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
Convicted killer Wade Wilson featured in Netflix true-crime series
Wade Wilson, convicted in 2019 Cape Coral murders, features in Netflix’s Worst Ex Ever S2 – streams May 6.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, who helped devise a program to sharply increase arrests and prosecutions of non-fatal shootings, pressed state lawmakers Thursday to pass a bill for $1 million in grants to help other jurisdictions continue the successful experiment.
The bipartisan bill (HF1082), authored by House public safety co-chairs Reps. Kelly Moller and Paul Novotny, is modeled on Ramsey County’s non-fatal shooting unit, which has succesfully reduced gun crime in Ramsey County, and especially St. Paul.
Previously, police and prosecutors spent few resources investigating non-fatal shootings, which were viewed as less important than homicides and often involved engaging with difficult witnesses.
The logic of the program is straightforward: Non-fatal shootings are essentially failed homicides, and they often spur a cycle of retributive violence. By solving and prosecuting so few of them, authorities lost any chance at deterrance. The non-fatal shootings often escalated to killings.
“Safer communities start with solving crimes, and solving non-fatal shootings will help remove illegal guns and dangerous individuals off our streets,” Choi said in a press release following a Thursay event at the State Capitol.
Since the creation of the new unit, the solve rate for non-fatal shootings in St. Paul rose to 71% in 2025, up from 37% in 2024.
Non-fatal shootings also dropped by 62%, from 183 to 73 from 2024 to 2025. “Shots fired” reports decreased by 55% in 2025.
Investigating nonfatal shootings has also helped the homicide unit, which won a 100% solve rate on 15 St. Paul homicides in 2025, which was half the number of homicides as 2024.
Nationally, the homicide clearance rate hovers around 50%.
J. Patrick Coolican is Editor-in-Chief of Minnesota Reformer.
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Gas prices are climbing again in the Twin Cities, with experts warning drivers to brace for more increases if oil prices keep rising.
Twin Cities gas prices see sharp increase
What we know:
According to GasBuddy’s survey of 1,106 stations, the average price for regular gasoline in the Twin Cities jumped 10.9 cents per gallon in the last week, now sitting at $4.18 per gallon. That’s 38.6 cents higher than a month ago, and $1.28 more than this time last year.
The national average price for gasoline also rose, hitting $4.48 per gallon after a 5.1-cent increase over the past week. Diesel prices are up too, with the national average at $5.62 per gallon, a 0.2-cent increase.
The cheapest gas in the Twin Cities was $3.70 per gallon Sunday, while the most expensive was $4.63 — a difference of 93 cents per gallon. Across Minnesota, prices ranged from $3.70 to $5.01 per gallon.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said, “Average gasoline prices declined in just six states over the last week, led by the Great Lakes region, where motorists in states like Michigan and Ohio saw prices fall sharply, while Indiana experienced even steeper relief after the state temporarily waived both its excise and use taxes on gasoline.”
GasBuddy’s data shows that while some states saw relief, most drivers are paying more at the pump.
Gas prices in neighboring states
By the numbers:
Gas prices in neighboring states and cities are also fluctuating. Wisconsin drivers are paying $4.37 per gallon, almost unchanged from last week. Sioux Falls saw a significant jump, with prices rising 17.3 cents to $4.13 per gallon. Minnesota’s statewide average is now $4.16, up 11.1 cents from last week.
Looking at the last five years, Twin Cities prices have varied: $2.90 per gallon in May 2025, $3.25 in 2024, $3.47 in 2023, $4.11 in 2022 and $2.76 in 2021. GasBuddy compiles these numbers from more than 11 million weekly price reports across over 150,000 gas stations nationwide.
How much more you’re paying at the pump
Dig deeper:
In the scenario that your vehicle has a 15-gallon tank that you fill up about every 10 days, here is a look at how much more it’s costing you in May versus April, and in 2026 versus last year.
Now: At an average price of $4.18/gallon at three times per month at $62.70 per trip, that comes out to $188.10
One month ago: An average price of $3.79/gallon at $56.85 per trip, that’s $170.55 per month.
One year ago: An average price of $2.90/gallon at $43.50 per trip, that’s $130.50 per month.
