For generations, St. Paul has been known for its great restaurants. The chefs that put together the menus for the masses who come to visit Grand Casino Arena strive to have one of the city’s finest places to eat, with a hockey game for entertainment to boot.

In the run-up to the Minnesota Wild’s 2025-26 home opener on Saturday, members of the media were invited to sample some of the new offerings at various stands throughout the arena. Here are a quartet of bites that visitors would be wise to try this winter.

St. Paul Pierogi – Club level near section 36

Grand Casino Arena is offering three takes on the classic Eastern European pierogis during Wild games this season. The protein-loaded Kielbasa Novi includes grilled kielbasa, caramelized onions, sour cream, spicy mustard and sauerkraut for $16 (Courtesy of Grand Casino Arena)

This classic Eastern European dish is a Minnesota staple for many, and they’re offering three varieties of potato-and-cheese pierogies at the rink this season. The Ohgee ($12) features caramelized onions and sour cream. The Minnesoti ($13) goes for the local flair, with cheddar cheese, bacon bits, sour cream, green onions. The protein-loaded Kielbasa Novi ($16) version includes grilled kielbasa, caramelized onions, sour cream, spicy mustard and sauerkraut. They were the brainchild of Chef Kyle Bowles.

“We always try to lean in to Minnesota. Anything we can do to be local and be authentic,” said Chef Matt Rosson. “Chef Kyle had been pushing the pierogi idea for a while. We have these brainstorm meetings, and it came to life this year. We’re super thrilled with how it came out and the way it’s being received.”

Crunchy Commuter – Main Concourse near Section 122

Rosson lived in San Francisco for a time, where a neighborhood restaurant featured many takes on the walking taco, including the classic with taco chips, taco meat, cheese, lettuce, etc. This season they are offering five different varieties of Old Dutch chips in a bag, filled with other fixings. Options include the classic taco, a barbeque flavor with pulled pork and crispy onions, a chicken Caesar version, a dill pickle version and a jerk chicken option, each of them for $10.

“We think it’s an ode to our non-seriousness. We are professionally trained chefs, but we want to have fun and make food that people love to eat,” Rosson said. “Anytime we try and go too fancy, people don’t go there as much as we think they will. So something like a walking taco is fun, cool to show off and easy to walk as you go.”

State Fare – Main Concourse near Section 117

These pronto pups on hockey sticks will be served at Minnesota Wild home games during the 2025-26 season (Courtesy of Grand Casino Arena)

You never need to miss the culinary delights of Falcon Heights in late summer with this sampling of the Great Minnesota Get-Together. The stand features Pronto Pups ($11), Deep Fried Ranch served with hot honey ($13), O’Gara’s Shepard’s Hand Pie ($8) served with brown gravy and Dill Pickle Tater Tots ($8.29) which are a vegan offering.

“We have a full commitment to State Fair-focused items,” Rosson said. “Every summer we get together as a team to go to the State Fair and come up with ideas based on things that we love. We were able to work with the vendors to give people the authentic State Fair experience.”

J&R’s Cookie Dough – Main Concourse near Section 109

When it’s time for dessert, there are few things more classically Minnesotan among sweets as the classic Scotcheroo bars, which are a mix of chocolate and peanut butter. The Grand Casino Arena chefs have developed a Scotcheroo cookie dough, available for $6.99.

“New cookie dough concepts, specifically the Scotcheroo cookie dough, is an exciting addition,” Rosson said. “We’ve been changing it up and doing different cookie dough concepts for 10 years. Scotcheroo bars are something you get at a church potluck, and that’s an ode to our history and the people here. We’re excited about that.”

The Wild are host to Columbus on Saturday. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. Gates open to the public 90 minutes before the first faceoff.

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Luther Memorial Church in South St. Paul has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a highly intact example of mid-century modern architecture, with the longtime community meeting place carrying memories for many locals from baptism to burial.

Parishioner Maureen Sanford headed the volunteer effort to pursue the federal listing, applying for state grant funds for the application. The submission was made possible through a grant funded by a state appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

“I think it’s really a feather in the cap for our community,” Sanford said.

A longtime South St. Paul resident, Sanford was baptized in the church and also married there. Her parents, aunts and uncles are buried at nearby General Lutheran Cemetery down the street. She said the architectural significance of the building, and that sense of community, is why she pursued the listing for Luther Memorial.

