Address:
Mickey’s Diner
36 W. 7th Street
St. Paul MN 55116
The Dish:
Patty Melt
Fries
Diet coke
$11.55 (tip and tax included)
Grade: 1 Fork, 1 Knife
I was in the Twin Cites area recently and decided to hit up some place I had been by but never had the courage to enter. Mainly because I could not find a time when I could get in to savour the experience. As it turns out the best time is right about midnight because Mickey’s like Waffle House, never closes.
Ambiance: A little bias here since I am a train fan and this is indeed an old rail dinning car, but it was everything I expected! Though there were some modifications no doubt to meet current codes, a lot of the car is still as it was in 1934 when it was delievered by rail to be placed where it is. Even though Minnesota does not have Waffle Houses (I come back to WH a lot I know), they have the equal in their capitol.
Menu/Price: A very common diner menu with one full page dedicated to breakfast (served all day, any day)followed by the common grilled sandwhich items followed by dinner type meals. Probably the most interesting thing was the One Eyed Jack: A grilled ham and jack cheese, with a fried egg wheat served with hashbrowns. Sounded good, but I opted for the more “diner” type in a Patty Melt. Pricing was pretty standard, you could eat there for less than $5.00 on breakfast sides and a coffee, or you could spend upwards to $20 with a New York strip.
Meal: Even though our chef (fry guy, grill operator?) was not named Mickey, he did a wonderful job on acomplishing what I consider to be a staple in a diner classic, the patty melt. Though the hamburger seemed a bit small (could have been my fault as I believe I could have opted for a 1/2 lb)it was done to perfection, served with an ample supply of some of the best fries in a long time!
Service: Service was pretty good, refills were done without asking. We were there during a shift change as well, so I am not even sure if our tip made it to our waitress. She was fired up (in a good way) and seemed to enjoy what she did. Pretty friendly as well.
Overall: It’s hard to poke at stick at something like this, and I really could not find any thing that would keep me from going again outside of the crowds. I can even overlook the fact that they did not appear to take credit cards, however the one small dissapointment I guess is the fact that the booth jukeboxes were not working. Not a huge deal for me considering I did not have change anyway to make it work.