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.
Brunch to the Future: 5 throwback diners
Hop in the wayback machine at these classic Twin Cities diners.
By Michael Rietmulder
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.
Our Kitchen
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.
Uptown Diner
2548 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.
A weekend meeting ground for drunk people of all stripes looking to pound crab cake Benedicts and chocolate chip pancakes at 3 a.m. It reminds us of simpler times we can't remember.