Union Depot Restaurant Comes With An Obvious Name

Because all cool things are happening in St. Paul right now (Revival, Schmidt Brewery, Pajarito), we can't go five minutes without talking about that non-Minneapolis of Twin Cities. Let's kick off this week's food news cribsheet at the Union Depot. In April it was announced that the lease was not renewed for Christo's, the Greek restaurant inside the lobby of the grand railroad building. Now, it's been announced that Kaskaid Hospitality will take over the restaurant operation at this location and open the Union Bar and Grill. Kaskaid also owns the downtown Minneapolis restaurant with the same name, and the St. Paul outlet will share a similar concept. Kaskaid also owns and operates the successful Crave chain of restaurants. However, the original Union has changed concepts several times since opening. It began with ambitious food from Jim Christiansen (now of Heyday), had a Workshop by Stewart Woodman (now of Lela) before settling into more of a sports bar-type vibe. We'll see how this all translates to the stunning space in Lowertown.

—Also in St. Paul, Tori Ramen continues it's march toward serving entirely non-pork-broth ramen shop just off the corner of Selby Avenue and Victoria is coming up on a mid-September opening. It's perfect timing for fall comfort.

—Interesting news on what might happen at the now-shuttered Salt Cellar. Madison Hospitality group, the company that owns Public Kitchen and Bar and the Handsome Hog in Lowertown have partnered with the restaurant company that owns Eagle Street Grille, Ox Cart Alehouse and the now closed Cathedral Hill restaurant. What this means for the restaurant is anyone's guess, but it is fun to guess.

—Now, for something for those of you over in Minneapolis. Amazon Prime Now has launched another area restaurant delivery service. That means free, one hour restaurant delivery from a few eateries to a few zip codes. This joins other restaurant delivery options like Bite Squad, Door Dash and Postmates.

—And now for the headline that writes itself, goodbye, Ruby Tuesdays. The restaurant chain announced this week that it's closing 8 metro area restaurants as a part of a national scaling down that includes 95 closures in all. The Mall of America, Stillwater, Apple Valley, Champlain, Chaska, Cottage Grove, Eden Prairie and Plymouth stores are wiped from the company's website.