Selby Avenue JazzFest (photo/selbyavejazzfest.com/history/)
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE
The B Line is here
As of June 14 of this year, the Metro Transit B Line has replaced the historic, unique bus route that was #21. There is a new local bus in Minneapolis for short trips, the endpoints are slightly different in both cities, and there are two new routes in St. Paul, one to pick up the travels eliminated by the B Line not jogging over to University Midway, and one to fill in short local trips along Selby Avenue Additionally, traffic signal priorities and dedicated bus lanes make the trip from Uptown Minneapolis to Downtown St. Paul faster. The website/news source streets.mn, which does quarterly reports on Metro Transit service, covered the opening of the B Line in depth in its June 2025 report: tinyurl.com/DKRatSSP-streetsmn-BLine.
In 2023, when construction of bus shelters and adaptation of roads had just begun, we covered the impact of the construction on three Selby Avenue businesses. Did they all three survive to see the route arrive? Sadly, it appears not. J. Selby’s vegan restaurant is still there, although under new management. Lip Esteem appears to have survived, but Tooth Fairy Candy Store has closed, according to Google.
Selby JazzFest and Walker|West Music Academy
The Selby Avenue JazzFest 2025 will be held on Sept. 13 at the intersection of Milton and Selby Avenues. There will also be master classes at Walker|West Music Academy on Sept. 12 and Sept. 14, see selbyavejazzfest.com/schedule. This will be the 24th Jazz Fest, and the second one under the ownership of Walker|West, after founder Mychael Wright and his wife Stephanie retired both from running their cafe, Golden Thyme, and running the JazzFest. The JazzFest has a great History page with details of every year’s JazzFest and loads of pictures:
selbyavejazzfest.com/history
Eugene and Dorothy at Cadenza Music 1974
Places to eat and drink on Selby Avenue
If you are the kind of person who loves iconic neighborhood coffee shops, and/or beautiful late Victorian urban architecture, you may already be a fan of Nina’s Coffee Cafe in the Blair Arcade building at 165 Western Ave. N. (at the corner of Selby and Western). Nina’s is not named for its owner, but rather for a famous madame from St. Paul’s jazz era gangster days.
The founder and owner of Nina’s Coffee Cafe is June Berkowitz, a community activist and all-round good person. She has recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is now receiving treatment for it. If you want to help support her medical care, there is a GoFundMe, or you can go to the cafe to show support in person. gofundme.com/f/support-juneof-ninas-coffee-cafein-her-cancer-journey
There are many good restaurants down on the eastern end of Selby Avenue near Nina’s. La Grolla, 452 Selby Ave., is one of them. La Grolla has been in business for about 22 years, serving that kind of Italian cuisine that sits between fine dining and comfort food. They also serve beer, wine, cocktails, digestifs, coffee drinks and decadent desserts.
Another one is Moscow on the Hill, a Russian restaurant that also includes specialties from Ukraine, Georgia, and Siberia. Located at 371 Selby Ave., this beloved restaurant has been in business since 1997. It’s owned by Naum and Marina Liberman, immigrants from Moscow, who bought a French restaurant called Quail on the Hill in 1994 then transitioned it to Russian cuisine and changed the name in 1997.
Golden Thyme Cafe has been a St. Paul institution since it was founded in 2000. The cafe was later taken over by a nonprofit – the Rondo Community Land Trust. They wanted to ensure the business would stay Black-owned and be a benefit to the community. For a little over a year, the space was home to an incubator style succession of food businesses, then closed while they tried to find something more permanent. Now the Cafe is reopened at 856 Selby Ave., deliberately keeping much of the feel and menu of the original, and there is now a companion full restaurant and bar at 934 Selby Ave..
Golden Thyme Restaurant & Bar is Jazz-themed, with New Orleans and Soul Food classics in a fine dining setting, filling a void in a lively neighborhood that didn’t really have elevated dining before. This restaurant is presided over by Rondo resident and executive chef Adam Randall.
The Hive on Selby (photo/
@ the.hive.minnesota)
Services on Selby Avenue
St. Paul Yoga Center, 1162 Selby Ave., is another long-time presence on Selby, and claims the honor of being St. Paul’s first yoga studio, founded in 1994 by four yoga teachers. They now have two studios and nearly a dozen very experienced teachers. They also offer many of their classes with a simultaneous virtual (Zoom) option. Check out stpaulyogacenter.com for more details, including class pricing and multi-class discounts.
The Hive is a new establishment as well as a newer concept. They are a realtor firm with a difference – social responsibility! The firm is women-owned, and gives a percentage of earnings to community causes for each house bought and sold. Their market is the whole metro area, but you can visit them out in their friendly office at Selby and Snelling where the espresso machine is always on.
Strippers Furniture Restoration, founded in 1963, is a long-time business on Selby Avenue. Since West Selby in particular is awash with antique stores, and the Cathedral end is full of old stately Victorians and Craftsman-style homes, it makes sense that this area could support such a business. Strippers does everything from providing supplies and advice in DIY to complete restoration jobs, from stripping (duh) and refinishing to caning, upholstery, and finishes.
Along with having lots of intact old Victorian mansions, this section of St. Paul is B&B (and nowadays, AirB&B) heaven. A shining example of the former is the New Victorian B&B a block off of Selby at 325 Dayton Ave., built in 1894 for Frank P. and Anna Shepard. This gorgeous old Queen Anne-style residence has been lovingly restored with modernized baths and kitchens as a bed-and-breakfast, a retreat venue, or an event venue. Check out the suites, rates, and fabulous photos at newvictorianbb.com.
Maggy Schneider, co-founder & current owner of The Sewing Lounge
Retail establishments on Selby Avenue
The Sewing Lounge is a fabric store and much more. If you are not a “sewist” (apparently the new acceptable term) you may not know about modern sewing patterns, but the Sewing Lounge has you fully covered. You can buy PDF patterns online and then get them printed for you. You can take classes there in all types of sewing basics and advanced techniques. The fabric selection looks amazing, and it’s all online (sewinglounge.com.) If you really dig fabrics and sewing, you’re going to want to visit in person at 987 Selby Ave.
Old Stuff is (I think) the only antique store that we haven’t so far mentioned in covering Selby Avenue. Located at 168 Fairview Ave. N., Old Stuff has the least online presence of any business I know of, which, extremely online though I am, I have to admire. Google reviews describe Old School as having friendly service and an interesting selection with reasonably-priced delivery for larger items.
Cadenza Music, 149 Snelling Ave. N., has been in business since 1974, when Eugene Monnig and Dorothy Sauser-Monnig bought, renamed, and then expanded, a pre-existing store. Long-time staffer Dan Lehn bought the business from them in 2019. Cadenza does everything, from retail sales to repair, leasing instruments, instruction, family classes for kids 0-4 years, and even events like student recitals or small touring groups. See_cadenzamusic.com/events for their calendar.
