ST PAUL, Minn. — Editor's note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 in January 2021.
A St. Paul staple is back in business Thursday, four years after mounting financial pressures stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic caused its doors to close.
Mickey's Diner, which has operated in the capital city for more than 80 years, reopened to locals excitedly filling the dining car's 36 seats once again.
The Children's Museum of Minnesota was just one of the restaurant's neighbors to celebrate its grand (but soft) reopening.
Others, like Facebook users Stephen Mike and Brandon Smith, also shared their enthusiastic support for the return of the St. Paul institution.
In 2021, KARE 11's Boyd Huppert spoke with Melissa Mattson, whose grandfather cofounded Mickey's more than eight decades ago. At the time, a GoFundMe had raised more than $67,000 in an effort to save the family-owned dining car.
“I personally felt like there was hope, not just for us, but just for everyone who was donating,” she told Huppert. “Hope that we're going to see a return to normalcy, that we’re going to get through this.”
As of Thursday, the fundraiser totaled $73,370 of its $50,000 goal, which was set back in the early days of the pandemic.