Drivers face more uncertainty ahead
What’s next:
De Haan said, “Those declines helped pull the national average lower by roughly eight cents over the last several days after oil prices eased mid-week on optimism that the U.S. and Iran could reach a deal. However, that optimism has since largely unraveled, with talks appearing to stall and President Trump signaling the latest proposal is unacceptable, helping push oil prices higher again in Sunday electronic trade.”
He warned that if oil prices continue to climb, the national average could approach $4.65 per gallon. Ongoing refinery issues are also affecting diesel production, especially in the Great Lakes region, where prices are nearing record highs.
Should geopolitical tensions escalate further, fuel prices could rise even more sharply in the weeks ahead, De Haan said. Many drivers are watching prices closely and hoping for relief, but experts say the outlook remains uncertain for now.
What we don’t know:
It’s unclear how long prices will continue to rise or when drivers might see relief at the pump. Future changes will depend on oil markets, refinery operations and global events.
The Source: This story uses information from GasBuddy.
Cori Roberts of St. Cloud, Minnesota, incurred more than $8,000 in medical bills after she was diagnosed at CentraCare with early-stage cervical cancer. She says the health system told her she made too much — about $41,000 a year — to qualify for financial aid.
Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune
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Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Cori Roberts was living in a rented basement four years ago when she was diagnosed with early-stage cervical cancer.
Recently divorced, the former stay-at-home mother had returned to work in her mid-40s, taking a human resources job that paid $41,000 a year. Then, despite having insurance, she was hit with more than $8,000 in medical bills.
“I had my car and a basket of clothes,” Roberts recalled. “Medical bills were not something I could have afforded.”
Roberts sought financial assistance from CentraCare, the St. Cloud-based health system that treated her. It’s a nonprofit charity that receives millions of dollars in federal, state, and local tax breaks. In exchange, it’s obliged to offer charity care to patients who can’t afford their medical bills.
But Roberts said CentraCare told her she made too much to qualify.
Roberts instead scrimped on groceries and Christmas gifts for her kids and paid off more than $6,000 over two years. Then CentraCare sued her last year because she hadn’t paid off all the debt.
“They’re supposed to be a nonprofit,” Roberts said. “It’s like, ‘Come on!’”
This story was a collaboration between KFF Health News and the Minnesota Star Tribune.
A sliver of financial aid
CentraCare earmarks just a tiny fraction of its budget for helping patients with medical bills they can’t pay, but it’s not alone in that, a Minnesota Star Tribune-KFF Health News investigation found.
Minnesota’s hospitals and health systems are among the least charitable in the country, the investigation found, providing less financial aid as a percentage of their operating budgets on average than hospitals in almost every other state.
The investigation drew on a detailed review of every hospital charity care program in the state, an analysis of five years of hospital financial data, and dozens of interviews with patients, hospital executives and state officials.
Nationally, hospitals spend an average of about 2.4% of their operating budgets on charity care, according to federal hospital data compiled by Hossein Zare, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University. Minnesota hospitals spend about a third of that, on average.
CentraCare’s flagship hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota, earmarks only a fraction of its budget for helping patients who can’t pay their medical bills.
Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune
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Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune
Some spend considerably less. Of Minnesota’s 123 general hospitals, 62 devoted less than 0.5% of their operating budgets to charity care from 2020 through 2024, the Star Tribune-KFF Health News investigation found.
“The system is not working,” said Erin Hartung, director of legal services at Cancer Legal Care, a Minnesota nonprofit that helps patients with medical debt and other financial challenges. “And the burden is falling hardest on the people who are least able to bear it.”
CentraCare’s flagship St. Cloud Hospital spent less than 0.25% on charity care, according to the analysis. That works out to $25 in patient aid for every $10,000 spent on hospital operations.
A growing burden
Charity care will become even more vital in coming years as Americans lose health coverage or can’t afford rising copays and deductibles. The nation’s uninsured rate has been ticking up and is expected to increase further as budget cuts pushed by President Trump force states to pare back Medicaid and other safety net programs.
Nationwide, healthcare debt — much of it from hospitals — burdens an estimated 100 million people. And charity care, which was historically aimed at the uninsured, is now critical to many people with health insurance who can’t afford their bills.
Hospital officials say it’s unfair to expect them to solve this affordability problem when many of their facilities are financially strained. “No amount of charity care from hospitals will ever fully meet the needs of uninsured or underinsured Minnesotans. The need is simply too great,” Minnesota Hospital Association spokesperson Tim Nelson said in a statement.
But Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said hospitals have a duty to increase charitable help for all needy patients in exchange for the tax breaks they receive.
“There is a benefit you get from being a nonprofit hospital in the state of Minnesota,” he said. “But do the people get the benefit?”
Several factors help explain why Minnesota hospitals provide so little financial aid. For one, job-based insurance and an expanded Medicaid program offer broad coverage. Hospitals in states with less government assistance and more uninsured people typically spend more on charity care.
Eligibility standards vary
But patients also face significant barriers accessing financial aid at many hospitals, including inconsistent eligibility standards and extensive applications, the Star Tribune-KFF Health News investigation found.
To qualify at many hospitals, patients must submit detailed personal information, including bank statements, retirement accounts, mortgage documents and estimates of other assets such as cars, homes or livestock.
Cori Roberts, who was sued by her healthcare provider after she was unable to make full payments for her treatment, thumbs through copies of her payment records at her home in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune
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Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune
And because Minnesota has not standardized the criteria for charity care, patients might receive aid at one hospital but not another. The investigation found that some hospitals give free care to patients with an annual household income of $47,000, while others cap it at about $15,000.
There are similar variations in charity care standards at hospitals nationwide, KFF Health News and other researchers have found. A recent analysis by the nonprofit Lown Institute found that one hospital in Boston set the limit for free care at less than half the level as another hospital just a few block away.
In Minnesota, had Roberts driven 30 miles east or 35 miles north, she would have found medical providers with more generous financial aid policies than CentraCare. But she didn’t know to look.
Roberts, now 49, has remarried and lives in a split-level home in St. Cloud decorated with inspirational plaques such as “Faith, Family, Friends.” CentraCare recently dropped the lawsuit against her, but only after she took out a loan against her retirement plan to pay off the medical debt. “It just feels very unfair,” she said.
CentraCare spokesperson Karna Fronden said medical privacy laws prevented her from discussing Roberts’ case. She also declined interview requests about the health system’s charity care spending.
In a statement, Fronden said CentraCare provides assistance in addition to charity care, such as helping enroll patients in insurance. “This helps provide broader, longer-term protection for patients,” she said.
Other hospital leaders said they serve their communities in ways besides forgiving medical bills, including training doctors and nurses and preserving money-losing services such as obstetrics and mental health care.
Hospitals in rural communities specifically also play an important role as employers, said Robert Pastor, chief executive of Rainy Lake Medical Center in International Falls, Minn.
“We are the second- or third-largest employer in town, running on razor-thin margins while navigating escalating labor and supply costs and routine underpayment by public programs,” Pastor said. “Meanwhile, many health insurers post billions in profits.”
“Rural hospitals like ours are often portrayed as though we are sitting on piles of cash and simply choosing not to spend it on charity care. That is far from the reality,” he said.
Hospital executives say they have a responsibility to ensure that limited resources for charity care go to patients who need them, said Travis Olsen, chief executive of Hendricks Community Hospital, near the South Dakota border.
Burdensome application process
To determine eligibility, some Minnesota hospitals consider only income, the Star Tribune-KFF Health News investigation found. But most demand information about patients’ bank accounts as well. More than two-thirds require even more information, including the value of retirement accounts, life insurance policies, property and vehicles.
In addition to copies of tax returns, W-2 forms, pay stubs and bank statements, Hendricks asks aid applicants 53 questions about their finances. These include questions about the make, model and value of vehicles; the current market value of farm equipment, livestock and land; and the purchase price and square footage of homes.
Other hospital applications ask patients to detail their monthly spending on food, utilities and other medical bills.
All these questions discourage patients from seeking assistance, said Jared Walker, founder of Dollar For, a nonprofit that helps people apply for charity care.
“The drop-off rates are much higher the more questions you ask and the more documentation you have to provide,” he said.
By contrast, most hospitals make it very easy for patients to click a button on the hospital website to pay their bills, Walker said. “Hospitals have optimized to get payment,” he said. “If you want to get on a payment plan, if you want to get on a credit card, it’s so easy.”
Back in St. Cloud, Roberts said that when she drives past CentraCare’s $200 million expansion at its Plaza campus in St. Cloud, she wonders why Minnesota hospitals don’t live up to higher standards.
“They have all the money,” she said. “But they can’t grant a good person some grace?”
This story was produced by KFF Health News and the Minnesota Star Tribune.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF.
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