Plaza del Sol Is Open on Payne Avenue, and the Rest of the East Side's Fall Is Down the Street

The opening date for 990 Payne Avenue moved twice before it held. In July 2025, Bring Me The News reported that Plaza del Sol would open "in December." In July 2026, the City of Saint Paul's small business newsletter said a soft opening would come that month. The doors actually opened on October 1 at 11 a.m.

So the food hall is open now. It is also clearly still being built out, and that is the useful part for anyone who lives nearby. The Plaza del Sol you walk into this week will look different from the one you walk into around Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, most of the East Side's free fall events are lined up along the same avenue, from the 900 block to the 1200 block, on Fridays and Saturdays between now and the end of November.

A Soft Opening, in the Building's Own Words

Plaza del Sol is a project of the Latino Economic Development Center, known as LEDC. It combines a food hall, a commissary kitchen and an event center at 990 Payne Ave. When LEDC announced the opening on September 30, it described this phase plainly:

"A soft opening gives Plaza del Sol time to work through the many details of launching a large, multi-use destination. During this period, menus may continue to evolve and some services may not be available immediately as the team fine-tunes the experience."

The same announcement said LEDC was still taking applications for the food hall, the commissary kitchen and the event center. The food hall page describes the layout as two restaurant spaces with full kitchens plus three turnkey food stands. It pitches the hall as a launchpad for local food businesses, with shorter leases and shared bussing, cleaning, point-of-sale and security. Because the hall was designed for small operators who start out on short leases, the vendor lineup is meant to change over time.

No grand-opening date has been announced. The contact page lists hours of 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and notes they are subject to change. For now, plan on an evening meal rather than a lunch stop, and check before you go.

Who Is Cooking at 990 Payne

The opening-day lineup was three vendors, with a fourth on the way. Here is what's confirmed:

• Bien Dorados opened on October 1. Its own site says it's run by two brothers and has operated out of Currie Food Hall at 1025 Currie Ave. in Minneapolis, with late-night hours there until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Whether those late hours carry over to Payne Avenue isn't posted, so go by the Plaza's 4 to 10 p.m. listing.
• La Moreliana opened on October 1.
• Valentina's opened on October 1.
• Deli Cheese was set to join "in the next few weeks," according to LEDC's September 30 notice. In a June preview, Plaza del Sol described it as a Venezuelan-inspired artisanal cheese maker, with a menu of arepas, cachapas, tequeños, empanadas, specialty coffee and breakfast.

Visit Saint Paul lists a fifth concept, Uno Dos Tres Bar, among the hall's tenants. If Deli Cheese arrives on the timeline LEDC described and the bar comes along with it, a visit in late November will have more choices than one this week, all under the same roof.

The event center is already taking bookings. Its page advertises weddings, quinceañeras, nonprofit and corporate functions, comedy and salsa nights, and a main room that holds 300-plus. The first booking LEDC has announced is the Minnesota Public Relations Society of America's DEI Forum on Monday, October 26. LEDC Executive Director Alma Flores is the keynote speaker. It's a registered professional event, not an open house, but it shows the event room is already in use. No dates for public salsa nights have been posted yet.

The Same Avenue, Through Thanksgiving Week

Here's how the rest of the fall lines up on Payne. Down the avenue from the food hall, the Black Business Network's Food Truck Fridays at 901 Payne Ave. gathers Black-owned food trucks, retail vendors and businesses in a free event that runs 3 to 8 p.m., with a different mix of businesses each time. Up the avenue at 1200 Payne, Saint Paul Regional Water Services has listed the Arlington Hills Safe Summer Nights Fall Festival. Put together, Payne Avenue has something going on most weekends from now through Thanksgiving week.

Here are the dates from the city's fall events page, last updated October 14, and the East Side Area Business Association calendar, counting forward from Thursday, October 22:

1. Thursday, Oct. 22, 6 to 7 p.m. Halloween Party at Duluth & Case.
2. Friday, Oct. 23, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Haunted Trail at Duluth & Case. Doors open at Plaza del Sol at 4 p.m., so you can eat first.
3. Saturday, Oct. 24, noon to 2 p.m. Safe Summer Nights Fall Festival at Arlington Hills, 1200 Payne Ave.
4. Thursday, Oct. 29, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Halloween Party at Hazel Park.
5. Friday, Oct. 30, 3 to 8 p.m. Food Truck Fridays: HallowTech, "Tech + Treats," at 901 Payne.
6. Friday, Nov. 13, 3 to 8 p.m. Food Truck Fridays at 901 Payne.
7. Friday, Nov. 27, 3 to 8 p.m. Food Truck Fridays: Buy Black Friday, the 2026 season finale at 901 Payne.

One change to note if you've gone in past years: the Halloween Spooktacular Bash at Phalen, once set for October 29, is marked canceled on the city's calendar. That makes Hazel Park the city-listed Halloween party on the East Side that evening.

The ESABA calendar also lists a weekday lunch option. On Thursday, Oct. 29, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the ESABA Lunch Bunch is holding a cash mob at Mañana Restaurant y Pupuseria, 798 7th Street E. It's a few minutes from Payne and worth a stop if you're already planning to eat out locally that week.

For a cross-town trip, the city lists a Fall Craft Fair at Edgcumbe on Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It falls six days before the Food Truck Fridays finale, so you can do your holiday shopping at both.

Why Late November Is the Second Visit

The calendar and the food hall's buildout run on the same timeline. Plaza del Sol opened with three vendors, has a fourth arriving within weeks of October 1, and is still leasing space. Food Truck Fridays has three dates left, ending on Nov. 27. A first visit to 990 Payne this week, around the Arlington Hills festival or the Duluth & Case haunted trail, shows the hall in its first month. A second visit on the evening of the Buy Black Friday finale, a short walk down the avenue, should show it with more of its stalls running, as long as the vendor schedule LEDC described holds.

Up the Hill, a Park on a Longer Clock

Plaza del Sol took a few extra months to open. The next big East Side project is on a much longer timeline. The city's project page for the new park at The Heights, updated October 16, says construction was scheduled to start on October 19, 2026. The Heights is the former Hillcrest Golf Course, 112 acres in the northeast corner of the city. The Parks department is building a five-acre park there to serve the new development and the neighborhoods around it.

The final amenity list:

• A futsal and basketball court
• A picnic shelter and restroom building, plus picnic tables and grills
• A play area and flexible lawn space
• A sledding hill
• Public art described as "tree creatures"
• Natural plantings and trees

Don't plan on sledding there this winter. The city's September 10 update says it expects the project to be finished in 2027. The park's name hasn't been chosen yet. The city ran a naming survey, and the October update says a "new name coming soon."

Places like Plaza del Sol and the park at The Heights shape how the East Side feels to live in, and over time they show up in how buyers talk about a neighborhood. If the changes along Payne Avenue have you wondering what your own home would be worth, I'm happy to put together a personal home valuation that takes them into account. You can also schedule a consultation with Renee Wilson.