Heriberto Gonzalez cooked at suburban restaurants like Mito and Zoukmaya for 25 years. When the Pioneer Press visited his counter at Valentina's in late October, he held up one of his giant sushi rolls. They're coconut-crusted and deep-fried, filled with avocado, cucumber, cream cheese and chicken or shrimp. "Nobody in the area has that," he told the paper. "It's my creation."
That counter sits inside Plaza del Sol at 990 Payne Ave. The food hall soft-opened on October 1. A few weeks later the City of Saint Paul took down the last traffic control from this year's intersection work and reopened Payne Avenue. The street and its biggest new dining project are both open. Apart from a short punch list, the next round of intersection work isn't scheduled until spring 2027. For the first time this year, the new businesses can find out how many people from beyond the immediate blocks will come to eat on Payne without detours in the way.
Five Years Empty, Then a Slow Finish
The building at 990 Payne goes back to the early 1900s. Over the decades it held Borgstrom pharmacy, Swenson Bros. furniture, Sidhe Brewing and the Moler Barber School, and then it went vacant. The Latino Economic Development Center bought the struggling property out of foreclosure in 2020. The last commercial tenant was gone by 2021.
According to the Pioneer Press, the acquisition and rehab came to $11.2 million in total. The paper's 2024 coverage of the start of construction listed the main pieces of the funding:
- $3.5 million from the 2023 state bonding and infrastructure bill
- A $1 million loan from the National Association of Latino Community Asset Builders
- $750,000 from the Minnesota Main Street Economic Revitalization Program
- Philanthropic support
The opening date slipped more than once. Earlier this year KARE 11 reported a plan for a June soft opening and a July grand opening. The station also reported that recruiting tenants had gotten harder after Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration enforcement action in the Twin Cities last winter, because prospective vendors were wary of starting businesses. The soft opening ended up landing on October 1.
The building that came out of that process covers 26,000 square feet on two floors. The food hall is on the ground floor. A commissary kitchen sits beneath a second-floor wedding hall and event center, and the upstairs also holds the offices of LEDC and Rooted Philanthropic. LEDC is booking the event center for weddings, quinceañeras, comedy and salsa nights, and it's leasing the commercial kitchen to caterers and small food businesses. A kitchen open to outside caterers and an event room open for bookings both bring people in on nights when the counters downstairs would otherwise be quiet.
What's Behind the Counters
Plaza del Sol's food hall page lists five concepts. Two of them belong to Gonzalez and his wife, Erika Garcia.
| Counter | What it serves | Background |
|---|---|---|
| Valentina's | Lunch and dinner mixing Latino, Italian, Japanese and American flavors | Started in 2018 selling Mexican food for special events and named for Gonzalez's daughter |
| La Moreliana | Mexican ice cream, paletas, drinks and desserts | Sister business to Valentina's, named for Morelia, Gonzalez's hometown |
| Bien Dorados | Its own menu, available to order ahead | Began as a ghost kitchen whose customers asked for a place to eat in person |
| Deli Cheese & Coffee | Artisanal Venezuelan recipes and specialty coffee | Newest arrival in the hall |
| Uno Dos Tres Bar | Drinks | LEDC's own bar, with evening hours |
The food hall's posted hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The bar keeps a shorter schedule: 2 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 2 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. The hall is still in its soft opening, and LEDC says hours may vary and menus may keep changing while the team works things out. Before a late visit, check the posted hours that day.
The Street Outside Works Differently Now
City Public Works started the Payne Avenue Pedestrian Intersection Improvements on August 24. The project covers ramps, curb-extension bumpouts, pedestrian medians and stamped sidewalk poetry at a list of intersections, with storm sewer work at Magnolia and Cook done alongside. This year's work ran from Maryland Avenue to Cook Avenue. Most of the changes there are small, but a few affect how you drive to dinner:
- Jessamine Avenue now has a full median. You can only turn right there. There are no left turns between Payne and Jessamine in either direction, and traffic on Jessamine can't cross Payne.
- Rose Avenue has a half median. People walking get a place to wait mid-crossing, so they only have to watch for gaps in one direction of traffic at a time.
- Geranium, Magnolia and Cook have bumpouts. The curb extensions shorten crossings and slow turning cars. They fill space where parking was already illegal, so they don't take away legal spots.
- Parking along Payne is reduced at the median intersections. On a busy evening, plan to park on a side street.
The city scheduled punch-list items for the first week of November and said some could carry into 2027. Crews will return in spring and summer 2027 for six more intersections: Lawson, Jenks, Case, Sims, York and Whitall. The city says it will release that schedule in 2027. Once the punch list wraps up, those six intersections are the next major work the city has scheduled on Payne.
A Walk Down the Payne Avenue Numbers
Plaza del Sol is one of several food stops close together on Payne. In late October the Pioneer Press reported that a handful of new Latino eateries had opened on the avenue in October alone. Starting at Plaza del Sol and walking south by address:
- Tongue in Cheek, 989 Payne. One number off from Plaza del Sol's address, and one of the two East Side food destinations Visit Saint Paul names on the avenue.
- Brunson's Pub, 956 Payne. The other one.
- Caydence Records & Coffee, 900 Payne.
- Mexico 32 Cocina, 883 Payne. Jackie Martinez opened her restaurant and bar this fall. According to Bring Me The News, it opens daily at 7 a.m. Breakfast includes chilaquiles and tres leches concha French toast. Lunch has a $5 taco special with suadero, asada, chorizo or al pastor. Evenings bring mole chicken wings, ceviche tostadas, cocktails and TVs at the bar for games.
- Eastside Thai, 879 Payne.
- Bymore Supermercado, 857 Payne.
- La Palma Supermercado y Cafe, 655 Payne, and Yarusso's Italian Restaurant, 635 Payne. These are at the far end of the walk.
Between 990 and 857 alone you'll find coffee, a pub, Thai food, a grocery and two new Mexican kitchens. On the 2026 stretch of the street project, the curbs, ramps and crossings along much of this walk are new.
Why These Winter Months Count
The new businesses opened during a slow stretch. In its October 25 story, the Pioneer Press reported that several Payne Avenue business owners were seeing fewer customers than they had hoped for. Owners tied that to lingering worry about federal immigration enforcement, eight months after the government announced Operation Metro Surge was winding down. Some businesses had cut hours or were closing on certain weekdays. Gonzalez was more hopeful than most.
"People are coming back."
He told the Pioneer Press that while running his two counters inside Plaza del Sol.
The street work added its own pressure. With city support, the East Side Neighborhood Development Company is offering construction mitigation grants of $2,000 to $5,000 to businesses that can document lost revenue from the disruption. Applications open in November and are awarded first come, first served until the money runs out. Eligible businesses are those affected by city construction between Case Avenue and Maryland Avenue and between Greenbrier and Edgerton streets. If you own a shop on that stretch, the city's project page carries the announcement.
For everyone else, the calendar is short. Next spring the six intersections from Lawson through Whitall go back into construction. Before then, the East Side Area Business Association holds a Food Truck Friday at 901 Payne Ave. on November 13 from 3 to 8 p.m., with food trucks, vendors and Black-owned businesses. That address is a short walk from Mexico 32 and Caydence. Plaza del Sol's food hall is open until 10 p.m. that Friday.
I keep a running list of what's open, new and changing along Payne Avenue and the rest of the East Side, along with practical details like the new Jessamine turn rules. If a move within St. Paul is on your mind, or you'd just like a second opinion on how a corridor like this one is changing, Mitchell Culbreath is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
