Former Fabulous Fern's to become sushi restaurant in St. Paul's Cathedral Hill

A now-shuttered St. Paul institution is showing signs of coming back to life. The Cathedral Hill building that housed Fabulous Fern's, the longtime Selby Ave. bar and restaurant that closed in 2018, is slated to get a Yumi Japanese Restaurant + Bar, according to a sign posted on the building.

Fern's, as it was known in later times, gave St. Paulites an old-reliable place to take the family for all-American fare, or sidle up to the bar for popcorn and beer, for almost 27 years. The restaurant had been struggling, and the owner had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017.

Its replacement at the Blair Apartments (400 Selby Av., St. Paul) is part of a larger expansion for Excelsior's Yumi (217 Water St., Excelsior, 952-474-1720, yumisushibar.com). The tentative opening date of the St. Paul location is sometime later this year or in early 2020, as reported by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal and confirmed by an employee of Yumi's Excelsior location. The sushi, teriyaki and noodle spot also will open a third outpost, in early 2020 in Southdale's Northeast End redevelopment.