career, at least three were in the last two weeks.

For example; every Wednesday the Ulmer serves sauerkraut meatball soup. Some Wednesdays they only sell a single bowl of soup, but last Wednesday he sold out of the sauerkraut meatball soup within 10 minutes.

Staff photo by Clay Schuldt Ulmer Cafe at 115 N. Minnesota St. has been a mainstay of downtown New Ulm for over four decades. On Saturday, at 11 a.m. it closes its doors for the final time.

Berg advised some food items are starting to run out, and some items might not be available. He has already run out of bratwurst. Rubens could be next.

The Ulmer opened on Jan. 1, 1981. Berg said he never expected to live to 41, much less run a business for 41 years. He said the secret to his success is hard work. Sometimes it is necessary to work 70 hours a week. Running the business required getting up at 4:30 a.m. every day.

The Ulmer is an unusual downtown business in that little has physically changed in the building since the 1980s. There was no real reason to change. The mom-and-pop-style diner was popular 40 years ago and is still in demand to this day.

Berg said there are always people in town looking for homemade meals, and when they ask locals where to go, the Ulmer was often the first option.

“We never needed a lot of advertising,” Berg said.

When the Ulmer first opened in 1981, there were few empty business spaces downtown, and there were fewer restaurants in New Ulm. This was before chain restaurants came to town.

Berg said this started to change in the 1990s. To meet with the time, the Ulmer opened on Sundays as well. Berg said ever since, Sunday was the busiest day.

Berg acknowledged running a restaurant can be unpredictable. Some days are extremely busy; others are quiet. The Ulmer does have its regular customers, including the morning coffee crowd. Berg expects regulars every day, but new customers always discover the Ulmer.

The tourist season brought many out-of-towners to the Ulmer. Tourist customers have increased in the four decades. Berg estimated 25% of his customers were tourists when he first started. Now, tourists are roughly 40% of the business.

The Ulmer has long been a source for community news. The customers would come in and talk about the news of the day. Berg confirmed he was often the first to learn what is happening in the town.

There are a lot of people who enjoy talking with Berg. He said meeting different people was the best part of his job.

Last week he talked with a couple visiting from Oregon. He ended up telling them his German potato salad recipe.

Over the last few days, Berg has received several requests from customers asking him to write a cookbook. His soups are especially cherished. Others want to preserve his stroganoff recipe.

Berg has not ruled out the possibility of writing a cookbook, but said the challenge in a cookbook is actually writing the recipes down. All his recipes are in his head. He can cook by muscle memory at this point.

Berg acknowledged it will be strange to not need to get up early each morning or worry about the late-night prep work. His retirement plan is to travel and visit more people.

Citizen’s Bank will take possession of the building on Jan. 2023. The plan is to expand the bank into Ulmer’s location. Before the end of the year, Berg will work to clean out the building. Much of the items and equipment will need to be sold off, but most are already spoken for.

The glass Ulmer sign above the kitchen will be going to Berg’s granddaughter. Berg plans to keep the caricature painting of Ulmer patrons but might donate it to the local museum.

Berg is happy to be part of a New Ulm’s restaurant history. Ulmer’s building was constructed in 1890. Old Palace Lunch moved to the building in the 1940s. Berg estimates that for roughly 80 years of the building’s history a restaurant has operated out of the building.

The closing of The Ulmer is more than a loss of a restaurant.

It is the end of an era.