Champions Sports Bar & Grill Shuttered; Changes at Dulono's Pizza; Zimmern & Vikings

WHITTIER—Trouble-beleaguered sports bar Champions Bar & Grill, located at Lake and Blaisdell, has closed, reports Southwest Journal. The shutter was prompted by the City Council's decision to deny the bar's liquor license on the basis of inadequate security. In recent years, Champions was subject to an undercover operation that led to multiple drug-dealing charges; last August, a patron was fatally shot during a fight. The attorney for Champions said he plans to appeal the decision. [Southwest Journal]

DOWNTOWN—Minnesota resident and Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern has partnered with that giant of food vendors, Aramark, to "curate" the food court inside the new Vikings stadium, according to City Pages. His partnership with Aramark also includes serving food while the Vikings are playing in TCF Stadium. [City Pages]

UPTOWN—According to its Facebook page, it looks like Uptown pizza institution Dulono's will be ending its long-standing tradition of weekend bluegrass music, and possibly moving live music to weeknights instead. Dulono's explains that its business is good on weekends without the live entertainment (and they want the tables for pizza-eating customers), so they've decided to move the live music to otherwise slower weeknights, leading to some contentious Facebook comments. The new live music schedule should be available soon. [Facebook]

[Photo: City Pages]