The church, located at 315 15th Ave. N., was built in two stages, in 1956 and 1964. The latter construction became the period of significance, according to research commissioned by Andrea C. Pizza, owner of Deco Cultural Services and author of the National Register nomination.

Specifically, the church was so named to the National Register as an example of mid-century modern, post-World War II era suburban church construction.

Luther Memorial Church in South St. Paul on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (Claudia Staut / Pioneer Press)

Passersby can witness this from the outside through the large, angled precast concrete panels bordering the sanctuary, and the curvature of the exterior brick wall along the front of the church.

On the inside, the general design and unique stained-glass windows were particular points of mention in the National Register submission.

Time portal

Much of the church is original and true to its 1964 construction. Taking a stroll through the building’s wood-lined offices feels like walking through a time portal to decades ago.

Luther Memorial Church was formed in 1953, as a merger of St. Paulus Lutheran Church and Trinity Lutheran Church, as those congregations began in 1892 and 1928, respectively. The new and growing congregation needed an updated building to accommodate more than 1,000 members, according to Pizza’s research, and as planning stages for new construction continued, church member Awalt Schmidt donated land along 15th Avenue North and Third Street North, with the remainder purchased from the city of South St. Paul.

The sun shines through a stained glass window at Luther Memorial Church in South St. Paul on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (Claudia Staut / Pioneer Press)

Characteristic of this era, churches at the time were attempting to design spaces that would be more inviting, more welcoming, than the Gothic architecture that had long preceded the period. The design called for the sanctuary and chancel areas to be more open to the parish. Within the sanctuary are floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows, with specific themes expressed within each set of stacked panels.

The themes include public service, labor, commerce, communications, healing arts and education, as well as windows for food production that include an animal carcass signifying the South St. Paul stockyards.

For many inner-ring suburbs, these buildings from the past are lost over time, Pizza said, as societal changes and redevelopment efforts take their place.

“I think it’s important to recognize these places so that we can find out more about our communities. It gives communities a sense of place,” Pizza said. “South St. Paul has lost a lot of its historical buildings, so there are fewer buildings to convey the city’s past.”

When a building like Luther is recognized for its history, that opens an opportunity to discuss and learn, Pizza said: “It opens up an avenue for people to say ‘Why?’ and an opportunity to learn things about a property, or historical topics, that they didn’t know before.”

Community-minded mission

While the construction is historically significant, parishioners and clergy alike are quick to mention that the larger significance of the church exists not just in the surroundings of the pews, but the people who fill them.

“We have a real sense of community,” Sanford said. “It’s a family. If I was sick, I know someone there is going to bring me a meal. And vice-versa.”

Today, Luther Memorial Church counts about 400 members, the Rev. Patrick Joiner said. Church membership has fallen over the past 40 years, a trend that many churches have been dealing with.

For Luther Memorial, Joiner said there has been a stepped-up focus over the last decade to engage with the greater community. Those efforts have included holiday events, civic celebrations and school district collaborations outside of the church walls.

People gather for services at Luther Memorial Church in South St. Paul on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (Claudia Staut / Pioneer Press)

When Joiner is in the sanctuary, he said the stained-glass windows and their imagery bring to mind that community-minded mission.

“The windows allow light through into the parish, but they also allow us to see our community,” Joiner said. “That is a significant thing for us.”

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Celebrate Luther Memorial History

What: Luther Memorial Church will host a luncheon celebrating the church’s listing in the National Register of Historic Places following worship on Sunday, Oct. 12.

When: 10 a.m. worship and presentation; 11 a.m. luncheon, Sunday, Oct. 12

Where: Luther Memorial Church, 315 15th Ave. N., South St. Paul

More information: 651-451-2400

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday on his social media site that “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China has restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry.

Trump suggested that he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves.

“One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration.”

Athan Kaliakmanis was marshaling the Rutgers offense toward the Gophers’ student section in the fourth quarter of the Sept. 27 game at Huntington Bank Stadium.

In his return to Minnesota, the former Gophers quarterback had the Knights pointed toward the same group of fans he taunted after throwing a second-quarter touchdown pass.

A perfect scene for revenge was set.

