Closed during COVID, downtown St. Paul’s landmark Mickey’s Diner reopens
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After being closed for more than four years, downtown St. Paul’s landmark Mickey’s Diner reopened for business Thursday morning.
The diner at the corner of West Seventh and St. Peter streets — which dates back to 1939 — is having a soft opening, manager Sam Hashish said, with a grand opening soon.
The closure that started amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was “a lot of time,” Hashish said. “Well, we’re here now. We’re here now.”
For now, it’s “just a get-going thing, to run the machines” after the diner was closed for so long, he said.
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“We’re trying our grill, we’re trying our fryer, we’re trying our fridges,” he said, adding that everything has been running fine so far. Hashish said they want to ensure things are working so they don’t have to close again.
Hashish said Mickey’s — well-known for staying open 24 hours a day before it closed at the start of the pandemic — will initially be open from 7 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m. Longer hours are possible after the grand opening, at a date to be determined. Like many businesses, he said, it’s been a challenge to find enough staff.
And he said that while Mickey’s menu staples — homemade pancakes and hash browns, omelets and more — are back, they’re also adding some new items. That includes espresso, lattes, some new dessert options and vegetarian options.
“The new stuff that we’re adding is going to be on a separate menu. We’re keeping the old-school menu Mickey’s, still the same,” he said.
The menu is kosher and halal, Hashish said — including beef bacon, turkey bacon and beef sausage.
Mickey’s fame comes from its food, its longevity and from its place in pop culture — including visits by a number of TV shows, and use as a filming location for movies including “The Mighty Ducks,” “Jingle All the Way” and “A Prairie Home Companion.”
The diner’s lights and the familiar neon signs stayed on during its lengthy closure, beckoning to fans driving past on West Seventh — and prompting many questions about when it would reopen.
Now, after a long wait, the doors are open again.
“I know every guy that comes here — how many kids he has. There’s people that have been coming here since they were born, now they’ve got grandkids, so it’s kind of like this is a lifestyle type of thing for customers,” Hashish said. “You know, this is Mickey’s. It’s home. People come here, they feel comfortable like they’re eating at their house. That’s why the food is so good.”
The downtown Mickey’s Diner is separate from Mickey’s Diner by Willy — another longtime diner also located on St. Paul’s West Seventh Street, but about 4 miles southwest of downtown.
