Mickey's Dining Car is a classic diner in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota, designed to resemble a railroad dining car. Constructed in 1937 by the Jerry O'Mahony Diner Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey, the prefabricated building was shipped to Saint Paul by rail and opened in 1939. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 for local significance in the themes of architecture and commerce. It was nominated for being a beloved, longstanding and unique social institution, an unaltered example of railroad car-style diners, and one of the few surviving examples of its type in the American Midwest.
The building is 50 feet long and 10 feet wide, featuring distinctive red and yellow porcelain-enameled steel panels and Art Deco-style lettering. A row of 10 train-style windows graces the front, while the interior features floor-mounted round stools along a well-worn counter. The diner has been a family-owned business since it opened, known for its all-day breakfast, homemade mulligan stew, and milkshakes.
Mickey's has appeared in several movies, including the Mighty Ducks series and Jingle All the Way, and has been featured on shows like Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels and Man v. Food. After running continuously from 1939 until the pandemic in 2020, the diner reopened on the morning of October 3, 2024. It remains a unique social institution on West 7th Street.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
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