Stella’s Fergus Falls location. (Stella’s Restaurant and Bar Facebook Page)
Fergus Falls, MN – On Monday night (August 18), the Fergus Falls City Council voted to revoke Stella’s Restaurant and Bar’s Liquor License.
On July 21, 2025, the city received notice from the Minnesota Department of Revenue requesting the city revoke the on-sale liquor license for Stella’s due to their delinquency in the filing or payment of their taxes since February of 2025. In City Council documents, City Attorney Rolf Nycklemoe says that if the city doesn’t receive a clearance letter issued by the state, the Council will be required by state statute to revoke Stella’s license following the conclusion of Monday’s hearing. At the City Council meeting on Monday night, City Administrator Andrew Bremseth clarified that if the city revokes the license, it could be reobtained as soon as the delinquent taxes are paid, but if the city didn’t revoke it, the state indicated that it would revoke the license, at which point the business would be unable to get the license back for a period of a few years after the taxes were paid.
Stella’s owner Ryan Carlson started a GoFundMe campaign on July 29th to “Save Stellas’s.” He said in the campaign’s description, “Despite strong sales and a beloved brand, the fire in 2019, the pandemic, and delayed government relief forced us into survival mode. We relied on predatory financing to stay afloat, and now the business is constrained—not by a lack of potential, but by debt and structural barriers.” The GoFundMe campaign has raised over $7,500.
Stella’s Fergus Falls location was opened in August of last year. According to the Department of Revenue, the Battle Lake Location has been delinquent on its taxes since September of 2024.
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