Evidence of Glasnost in a Tavern

Here's a bit of local history you may not know: Mikhail Gorbachev visited Minnesota in 1990. The owners of the restaurant Tavern on Grand (on Grand Avenue in St. Paul) remember it fondly, and commemorate the visit with a neon sign in the bar area.

Tavern on Grand is known for its walleye (pike... fish), one of the foods that Minnesotans think is unique to the state. (Wisconsin begs to differ, but we don't care what they think.)

I gather that Gorbachev must have stopped in for the walleye dinner, since this photo is highlighted in the back hallway near the women's room:


Yes, they really did replace Gorbachev's forehead birthmark with the shape of the state of Minnesota.