A St. Paul Institution

If you remember from my last entry, we were at Target Field for the Twins/Tigers game. The game is over, we’ve taken the light rail back to our car and we’re ready to head back to the hotel. Well, we decide since we really only had an early breakfast and the late lunch, and since we’re still kind of on west coast time, we should get something more to eat before we retire for the evening. Well back home in Las Vegas this is an easy proposition. You can find food open all night (or at least very late) around every corner. In St. Paul (and most cities for that matter) places actually close. Well if it’s late at night and you want something to eat in St. Paul that means a trip to Mickey’s Dining Car Mickey’s is an old fashioned diner. It’s not large at all; in fact I would say it’s downright tiny. We counted 16 stools at the counter and they have 4 booths that will seat another 16. We were there around 11pm or so and the place was packed. At times you have to stand in the door and wait for a seat. Fortunately for us, a booth had just opened up when we arrived and we jumped on it. Here’s a quick look at the counter from our booth:

Now everything here is strictly old school. They have no computer system, they take no credit cards and there is no fancy back kitchen. Mickey’s is on the National Register of Historic Places and as I would find out the next day, that basically means you can change NOTHING about the place. It makes it difficult on a functioning business, but Mickey’s does it well. I don’t think they would want to change if they could. It’s part of the charm of the place. You see all kinds here. As I said we were there around 11pm and we saw a group of friends in jeans and T-Shirts, a couple that was dressed for a formal affair, a group that had more tattoos and piercings than a rock band and gentleman in a suit and tie that came in and sat at the end of the counter and wanted to be everyone’s best friend. He knew exactly what he wanted to order and judging by how he ordered, I would say that he’d been there many, many times before and would probably be back many, many more times.

Now, as I perused the menu, I wanted something old school diner and something a little unique to Mickey’s. I found the perfect item, the Classic. The Classic is a cheeseburger served with a few hashbrowns and a little mulligan stew. Here’s what it looked like when it came out:

Now, you’ll notice that, according to the menu, those are “a few” hashbrowns. There was nothing overly special about any item on this platter except the fact that you were sitting in Mickey’s eating them. The burger was good. The one thing about it was that on the edge of the bun, some of the mulligan stew was seeping into the bun and it gave it a nice gravy taste. The hashbrowns were very good again with that great flattop crust on one side and the tender potatoes on the other. The best part about the entire dish was probably the mulligan stew. This is kind of a specialty of Mickey’s. It was a wonderful beef stew type dish with, as you can see, large chunks of vegetables. The carrots and potatoes were not too firm, but not to mushy either. You got that great firmness when you bit into them.

When we finished our meals, we both had the feeling. You know the one, where you’re not quite full, but don’t need a whole other entrée. Maybe what you need is dessert. Yes! But you don’t need a whole dessert. Joan and I decided to share a piece of apple pie with a scoop of ice cream. Be sure to ask for the pie warmed. It’s just right and melts the ice cream just a bit while you eat it. If you ask for a piece of apple pie, warmed, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream at Mickey’s, here’s what you’ll get:

We made short work of that and were on our way back to the hotel. When in St. Paul, please make it a point to get to Mickey’s. They are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and have been for 70 years.

Next up, a return visit and dessert at a regional place.

Until next time,

Mike

The Particulars

Restaurant: Mickey’s Dining Car
Location: 36 W. 7^th Street, St. Paul, MN 55102
Website: www.mickeysdiningcar.com
Date of Visit: August 26, 2011
Time of Visit: Around 11:00pm, Late night snack/meal
Has It Been on TV: Several Times. I saw it on Alton Brown’s “Feasting on Asphalt 2” on Food Network but they have been featured on many more shows as well as appearances in several movies and TV shows set in Minnesota.