Minnesota
As Saint Dinette says a long Minnesota goodbye, a look at the state of restaurants in Lowertown and beyond
All in all, they have had a good run.
The staff and owners of Saint Dinette, the bright, modern “finer diner” in Lowertown St. Paul are choosing to focus on the positives as they prepare to close March 22.
The restaurant, which opened in the spring of 2014, has been serving butter-infused cheeseburgers, perfect omelettes, beautifully plated pastas and excellent cocktails for nearly 10 years, and that’s more than many places — even those adored by critics and tastemakers — get.
“I’m closing at this moment with a feeling of full achievement,” owner Tim Niver said. “I broke even and I had 10 years of something amazing.”
But overall, the story of Saint Dinette, and its fate, are emblematic of a larger issue: Many restaurants downtown, and particularly in Lowertown, are suffering, closed or on their way to it.
In general, owning a restaurant is harder than ever. Inflation has slashed profit margins for owners who are hesitant to raise prices lest they lose their regulars. Labor prices have leaped. Rent everywhere is sky-high, and interest rates make it unappealing to own a building. And customers, who are facing their own financial woes with interest rates, housing costs and inflation, have less money to spend on eating out.
Almost every restaurant, Niver and others in the industry say, is just a few slow weeks or months away from closure.
These closures are a loss for the community — gathering places are an important part of our society, and all types of cuisine contribute to the culture and vibe of a city. But they’re also a loss for employees who have poured their hearts into the business.
Nicole Paton, general manager of Saint Dinette, said she fully understands what led to the closure and harbors no hard feelings. She and the restaurant’s 21 other employees are putting their all into these final few weeks.
“A restaurant closing doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” Paton said. “We’re going out by choice. Closing after 10 years isn’t anything to be disappointed about. I’m looking at it as a positive moment instead of spending all my time thinking about what I’m going to do next.”
For his part, Niver says the closure is multi-faceted. His landlord wanted him to sign a five-year lease, and he wasn’t confident that Lowertown would rebound enough to make that lease worthwhile.
“And the demographics of the area have changed,” Niver said. “When we opened, it was older people who lived around here, but the neighborhood flipped. Younger people have moved in, and what we do doesn’t fit that demographic. Their interests and what I do don’t necessarily align.”
Even bars that might appear to be geared toward a younger crowd aren’t immune, though. Just down the street, Dark Horse Bar & Eatery recently announced it would close on Valentine’s Day. The World of Beer space on nearby Sibley Street has been sitting empty since 2019, and the site of the former Black Dog Cafe has been unoccupied since 2022. With the exception of The Bulldog, all the restaurant spaces surrounding Mears Park are empty. And rumors of other nearby closures swirl as winter drags on.
Saint Dinette’s across-the-street neighbor, Big River Pizza, is one of those teetering on the edge of closure. Owner Steve Lott said Lowertown’s changes include an influx of unhoused people, many of whom suffer from addiction and mental illness. While Lott used to be the first to offer an in-need person a free slice, he said he’s grown jaded from burglaries, overdoses on his street corner, a gun left in his restaurant and even a murder in the apartments above Big River.
Lott said an unpoliced light-rail line — which ends a block from his restaurant — and nearby facilities that help unhoused people are contributing to the problem.
“I think elected officials have good intentions,” Lott said. “But some of the policies have negatively impacted the business community.”
Areas outside the city center are suffering, too. Revival, the fried-chicken and burger-centric restaurant that opened a location on Selby Avenue late in 2016, recently — and suddenly — shuttered all of its locations.
Co-owner Thomas Boemer said it’s a tough time for restaurants in the Twin Cities.
“Every single cost that we have has drastically increased and is still increasing,” he said. “It hasn’t stopped. When you combine that with where we started a year ago with a massive labor shortage which pushed the labor cost and wage up exponentially. … It’s all going up and you’re racing to follow. I think there’s a fundamental shift and change in people’s dining habits because of it. Over the past few months or past year, it’s just insanely expensive to go out to dinner.”
It’s not all bad news downtown, though. The owners of the popular local chain Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteak are taking over the former Black Sheep space on Robert Street. Co-owner Shaz Khan said he knows his company is taking a risk opening their new concept, Prince Coal-Fired Pizza, in the struggling downtown area, but it’s a calculated one that he hopes pays off.
