Lucky's 13 in Fargo, Tru Blu in West Fargo purchased by Twin Cities restaurant group

MENDOTA, Minn. - A Twin Cities-based group has acquired Fargo’s Lucky’s 13 Pub and West Fargo’s Tru Blu Social Club.

Eclectic Culinary Concepts, based in Mendota, acquired the assets of seven Lucky’s 13 Pub locations, and four other restaurants, according to a news release issued Wednesday, Jan. 27.

Tru Blu also will be re-opened under a new name and concept with details to be announced at a later date, company President Stephen Hesse said.

Financial details of the transaction were not released.

Eclectic Culinary Concepts is owned by restaurateurs Charlie Burrows, Hesse and Tyge Nelson. They first partnered in 2016 to launch Pajarito, a popular modern Mexican bistro with locations in St. Paul and Edina, Minn.

The acquisition includes Lucky’s 13 Pub locations in Bloomington, Burnsville, Mendota, Plymouth, and Roseville, Minn, Bismarck, N.D., and in Fargo at 4301 17th Ave. S.; a former Rudy’s Redeye Grill in Rosemount, Minn.; Yankee Tavern in Eagan, Minn; the former Tru Blu Social Club in Fargo; and Me & Julio in Hastings, Minn.

Tru Blu at 915 19th Ave. E., West Fargo, has been closed since mid-March due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It first opened in August 2017.

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Burrows opened the first Lucky’s 13 Pub in 2007 with former Lucky U Too business partner, Linda Young, who passed away in 2018.
Lucky U Too (which also included Tru Blu) then sold the assets of the restaurants in 2019 to ARC Group, a restaurant holding company that owns quick-service restaurant chains including Dick’s Wings & Grill and Fat Patty’s.

Eclectic Culinary Concepts recently acquired the assets of Lucky's 13 and Tru Blu from ARC, Hesse said.

Hesse said that despite the ongoing pandemic, he and his partners "felt that it was a good time for a go big or go home kind of thing."

Hesse said he and his partners are steeped in the restaurant hospitality business.

"We have our hearts in it, our souls, our minds. It's not just a business thing, it's a personal thing," Hesse said.

Plans are underway to reopen the former Rudy’s location as The Clover with a targeted opening date of early spring.

Hesse said a timeline for reopening Tru Blu with a different name and concept has not been set, but he anticipates that it will follow the opening of The Clover.

Hesse said there are also plans to update food and beverage menus.

"We like to say quality over quantity. It might have 100 items on it," but potentially dropping the offerings to 40 will produce better tasting dishes, he said.

“I love the Lucky’s concept and brand,” Burrows said in the news release. “When you’ve built something from the ground up it’s like your child. The staff are like family. So, when the opportunity arose to work with these restaurants once again we were immediately interested.”

Hesse said his restaurant group has been in touch with management and staff that used to work Tru Blu.

"I know it's a long time since they've been open, almost a year now. But we want to try bring back the people ... that put their hearts into it in the first place," Hesse said.

“We view ourselves as a family run business,” Hesse said. “And, we look at our staff as an extension of that. Our staff is the heart and soul of our restaurants. Going forward, we’ll be making improvements and management decisions to ensure they’re happy, and have what they need to do their job right, so that they, in turn, can create the best possible dining experience for our guests.”