Rochester’s Beloved Cameo Restaurant Gives Long-Awaited Update
Do you remember the restaurant, Cameo, in Rochester? This was such a fun place to grab a bite to eat, especially if you love history. The Castle building, located at 121 N Broadway Ave., was built in 1915 and was originally used as the Rochester Armory for the Minnesota National Guard. Throughout the years though, this historic building has been the home of many meetings, organizations, businesses, and place to create, and spots to grab a bite to eat.
One of the restaurants that called The Castle home from 2018 until April 30th, 2022, was Cameo. This well-known restaurant was open from 2018 and sadly, closed permanently on April 30th, 2022.
At the time Cameo closed, a few words in a note posted on their Facebook page gave a lot of us hope that we'd see more of this restaurant (and their potato churros) in the future:
While we are saddened to write this we are nothing but thankful and hopeful for the future. We are exploring new opportunities and will update the public as we solidify our next move.
It appears that we now know a bit more about the future plans for Cameo!
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Rochester Favorite, Cameo Restaurant, Gives An Update About Their Future In The Med City
As the calendar flipped to 2025, a few glimpses of life at Cameo appeared on Facebook again. First, a note on January 13th was shared that said, "Anyone down for some fun events in 2025?" And then on October 28th, we saw the tease, "1.24.26 Save the date."
While everyone who did this may not call themselves a "foodie", based on the comments that started to flood that Facebook post Cameo made, I'd say we have more than a few people who are excited to experience this restaurant again. Here are a few that were posted back in October:
Sweet potato curry is returning??? Be still my heart and taste buds!! - Kim Norton - Serving as Mayor in Rochester, MN AHHHH! The mussels! The bread pudding! - Elese Osterberg Omg yes. Please tell me you'll do the smoked gouda shrimp and grits. I still think about them. My wife and I were lucky enough to get them on their last day open. Very excited - Steven Evans
Unfortunately, for a few people who were excited about the tease being on their birthday, I have a bit of disappointing news...the date is now being postponed. Below is the latest news from Cameo along with a better idea of what their future plans are in Rochester:
Follow up from our teaser post last year. We had planned a series of pop up dinners with our good friends at Our Paladar that would kick off on the 24th.
Out of care for our friends at Our Paladar, our collaborators, and everyone who planned to join us, we’ve made the decision to postpone our upcoming collaboration dinner.Recent circumstances in our community have created staffing challenges that make it difficult for us to come together in the way this dinner deserves. At our core, hospitality is about people — showing up for one another, creating meaningful experiences, and doing things with intention. Right now, that means taking a step back rather than moving forward at less than our best.
We also want to acknowledge and stand in solidarity with members of our immigrant community who are experiencing uncertainty and stress during this time. Many of our colleagues, neighbors, and friends are an essential part of the fabric of hospitality and of this community as a whole, and we believe in leading with dignity, care, and respect for one another.
We’re grateful for the understanding, patience, and kindness this community continues to show. We’re already working toward a new date and look forward to gathering around the table again soon. More details to come but we are still committed to Cameo being more active in 2026 and we can't wait to see everyone!
In the meantime, we encourage everyone to take care of one another and lead with compassion.
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Gallery Credit: Jessica On The Radio
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