“We have a headquarters and real estate in St. Paul … and we have formed a lot of relationships there,” Khan said. “I look in the mirror and say who better to begin making a change than myself. We hope we can be that oomph that makes a change for the area.”
In response to an inquiry for this article, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s office sent us the following via email:
“As we have worked through the normal cycle of businesses opening and closing, we’ve worked especially hard to improve the concerns around public safety … Within the last year, we’ve also celebrated 10 restaurants opening across Downtown, including Ruam Mit Thai, 1881 by Lake Elmo Inn, and soon Prince Coal-Fired Pizza. This work is tied to our efforts to revitalize downtown St. Paul. As development continues to increase Downtown, we will continue to prioritize the relationships we’ve built with business owners and community partners alike.”
As for Niver, he said that although he’s at peace with Saint Dinette’s closure, he does feel a little let down by city officials. Moves such as raising the minimum wage to $15 without a tip credit have made things more difficult for restaurant owners, and empty properties make coming downtown less appealing for those who don’t live there.
“They have hearings,” Niver said of city officials. “But they’re not listening.”
So what’s next for Niver and Paton?
Niver, who was recently named a semifinalist for a James Beard Foundation Award for hospitality at his other St. Paul restaurant, Mucci’s, said he plans to take a little time “finding out what owning one restaurant is like.”
He said he has lots of ideas for future concepts, but is happy to take his time figuring out whether he wants to act on any of them.
And Paton, who has worked in restaurants her entire career, said she hasn’t decided where she’ll go next, or even if it will be in the hospitality industry.
“I know that I love being in this industry,” Paton said. “I’m not dying to get out, but I’d be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t think about it.”
For now, though, it’s all hands on deck as the crew at Saint Dinette works the dining room, still adding new menu items and taking care of every guest as if they were family.
They’ll maintain that level of culinary excellence and hospitality until the last day. Speaking of which, reservations, especially on weekends, are starting to become scarce. So if you want one more cheeseburger, you should book a table now.
Saint Dinette: 261 E. Fifth St., St. Paul; 651-800-1415; saintdinette.com
With family by his side, Dennis “Bud” Peterson went to be with the Lord on the morning of June 1, 2026.
He was born at Drake, North Dakota on April 2, 1932 in the home of his parents Nick and Helen Peterson. The family moved to Duluth at the beginning of World War II.
After graduation from Duluth Central High School Bud served in the US Army in Korea during the Korean War, and received an Honorable Discharge with the rank of Sergeant. He used his GI Bill benefits to attend UMD receiving an Associate Degree, and also earned his Commercial Instrument Pilot rating.
Bud was a longtime employee of St. Louis County retiring as Supervisor of Roads and Bridges. In retirement he served as Boiler Engineer and a do it all repairman for Duluth Gospel Tabernacle. He generously devoted his time and talents as a consummate do it yourself repairman to all of his family.
Dennis is preceded in death by his parents, Nick & Helen Peterson; brother, Robert Peterson; sister, June (Don) Kruger; and infant brother and sister, James and Delores Peterson.
He is survived by his sister, Carol (Eli) Miletich; and numerous nieces and nephews all of whom he loved dearly.
At Bud’s request, his family will be holding a private funeral service. Arrangements by Dougherty Funeral Home 218-727-3555.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services is reexamining over 5,000 Medicaid service providers across the state in an effort to combat fraud.
The federal government said it would pull $2 billion in annual Medicaid funding from Minnesota in January if the state didn’t make changes.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services set out to revalidate thousands of providers in programs deemed high risk for fraud by asking providers to submit verification paperwork and making unannounced site visits. The deadline passed on Sunday.
The latest data, published on May 27, shows 1,009 providers approved, 1,151 disenrolled and over 3,000 providers with pending applications.
Paige Berland and Camille Heyman run Minnesota Behavioral Specialists, providing autism care to children through two locations in the metro area. The women say that after submitting their paperwork, they received letters from DHS with determinations for both locations: the Bloomington center was terminated and the Eagan office was approved.
“It doesn’t make sense, everything is the same minus the location,” Berland said. “So why was one approved and one wasn’t approved?”
The termination letter said the Bloomington center was denied because they failed to disclose a managing employee during a site visit. Berland disputes that and said she already submitted an appeal.
