"The Bear" Fans Get A Real Beef - Why Revival Flipped to BAR Revival in St. Paul

Chicago-style beef and pizza... yes they still have fried chicken

UPDATE: Revival is permenantly closed as of Jan 20, 2025.

Why would Revival in St. Paul flip to Bar Revival, focusing on pizzas and italian beef? It’s a story more common than most of us would think, co-owner Nick Rancone told me.

“We never came back after the pandemic,” he said. People have shifted to a more take-out focused life, which means no time in the Selby Ave. space, no time lingering. They’re not ordering anything to drink, let alone that second drink that comes when you’re having a good time somewhere. The change of Revival to Bar Revival is worth exploring, in my view, because it also explains why we see so many “sports bars” being announced around town.

“Also all of the bars are gone, almost everything on Selby is more focused on dining,” said co-owner Thomas Boemer. The current iteration of The Gnome is more restaurant than the old Gnome. Fabulous Fern’s is gone. Muddy Pig is gone. Maybe people just want a drink?

Nick spent his 20s on the South Side of Chicago, and wants to bring some of that feel to his neighborhood in St. Paul.

“We won’t have craft cocktails, we’ll have cocktails. Rail cocktails. Some sweeter ‘party drinks’ closer to a vodka lemonade feel. We have blended margaritas like you used to get at the corner bar,” said Nick. They’ve hung TVs all around the space - they have a couple in St. Louis Park but you can easily come watch the Wild or the Wolves and hang out with friends. Expect baskets and paper napkins.

I grew up on Chicago Italian Beef in the suburbs of Chicago and you are going to love this beef. It’s got the right texture, the subtle spices and flavors, it reminds me of Al's #1 Italian Beef in flavor profile, but the giardiniera (if you order it hot) is different. “It’s a really celery-forward giardiniera,” Thomas told me. “there’s carrot, Serrano, and jalapeño, but it’s all about the crunch.” Both the beef and the giardiniera are three-day processes. You have to cook a big roast in juice and in a tented situation, and you have to cook it very low and slow. It pays off.

You can have it dry, with juice on the side, dipped or wet ($16). The juice is key to the experience, I recommend dipped. Add sweet peppers or the hot giardiniera, and then you can pay $2 more for cheese. I grew up with cheesy beefs, but the beef on this version is so tasty, I don’t think the cheese is necessary.

They’ve got a unique thin-crust tavern-style pizza as well. Unlike Minnesota tavern (Red Savoy) the sauce is more subtle, there’s less of it, there’s less cheese than most pies here as well. The crust is impossibly thin, but doesn’t taste like cracker or cardboard, there’s firmness but a little give. I loved it ($18-$22 depending on what you order.)

Yes, they’ll still have the famous Revival Burger and the fried chicken they’re so known for. Here’s the full menu:

Open for lunch & dinner 7 days a week
Bar Revival, 525 Selby Ave., Saint Paul, revivalrestaurants.com