Downtown St. Paul's landmark Mickey's Diner is closed during the coronavirus crisis and is reopening

After more than four years of closure, downtown St. Paul's landmark Mickey's Diner reopened for business Thursday morning.

The restaurant at the corner of West Seventh and St. Peter streets — which dates back to 1939 — is having a soft opening, said manager Sam Hashish, and there will be a grand opening soon.

The closure, which began amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, “took a lot of time,” Hashish said. “Well, we’re here now. We are here now.”

For now, it's “just an initial matter of getting the machines up and running” after the restaurant was closed for so long, he said.

“We’re testing our grill, we’re testing our deep fryer, we’re testing our refrigerators,” he said, adding that everything has gone well so far. Hashish said they want to make sure everything works so they don't have to close again.

Hashish said Mickey's — which was known for being open 24 hours a day before closing at the start of the pandemic — will initially be open from 7 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m. Longer opening hours are possible at a later date after the grand opening. Like many companies, finding enough staff was a challenge, he said.

And he said that while Mickey's staples — homemade pancakes and hash browns, omelettes and more — are back, some new items are also being added. These include espresso, latte macchiato, some new dessert options and vegetarian options.

“The new things we add will be listed in a separate menu. We’re keeping the old-fashioned Mickey’s menu, 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 his food, his longevity and his place in pop culture – including appearing on numerous TV shows and being used as a filming location for films such as “The Mighty Ducks,” “Jingle All the Way” and “A Prairie Home.” Companion.”

The diner's lights and familiar neon signs remained on during the long closure, waving to passing fans on West Seventh – and raising many questions about when it would reopen.

After a long wait, the doors are now open again.

“I know everyone who comes here – how many children they have. There are people who have been coming here since birth, now they have grandchildren, so it's kind of a lifestyle thing for customers,” Hashish said. “You know, this is Mickey’s. It's home. People come here and feel comfortable, as if they were eating at home. That’s why the food is so good.”

The downtown Mickey's Diner is separate from Mickey's Diner by Willy – another longstanding diner also located on West Seventh Street in St. Paul, but about 4 miles southwest of downtown.