Golden Valley’s former Mort's Deli has traded in its cold cuts for cocktails. Kitchen and Rail opened Monday in the freestanding building off Winnetka Avenue, turning the strip mall corner into a jewel-toned dining room with an open kitchen and a full bar. The Eagan-born restaurant is serving both lunch and dinner to nearby offices and neighbors, and it brought along several of the hit dishes that built its original following. For Mort's loyalists, there is a clear peace offering on the menu: a hefty pastrami sandwich dubbed The MORT.
Owners Victor Salamone and Joe Newhouse, who launched the first Kitchen and Rail in Eagan, are steering the Golden Valley expansion, as reported by the Star Tribune. The paper notes both also work at Matter, a nonprofit in St. Louis Park, and that they see hospitality as a form of service. The Star Tribune preview also calls out the bold interior colors and a few decorative holdovers that quietly nod to Mort's while updating the space for full-service dining.
According to Kitchen and Rail, the new outpost sits at 525 Winnetka Ave N and keeps hours of 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.–8 p.m. Sunday. The site highlights the house wine label, Victorio's, along with a full cocktail program that the owners say helps hold prices in check and speed up service. The Golden Valley rollout also leans on expanded weekday lunch hours and a private event room aimed at nearby workers and residents.
Lunchtime Upgrade For West Metro Offices
The Golden Valley location is adding daily lunch service tailored to office crowds and neighborhood regulars, a shift from the original Eagan restaurant’s earlier service pattern, according to a company release. In an announcement distributed via PR Newswire, the brand said its midday menu leans into soups, salads and sandwiches built for quicker table turns and business lunches. Local coverage around the debut has suggested the restaurant could help spark more daytime foot traffic across the shopping center.
Golden Valley Shopping Center Gets Its Next Act
Kitchen and Rail’s move into Mort's old building lines up with a planned refresh of the 70-year-old Golden Valley Shopping Center after Paster Properties bought the complex in 2025, Finance & Commerce reported. The developer paid about $17.5 million for the site and has floated cosmetic upgrades plus a hunt for a new anchor tenant to boost traffic. Industry watchers see Kitchen and Rail’s arrival as an early sign that the center’s repositioning is finally shifting from plan to reality.
Eagan Favorite Heads West
Kitchen and Rail opened its first restaurant in Eagan in 2022 and quickly drew attention for a menu that blends global comfort food with pit-master techniques, according to the restaurant’s site. In Golden Valley, the lineup keeps core staples like filet mignon sliders, Nana's meatballs and Vietnamese pork belly, while adding The MORT, described as a half-pound of house-smoked pastrami on caraway rye, as a nod to the building’s deli past. The brand’s online presence also notes awards and reader accolades that helped turn the Eagan original into a busy reservation spot.
Salamone has framed the Golden Valley move as community-driven rather than a quick grab for growth, telling the Star Tribune, “If you do it for the money, you're gonna fail.” He and Newhouse say the new location will serve as a testing ground for weekday lunch and community-focused hospitality as Paster’s broader renovation of the shopping center gets underway.
