Smash patties with a side of pierogies will soon be on the menu in St. Paul.
Burger Dive, from Smack Shack owners Josh Thoma and Kevin Fitzgerald and chef Nick O'Leary, is opening its first stand-alone restaurant, in the former Bay Street Grill at 731 Randolph Av. in St. Paul.
The restaurant is scheduled to open August 19.
Meanwhile, the first Burger Dive, which opened a year ago at the back of the classic northeast Minneapolis bar Tony Jaros River Garden (2500 NE. Marshall St., Mpls.), has ended its run there. (It has been replaced by Pork and Pickle.)
Burger Dive's second outpost, at Rosedale Mall's Potluck food hall (1595 Hwy. 36, Roseville), lives on.
When Burger Dive first opened in June 2019, Thoma hinted that a stand-alone restaurant would be in the works. He had previously used the 1029 Bar as a launchpad for lobster rolls, when Smack Shack — then a food truck — partnered with that dive in 2010. It, too, went brick-and-mortar, in 2012.
"We'll do something else with this," Thoma said last year about the burger concept.
Thoma and Fitzgerald are both St. Paul natives, and wanted Burger Dive to come to their hometown.
"Josh and I are both from here so opening this classic bar with Nick's amazing food in our own backyard is pretty special," Fitzgerald said in an announcement about the move.
In addition to the house-ground burgers it is known for, the new spot will also offer breakfast, plus biscuits from Betty & Earl's Biscuit Kitchen.
There will also be pulltabs, meat raffles, trivia and more.
O'Leary will be in the kitchen, which will be open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sharyn Jackson • 612-673-4853
@SharynJackson
