Dark Horse, the St. Paul neighborhood restaurant and bar that closed in February, will reopen in July. The appropriately named restaurant on East 7th Street in Lowertown will return with chef Shane Oporto in the kitchen, Sarah McDonough handling the front of house, and new ownership from Eclective, the group behind St. Paul Brewing and Can Can Wonderland.
It’s the first venture for McDonough and Oporto, both longtime hospitality professionals with a deep love for the restaurant. “We dined there closing night,” said McDonough. What stuck with them was the service and the community the previous restaurant had built. “Service was obviously led with their whole hearts and that is what we have always cared about.”
When Dark Horse closed at the start of the year, it seemed like another neighborhood eatery was lost in the dark days of winter. It’s rare for a restaurant to make a full comeback just a few months after closing, but we live in an era of comebacks. This casual spot with its patio, come-as-you-are vibe, crowd-pleasing menu and extensive bar is bucking the bad-news narrative around St. Paul and has the talent primed to pull off a win.
For Oporto, it’s a return to the neighborhood. He opened Octo Fishbar with Tim McKee, whom he’d worked for during the hallowed days of La Belle Vie. Oporto’s St. Paul bonafides are also legit; he’s run the kitchen at West 7th icon DeGidio’s for the past 10 years.
“The menu will be all the stuff you want in a neighborhood spot you want to go to time and again,” Oporto said from Dark Horse’s basement prep area. They’re working with a local purveyor for a specific beef blend for the burgers and there will be pizzas, too.
McDonough’s hospitality career dates back to her first job at Hazeltine National Golf Club, but she’s coming to Dark Horse from Can Can Wonderland, where she was general manager.
“We love the flow of a great restaurant room,” she said. That means a few changes: The stage is going away for now, although they’re hoping live music will be back at some point. The bar is also going to open up and warm earthtones will complement the historic brick walls. “Plus, we’re big plant people.”
The greenery and artistry for the building will come from within Eclective, which also owns Martha’s Gardens, a St. Paul floral shop, and the in-house artist collective has designed St. Paul Brewing and Can Can Wonderland. It’s a fitting return to Lowertown’s roots as an area that thrives on local art.
