Walker Art Center Restaurant Cardamom to Close After Layoffs and QR Code Shift
A familiar dining room at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is heading toward an abrupt ending. Cardamom, the restaurant operated by chef Daniel del Prado, is expected to close within 60 to 90 days after the museum objected to the eatery’s decision to lay off 16 front-of-house workers and move to QR code ordering.
On Thursday, the Walker said the change “does not align with our core values.” Museum director Mary Ceruti said the institution was “caught by surprise” by the layoffs and that the Walker and Cardamom had “decided to part ways.” Although the museum does not run the restaurant itself, Ceruti said leadership has long wanted a full-service dining option that complements the museum experience.
Cardamom has operated at the Walker since 2021. In a statement to a local NBC affiliate, the restaurant said the layoffs were driven by broader pressures facing the hospitality business in Minneapolis. A spokesperson said the restaurant was “never profitable” and was “not immune to the continuing challenges for restaurants in Minneapolis.”
The QR code system, according to a representative for del Prado’s DDP Restaurant Group cited by MPR News, was intended to “better align staffing with the needs of the business and create more reliable, stable hours for employees who remain with Cardamom.” The shift, however, became the flash point in a dispute that now appears to have ended the restaurant’s run at one of the city’s most visible cultural institutions.
A protest was planned outside the Walker on Thursday afternoon, underscoring how quickly the issue moved beyond a routine business decision and into a broader conversation about labor, service, and the expectations attached to museum dining. The Walker is now seeking proposals for a replacement restaurant.
For the museum, the closure leaves a practical and symbolic gap: a restaurant meant to extend the visitor experience is now itself part of a public reckoning over what kind of hospitality belongs inside an art center.