“We were told to keep running, keep continuing as we are while we go through this process,” she said. “It just means that we don’t have the money coming in.”
Josh Berg with Accessible Space says they’re also in limbo. Berg said they offer integrated community supports, which means caretakers provide in-unit assistance for people with spinal cord injuries and disabilities.
“Most of the folks that we support are wheelchair-bound,” Berg said. “Helping with meals, helping with medications, helping them just live their lives.”
Berg said that of the seven locations where people are housed, the Department of Human Services terminated five and approved two. He believes the timeline to conduct this revalidation process was too aggressive. He said Accessible Space has also submitted an appeal.
“We’re not able to bill for services, we’re not able to start new services for anybody or change any of the supports that they receive,” he said.
Both Berg and Berland say they agree fraud needs to be dealt with, but they hope Minnesotans who truly need services aren’t left without the services they need.
“Not just the clients rely on services, but the families do too, so we can’t stop services; that’s not an option on our plate,” Berland said. “We want to continue to provide these services; they are medically necessary.”
The Minnesota Department of Human Services said a disenrollment letter could be sent for a few reasons, including failure to submit revalidation application after two notification attempts, failure to provide all requested documents within the required timeframe and failure to meet the criteria required during an on-site visit.
A spokesperson for the Department of Human Services said it’s currently in the process of compiling data from the thousands of applications, but didn’t say when the department would share those final numbers.
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The Minnesota Republican Party is distancing itself from a moment of silence held for Derek Chauvin during its state convention, saying the gesture was not part of leadership planning, not included in the official program, and should not be interpreted as a party position.
GOP officials said in a Monday, June 1 Facebook post that the recognition of the former Minneapolis police officer, who was convicted in the killing of George Floyd in 2020, emerged from a spontaneous delegate motion on the convention floor and was not initiated or endorsed by leadership.
The controversy quickly escalated after state leaders, civil rights attorneys and Democratic lawmakers condemned the action, describing it as deeply harmful to Floyd’s family and inconsistent with accountability under the law.
The moment of silence took place during the party’s annual gathering in Duluth on May 30 and comes just days after the sixth anniversary of Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, an event that reshaped national debates over policing and racial justice.
Republican Party of Minnesota says gesture was not leadership action
In a statement, the Republican Party of Minnesota said the recognition of Derek Chauvin originated as a delegate request during floor proceedings at the convention in Duluth and was handled under standard rules of order.
Party officials emphasized that convention leadership, including chair Danny Nadeau, did not propose the motion. The statement said leadership’s role was procedural only, and that presiding over the motion did not reflect agreement with or endorsement of its subject matter.
Officials reiterated that the convention agenda itself did not include any planned recognition of Chauvin and said the episode should not be interpreted as a leadership-driven decision or policy stance.
Minnesota attorney general calls action ‘profound cruelty’
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who led the prosecution of Chauvin, sharply criticized the gesture, calling it an “act of profound cruelty” toward the Floyd family.
Ellison said the timing, so close to the anniversary of Floyd’s death, compounded the harm.
He said honoring Chauvin “dishonors the memory of George Floyd and wounds his loved ones all over again,” and called it “disturbing” to recognize someone convicted of violating his oath as a police officer.
Ellison also said the action was “disrespectful” to law enforcement officers who serve honorably, and reaffirmed that courts had already upheld Chauvin’s conviction through multiple appeals.
Broader backlash and political fallout
Democratic state Rep. Jamie Long called the moment of silence “disgusting,” arguing that Republicans chose to honor a convicted murderer rather than victims of violence or service members.
The gesture also drew criticism from civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, who represented George Floyd’s family in its civil case after his death. The attorneys called the moment of silence immoral and demanded a retraction and apology, saying it disrespected both the Floyd family and the broader public record of Chauvin’s conviction.
Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020, when Chauvin, a white former Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. Chauvin was later convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, and sentenced to 22½ years in state prison.
The killing sparked global protests and became a defining moment in the Black Lives Matter movement and debates over policing in the United States.
Chauvin’s conviction has been upheld through multiple appeals, including a denial by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023, and he is serving his sentence in federal custody.
Party officials say despite the controversy, their focus remains on candidate endorsements and upcoming elections, not the floor action that triggered the backlash.
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@usatodayco.com, or on X @athompsonUSAT.
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