St. Paul Revival becomes Bar Revival, adds Chicago beef and tavern-style pizza

Revival St. Paul is undergoing, well, a revival.

Owners Nick Rancone and Thomas Boemer have gone down a best-of-Chicago rabbit hole and are now offering Chicago tavern-style pizzas and Italian beef sandwiches.

They’ve changed the look and feel of the restaurant to more like a tavern, too, and to go along with that, there’s a new name: Bar Revival.

We got a sneak peek of the menu, which still includes the fried chicken and burger the restaurant is known for but cuts out some of the barbecue options, which are still available in Minneapolis.

The idea is to make the spot less of a destination and more of a neighborhood hang with good pizza, more downscale drinks — think sweet punches, $8 rail drinks and blended margaritas — and really good sandwiches. Food prices are affordable, too, with no pizza or sandwich topping $20.

Rancone, who worked in Chicago for 10 years, was feeling some nostalgia for his favorite spots, so the duo hit them all on a delicious research mission.

Boemer nerded out on making the perfect Chicago-style Italian beef, which is dry rubbed then roasted in jus and rests at least a day before slicing. They’re making their own giardiniera, too, which is also a three-day labor of love. Like in the Windy City, you can order your sandwich wet (dipped in jus), dry and/or with cheese, giardiniera or sweet peppers.

The pizzas have an impossibly thin crust (thinner than most Midwestern pies), which really allows the ingredients — top-notch here, of course — to shine. We tried an Italian sausage giardiniera, a triple pepperoni and a wild mushroom, and there was not a loser in the bunch.

Boemer is a woodworker who makes guitars in his spare time, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he painted the new mural in the dining room, a graffiti-inspired Saintly City skyline emblazoned with the words St. Paul vs. Everybody.

Bar Revival is now open seven days a week. Delivery is available through Door Dash and Uber Eats.

Bar Revival: 525 Selby Ave., St. Paul; 651-340-2355; revivalrestaurants.com