Golden Thyme Restaurant & Bar | Black-Owned Restaurant IN THE Saint Paul Rondo Neighborhood

In the 1950s and ’60s, the city of Saint Paul drove Interstate 94 straight through the heart of Rondo — one of Minnesota’s oldest and most vibrant Black neighborhoods. More than 700 homes were demolished. More than 300 Black-owned businesses were wiped out. An entire community’s economic foundation was destroyed in the name of a highway. Studies estimate the damage created a $270 million home ownership equity gap that Rondo residents are still living with today.

Golden Thyme Restaurant & Bar, a Black-owned New Orleans-inspired restaurant in Saint Paul’s historic Rondo neighborhood, exists because this community refused to let that be the final word.

The Golden Thyme name has been a cornerstone of Selby Avenue since 2000, when founders Mychael and Stephanie Wright opened Golden Thyme Coffee & Café on what was then an underused, neglected stretch of street. Over the next 24 years, they didn’t just run a café — they rebuilt a corridor. More than a dozen Black-owned small businesses opened within blocks of Golden Thyme during the Wrights’ tenure. They created the Selby Avenue JazzFest, an annual celebration that became a cultural touchstone for the Twin Cities. When they retired in 2023, they made sure the legacy would outlast them by transferring ownership to the Rondo Community Land Trust — ensuring the space would remain Black-owned, community-controlled, and anchored in the neighborhood forever.

“Golden Thyme has been a community anchor for 25 years,” said Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, a son of Rondo himself, “infusing our Rondo neighborhood with vitality, opportunity, and beloved family recipes.”

In May 2025, Golden Thyme reopened — reborn as two distinct venues. Golden Thyme Café at 856 Selby Avenue carries the original spirit into a new era of coffee, pastries, and community gathering. And Golden Thyme Restaurant & Bar at 934 Selby Avenue — the original location — has been transformed into something Rondo has always deserved: a full-service, fine-dining-influenced restaurant and bar with a New Orleans soul.

The menu was built by legendary Twin Cities restaurateur Randy Norman — the mind behind Om, Norman’s Steakhouse, Seven Sushi, and Bellanotte — alongside Executive Chef Adam Randall, a longtime Rondo resident whose deep roots in the neighborhood run as deep as his cooking. Norman found the direction in the portraits of jazz legends already hanging on Golden Thyme’s walls — Dizzy Gillespie, Mahalia Jackson, and other titans who all shared a love for New Orleans. The menu follows their lead: catfish po’boys, jambalaya linguini, signature fried chicken, house-made chips with creamy collard green dip, chopped salad with sesame dressing, and sweet potato pie cheesecake. The sangria is smooth and fruity. The space is draped in emerald and gold with a warm, nighttime vibe that feels elevated without feeling untouchable.

This is not just a restaurant. It is an act of cultural reclamation. “Golden Thyme is redefining success by showing what’s possible when a community has the means to invest in itself,” says Rondo Community Land Trust Executive Director Mikeya Griffin, a proud daughter of Rondo. “When I-94 was built, it destroyed over 700 homes and 300 businesses in Rondo, deeply disrupting economic and cultural synergies. By purchasing Golden Thyme, we are taking steps to remove the barriers that make it difficult for Black-owned businesses to grow.”

The goal is bigger than one restaurant. Rondo CLT’s vision is to revitalize the entire Selby Avenue corridor — building a dynamic entertainment and hospitality district anchored by Black ownership, Black culture, and Black community wealth. Golden Thyme Restaurant & Bar is the anchor. The Rondo Exchange small business incubator, housed next door with 9,300 square feet of commercial space available at just $7 per square foot, is the pipeline. Together, they are rebuilding what the highway tried to erase.

Come for the po’boy. Come for the sangria. Come for the jazz brunch on Sundays. Stay because this is what it looks like when a community reclaims its own.