Iconic Mickey’s Diner reopens

ST. PAUL >> DOWNTOWN

Dining car restaurant revamped kitchen and interior with money from 2020 fundraiser

Manager Sam Hashish runs the cash register at Mickey’s Dining Car during its “soft opening” on Thursday. The landmark downtown St. Paul restaurant had closed its doors in March 2020 amid the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. A formal opening date will be announced later. PHOTOS BY JOHN AUTEY — PIONEER PRESS

The “open” sign was finally lit Thursday at the famed diner at the intersection of West Seventh and St. Peter streets.

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By Jess Fleming

jfleming@pioneerpress.com

Mickey’s Diner, the iconic dining car in downtown St. Paul, has reopened for the first time since the pandemic in March 2020.

Despite nearly $75,000 raised through a subsequent 2020 GoFundMe campaign, the diner remained closed until Thursday morning, when surprised downtown residents and workers encountered what manager Sam Hashish told the Pioneer Press was a “soft opening.”

The menu remains the same, with some additions, such as Middle Eastern pastries like baklava and espresso drinks. The entire menu is now kosher and halal as well.

“We want to serve a diverse crowd,” Hashish said. “Before, there were some people who wouldn’t go here because it wasn’t kosher.”

The dining car at West Seventh and St. Peter streets will have a formal reopening at a date to be announced later, Hashish said.

“For now, we are open until we run out of food,” he said. “We will open at 6 or 7 a.m. daily until the grand opening. I think we did a good job today, but we can do better. When we are ready, we’ll have the grand opening.”The GoFundMe money was well spent, Hashish said, on a new hood and air-conditioning system as well as fresh wraps on the booths, new tables, a new sound system, a new grill and a deep fryer.

Hashish was mum on ownership of the restaurant, which was originally opened in 1939 by Mickey Crimmons and Bert Mattson and was owned by the Mattson family when the pandemic hit.

Until 2020, the prefabricated dining car had been in continuous operation. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a beloved tradition for many visitors to downtown St. Paul.

It has also appeared in movies such as “The Mighty Ducks,” “Jingle All the Way” and “A Prairie Home Companion.”

Despite reopening, Mickey’s won’t fully return to its pre-pandemic state.

Hashish said that even after the grand opening, the diner will no longer be humming 24 hours a day, seven days a week like it did in the past.

“24/7 is just too much. It’s too hard,” he said.

However, the separately operated Mickey’s Diner at 1950 W. Seventh St. remains open round-the-clock.