Ace Box Bar and Cafe
The Ace Box Bar had two locations, both in St. Paul.
2360 UNIVERSITY AVE.
2360 University Ave. (at Raymond) is the Specialty Building, named for the Specialty Manufacturing Company. The space that was the company’s lunchroom in the 1930s became the Ace Box Bar and Cafe.
The photo below shows that the bar had a bandstand – at this point hosting the Arions, “America’s Only Blind Road Orchestra.”
1937 Photo courtesy Minnesota Historical Society
In 1937 the bar was owned by Edward H. Sharretts, a boxing promoter who was profiled in the Minneapolis Star on November 6 of that year.
Image posted by Marshall Zechlan
The Ace Box was at this location at least through September 1941, when a robbery occurred.
Caffe Biaggio has been in this location since 2002.
2162 UNIVERSITY AVE.
2162 University (at Vandalia) had previously been Cozy Lunch.
The Ace Box relocated here sometime between September 1941 and the end of February 1945.
The photo below from the Minnesota Historical Society is labeled with the 2162 address and is dated 1940, which cannot be. Note the Hillbilly band, a popular genre at the time.
Photo courtesy Minnesota Historical Society
1956 Photo Courtesy Minnesota Historical Society
The Ace Box became the Dubliner in 1996.