Plaza del Sol at 990 Payne Ave. opened its food hall on Oct. 1. The three counters serving from day one share a background. Before this building, none of them had a dining room of its own on Payne Avenue. One sold through delivery apps. One spent years cooking for weddings and parties. The third is that caterer's sister counter. The building around them was designed to produce more businesses like these. Its commercial kitchen rents stations by the hour to food trucks, caterers and new chefs who don't have a storefront yet.
The counters you can order from now are the first set to come through, and the building is set up to bring in more.
Who's Cooking at Each Counter
The food hall sits on the ground floor of a two-story, 26,000-square-foot building. Here's the current lineup, based on the Plaza del Sol food hall page and Pioneer Press reporting from Oct. 25.
Counter | What it serves | Before Plaza del Sol |
|---|---|---|
Mexican food | A ghost kitchen, plus an earlier spot in Minneapolis's Currie Food Hall | |
Lunch and dinner blending Mexican, Italian, Japanese and American cooking | A special-events food business started in 2018 | |
Mexican ice cream, paletas, drinks and desserts | Sister business of Valentina's, same owners | |
Drinks | New, run by the building's nonprofit owner | |
Deli Cheese & Coffee | Not yet announced | Listed as coming soon |
Bien Dorados is the clearest case of a business that had customers before it had a front door. According to the food hall's own description, ghost-kitchen customers kept asking for a physical location where they could eat the food in person. If you'd rather not wait in line, it still takes online pickup orders.
Valentina's and La Moreliana belong to husband-and-wife owners Heriberto Gonzalez and Erika Garcia. The Pioneer Press reported that Gonzalez spent 25 years cooking at suburban restaurants including Mito and Zoukmaya. He named Valentina's after his daughter and La Moreliana after Morelia, his hometown. The dish he's proudest of is a deep-fried sushi roll with a toasted-coconut crust, filled with avocado, cucumber, cream cheese and either chicken or shrimp. "Nobody in the area has that. It's my creation," he told the paper. Those 25 years in other kitchens explain the menu. It covers four cuisines because the chef has cooked all four.
Posted hours
- Food hall: Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Uno Dos Tres Bar, limited hours for now: Wednesday and Thursday, 2 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 2 to 10 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 8 p.m.
Plaza del Sol says hours may vary during the soft opening, so check before you go for a late dinner.
The Kitchen That Builds the Next Counter
The counters are the public part of the building. The commissary kitchen is the part designed to keep bringing in new businesses. It sits beneath a second-floor wedding hall and event center. According to Plaza del Sol's commissary page, it offers:
- Six workstations
- Secure 24/7 access
- Hourly rentals or monthly memberships, with equipment rental and storage as add-ons
- Business coaching, lending resources, financial education, licensing guidance, marketing support, and connections to catering and event work
A business like Valentina's in 2018, cooking for events without a storefront, is the kind of business this kitchen is advertised to. A business like Bien Dorados, selling through apps, is the kind of business that ends up wanting a counter downstairs. The food hall is also leasing affordable restaurant spaces and turnkey food stands. A cook can rent time in the commissary, build a following, and then lease a stall in the same building.
The second floor fills out the rest. It holds offices for the Latino Economic Development Center, which owns the building, and for the nonprofit Rooted Philanthropic, along with a meeting room that could double as a training space. The Pioneer Press reported that the event center is pitching itself for weddings, quinceañeras, and comedy and salsa nights.
Why the Building Sat Empty for Years
If you've driven down Payne over the past few years, you probably remember this building dark. Here's how it got from there to Oct. 1:
- 2020: The Latino Economic Development Center buys the struggling commercial center and saves it from foreclosure. Soon after, the Moler Barber School moves off Payne and leaves the building completely empty.
- 2021: The last commercial tenant leaves. LEDC is already looking for loans, grants and donations to rebuild it.
- 2024: Construction starts, according to Bring Me The News.
- July 2025: The Star Tribune reports an $11 million renovation. The funding includes $5 million in loans from Minnesota's economic development agency, a $1 million congressional grant and $2 million in Alerus loans, with Propel, the St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation, LISC Twin Cities and the City of St. Paul also contributing.
- Oct. 1, 2026: Soft opening at 11 a.m. By then the Pioneer Press put the full acquisition and rehab at $11.2 million.
The opening also came later than planned. KARE 11 had reported a target of finishing construction by the end of May, a June soft opening and a July grand opening. The doors opened four months after that June target. That's also why two counters are still filling in. The Pioneer Press described the bar as planned and a fourth eatery as likely on the way, and the building is still recruiting vendors.
The Rest of the Block
Plaza del Sol is one of several fall openings on Payne. Jackie Martinez opened Mexico 32 Cocina, a restaurant and bar at 883 Payne Ave., in late September, according to the Pioneer Press. The Payne Arcade Business Association calendar listed a free grand-opening celebration on Sunday, Nov. 1, with Day of the Dead specials. The Pioneer Press reported that those specials were planned to run through Monday.
Directly across the street from Plaza del Sol, Tongue in Cheek sits at 989 Payne Ave. and is open Wednesday through Sunday, per its Visit Saint Paul listing. Bymore Supermercado and Taqueria Bymore are also on Payne. Brunson's Pub is listed among the Payne Arcade Business Association member businesses. When the Star Tribune covered Plaza del Sol's fundraising in 2025, it placed the project within Payne Avenue's broader commercial comeback and named several of these same businesses.
A little south, on East Seventh Street, the East Side lost a longtime spot this fall. Swede Hollow Cafe closed after 29 years, the Pioneer Press reported on Sept. 1. Jenny Niemela has announced plans for Finn Hollow, a coffee shop and sauna-based retreat center, in the same building. For now, treat Finn Hollow as a plan rather than a place you can visit.
On the East Side Calendar This Month
Once you've worked through the counters, here's what's coming up nearby:
- Thursday, Nov. 19, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.: East Side Freedom Library's Third Thursdays fundraising talk with Sarah Carthen Watson, at 1105 Greenbrier St. Event details.
- Nov. 20 and 21: The library's free two-day "Imagination Starts at Home" Housing Summit, at the same address. Event details.
- Starting Nov. 20: The European Christmas Market opens at Union Depot downtown and runs through Dec. 20, according to the St. Paul Publishing November guide.
If you're planning a wedding, a quinceañera or a party for spring, Plaza del Sol is already booking its second-floor event hall. The commissary kitchen downstairs is taking members now, so the next counter in the food hall may start out there.
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