Brunch to the Future: 5 throwback diners

While we admire what modern-day chefs have done for brunch, we also love retro diners that serve as egg-scrambling time warps — places where the spoons aren't too greasy and the prices are low enough for a bankrupt archdiocese to afford.

Mickey's Diner

36 W. 7th St., St. Paul

St. Paul might be the city that often sleeps, but Minnesota's most famous 24/7 dining car hasn't snoozed since opening in 1939, because there's no telling when a strawberry malt craving might hit.

Band Box Diner

729 S. 10th St., Mpls.

Mickey's isn't the only Twin Cities diner Gordon Bombay and crew kicked it at. Elliot Park's 76-year-old breakfast nook is now flush with crowd-funded bucks to replace its janky grill, ensuring its eggs and burgers will live on.

813 W. 36th St., Mpls.

Hopefully printed newspapers will still be a thing by the time we're old enough to camp out at this old-fashioned south Minneapolis diner, ordering coffee refills all day.

Al's Breakfast

413 14th Av. SE., Mpls.

If this O.G. tiny diner near the U of M campus is ever demoed for luxury apartments, there will be riots in the streets. But that's nothing new for Dinkytown.

2548 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.