Roadfood_ Revised Edition - Jane Stern [161]
Not too long after we included this great place in the last edition of Roadfood, we got a note from Peg Lange saying, “We have breathed new life and commitment into our business: new sign, new canopy, new landscaping, new atrium glass, new display cabinet, and new uniforms.” We’re thrilled at the renaissance, but even more thrilled to report that the food hasn’t changed at all. This is still southwestern Minnesota’s premier café.
Maverick’s
1746 N. Lexington Ave.
651–488–1788
Roseville, MN
LD | $
Maverick’s specialty is roast beef sandwiches: soft, pink, velvety slices cut to order and piled into a soft white bun while the meat is still hot and moist. Rick Nelson of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune told us that the restaurant concept was inspired by the proprietor’s desire to improve on Arby’s. If that was his goal, he has more than succeeded, for this is a super roast beef sandwich—simple, pure, and satisfying.
It is served cafeteria-style, along with a short menu of other beefy things, including brisket (offered on a dark pumpernickel bun) and barbecued beef, plus pulled pork, ham, chicken, and fish fillets. When we stopped by, open-face roast beef sandwiches were the day’s special: the same good beef piled on a plate with the roll on the side and a couple of mounds of mashed potatoes. While the beef in this one was the same as in the simple sandwich, we much preferred Maverick’s crisp French fries to the ersatz mashed potatoes.
Ambience at this inconspicuous strip-mall eatery is that of a workman’s café. Once you get your food, you stop by a condiment bar where the choices range from horseradish and horseradish cream to hot peppers, ketchup, mustard, and pickles. Then you find a place at one of the four-tops along the side of the room or at the long banquet table that runs down the middle. We walked out happy and satisfied.
Mickey’s Dining Car
36 West 7th St.
651–222–5633
Saint Paul, MN
BLD | $
The best thing about Mickey’s Dining Car is Mickey’s Dining Car itself—a stunning yellow-and-red enamel streamliner built by the Jerry O’Mahony company in 1937. Although it has been well used over decades of twenty-four-hour service, it is still in magnificent shape. Complementing the Deco dazzle of the diner (which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places) is a jukebox featuring Elvis and Del Shannon, and a staff of waiters and waitresses who have honed the art of service with a snarl. It’s not mean service, and it’s not bad service; in fact, it is efficient and polite…unless you are one of the frequent gawkers (we plead guilty) who come in to look around at the handsome joint and its colorful regular denizens. We who are too preoccupied to place our order swiftly and with no hesitation can find ourselves at the mercy of the hash slingers, one of whom once told us, in no uncertain terms, “A museum, it’s not. You gonna eat or kick tires?”
We’re not going to tell you that the cuisine at Mickey’s Dining Car rates four stars. There are some things they serve we wouldn’t recommend at all. The pies, for example, are more easily identifiable by their color (red, yellow, blue) than by their designated ingredient (could it be fruit?).
On the other hand, breakfast is foursquare. Eggs are whipped up in a flash, blueberry-buttermilk pancakes are pretty fine, and the hash brown potatoes are available O’Brien-style, meaning mixed with diced ham, onion, and green peppers. We like the French toast made from the diner’s extra-thick white bread, and the morning special of pork chops or steak and eggs. While these chops bear little resemblance to the thick, tender ones you’ll get for supper in a high-priced