Facing a second and 10 from Minnesota’s 26, fans at Huntington Bank Stadium got louder. Amid the din, Kaliakmanis tried to change the play at the line of scrimmage. Not everyone was got the memo.

The center snapped the ball to an unsuspecting Kaliakmanis. It went between his legs and the senior scrambled to recover it for a 15-yard loss. With field position ruined, a 56-yard field goal attempt with 20 seconds left sailed wide and the Gophers won, 31-28.

“That felt like a night game against the top five team in the country-type atmosphere in terms of how loud it was,” Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck said. “I can’t thank our fans enough. That’s the home-field advantage that you want to create for your team.”

The student section has been the driving force in the stadium’s less-than-capacity crowds. The Gophers have increased the amount of student season tickets sold from under 6,000 in 2017 — Fleck’s first year — to more than 8,000 this season.

“Huge jump,” Mike Wierzbicki, deputy athletics director, told the Pioneer Press. “It’s not just season tickets. Many more students coming on a single-game basis. We can generally get up to about 10,000 in there. For most games, we’re hitting that number or we’re getting very close to it.

“You go back to (2016), ’17, ’18, we were rarely getting anywhere close to that,” he added. “So there’s no doubt: what (Fleck’s) seeing and feeling is accurate in the data.”

The uptick in student attendance really ticked up post-pandemic and fans returned to the venue for the 2021 season.

“I think part of that is just students wanted to come back together,” Wierzbicki said.

Keeping ‘em

Fleck credited Wierzbicki and his staff for boosting the game-day environment. Wierzbicki, in turn, credited Mills Armbruster, the U’s assistant AD for marketing, as well as campus partnerships with the Office of Student Affairs and Fraternity and Sorority Life.

The Gophers want students in the stadium early — which, again, they do better than the general fan base. The U tries to entice students with giveaways such as the rally towel at the Rutgers win and the upcoming “Row” hats for the Nebraska game next Friday.

“We’ve done different things that I think students see value in,” Wierzbicki said. “It leads to attendance. … They’re still 18- to 22-year-old kids, whether it’s this cool hat or this towel.”

It’s not just coming early that matters, but more so staying late and not heading out to, say, that big Saturday night party.

Before the pandemic, the Gophers, with the help of an autonomous donor, started a Row The Boat scholarship giveaway. The first 5,000 students at each home game receive a cardboard oar and two $1,000 scholarships are given away in the fourth quarter.

“It’s not just coming to games,” Wierzbicki said. “It’s staying for games, staying engaged.”

Head coach PJ Fleck leads the Gophers onto the field at Huntington Bank Stadium in front of a packed student section ahead of the Gophers’ season opener against Buffalo on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. (Brace Hemmelgarn / Gopher Athletics)

‘Letting it rip’

The night before each home game, the Gophers stay in a suburban hotel and travel to the stadium via coach busses. Along University Avenue, they pass the frat row.

“I really, really love our student body,” Fleck said. “I mean, our student section has improved so much since Day One. I can’t thank them enough. This is what college is all about. It’s what the student experience is all about, coming to football games in the fall. It’s tailgating.”

Hours before the Gophers’ 11 a.m. kickoff against Rutgers, Fleck and players could see fans’ pregame routines on the frat’s front lawns and porches.

“They are lettin’ it rip; that’s for sure,” Fleck said. “This was eight in the morning. I can’t imagine what they were like at night.”

The Gophers hope everyone in attendance Saturday is tuned up the homecoming game against Purdue kicking off 6:30 p.m. The U is encouraging fans to “stripe out” the stadium in maroon and gold.

12th man

Gophers defensive coordinator Danny Collins called the crowd at the Rutgers game “a major factor” in the thrilling win. Wierzbicki said they didn’t have an official decibel level to gauge how loud they truly got.

“They are a part of us,” Collins said Wednesday. “They are a part of that defense. I know the (players) love it and they feed off that energy, as well. They were huge in that moment (versus Rutgers) and (we) can’t thank our crowd enough. That is tremendous.”

During pregame warmups, Gophers starting linebacker Maverick Baranowski likes to engage with two fans in particular in the student section.

“They’re always like, ‘Hey, what up, Mav?’ ” Baranowski relayed. “I squirt ‘em with a water bottle. They’re always juiced up, fired up. It gets us juiced up, as well. A fun little tradition.”

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