Erin's Review
Looking at our post counts for last year was pretty sad - only 13 reviews posted this year! (14 if you count this one, which is a bit late) Hopefully we can beat that number this year - shouldn't be TOO tough!
Continuing with the tradition that I formed last year, we went out to breakfast on my birthday. Which reminds me that I really do want to go to Citizen Cafe again - that place was very good! Perusing the options on our list leaves a bit to be desired, especially on a weekday - there aren't too many places left on our list that fit that bill, so we decided to go to Mickey's Diner, thinking that it might not be as busy on a holiday weekday morning, and we were correct. Obviously, since it was on our list, neither of us had ever been there, and it seems like one of those places everyone should go once.
One stipulation of our visit there was that we have a booth, so we could use Annie's chair - not sure if they have high chairs (we didn't check), but eating at the counter with a squirmy 11-month old would NOT have been pleasant. Luckily one was open when we walked in, as it wasn't busy at all. One customer remarked to the waitress while we were there "So, it's pretty busy, huh?" and the waitress looked at her like she had 10 heads and said "Um, no, it's completely dead, actually."
I was kind of flustered with preparing Annie's food, trying to find something on the menu that Annie could eat, and actually figuring out what I wanted myself - I went with blueberry pancakes, eggs and sausage, since there were at least some blueberries to resemble something healthy for Annie. We had brought a banana and cheerios for her too, so it wasn't like she needed anything really.
I thought the food was fine - it was typical diner food, nothing more and nothing less. It filled me up and came out quickly, so that was nice. I actually almost forgot to even take a picture of our meals since for some reason I felt rushed. I'm glad we tried it out, but it's not somewhere I'm too anxious to try again.
Ben's Review
Erin wanted to go out to breakfast for her birthday and settled on Mickey’s Diner in downtown Saint Paul. Mickey’s Diner was made famous in the movie ‘The Mighty Ducks’ when a player on the southwest Minneapolis hockey team, Charlie, somehow lived in downtown Saint Paul even though the whole plot hinged on a district line being violated by another player. I digress.
We got to Mickey’s around 8:30 on a Thursday, not knowing what to expect for traffic levels. Luckily there was one of the three booths available at the end of the dining car so we could set up Annie in her little seat. There is a 30 minute limit in the booths, so it’s not the kind of place where you linger after you eat, and the staff certainly didn’t make us feel welcome anyways, so that was no big deal. I’m sure the 30 minute limit exists because Mickey’s is a 24/7/365 diner and they probably don’t want people sitting around all night. I doubt they have wifi, so I don’t know what you’d do anyways.
I ordered ‘The Two’s’ (sic) which consists of two cakes, two sausage/bacon, and two eggs. I got my eggs over easy which was a mistake. The pancakes were good and they come with real butter, and my sausage patties were also tasty. The eggs were certainly over easy, as they were runny as hell, I’m not even sure the whites were done yet. This was a mistake on my part, no fault to the diner, but it made for a yolky mess on my plate.
Even though I didn’t feel entirely welcome here, the coffee was passable and our server definitely kept our cups full, better than any other place I’ve been to, in fact. Even still, you won’t find me back at Mickey’s anytime soon. There are just too many other good breakfast places around that have better food and are more convenient.
Service: Meh. Didn’t feel welcomed by the staff, until it was time to leave.
Food: The food was good, but marred by my extra runny eggs. Next time I will stick to just a short stack of pancakes.
Drinks: Decent coffee and they keep your cup warm.
Ambiance: I’m sure this varies but it was pretty quiet when we were there. Not too busy at all.
Convenience: They actually have a small parking lot, but Mickey’s is located on 7th street in downtown, so there is also bus service.
Ambiance: I’m sure this varies but it was pretty quiet when we were there. Not too busy at all.
Convenience: They actually have a small parking lot, but Mickey’s is located on 7th street in downtown, so there is also bus service.
Deets
36 West 7th Street
St. Paul
