Ham Loaf from the Hamline Dining Hall at the Minnesota State Fair

For decades, church dining halls have been a staple for tasty home cooking at the Minnesota State Fair. They proved to be a nice, inexpensive place to sit with friends and family to enjoy a meal that tasted like a homemade meal you’d be served at your grandparent’s house. 

As the fair grew and more attractions were added, food easily eaten while strolling around the grounds became increasingly popular. 

Church dining halls at the fair peaked in the 1950s when there were 26 to choose from, and just about every Christian denomination was represented. Only two of these relics remain today — Hamline Church Dining Hall and Salem Lutheran Church Dining Hall.

Out of the two dining halls left at the state fair, Hamline Church Dining Hall is older. It opened in 1897 as a way for the Hamline Methodist Episcopal Church Ladies Aid Society to raise money for church operations. Hamline Church Dining Hall also holds the distinction of being the oldest food concessions at the fair.

A simple selection of homemade sandwiches and a cold beverage were the only menu items in the early years, but its location in a building with other attractions near the bandstand made for a good amount of foot traffic. That year, the food stand brought in $374 — equivalent to around $14,173 in 2024.

By the 1930s, the eatery was located in a building with a large room behind the dining room with three wood-framed beds where volunteers could rest. These volunteers played a crucial role in the operation of the dining hall, contributing to its warm and welcoming atmosphere. 

The menu included a meal of ham loaf or meatloaf with boiled potatoes, coleslaw, pie, ice cream, and beet pickles. Chow mein was also available and was one of the most popular dishes at the dining hall in the 1950s. Meals were served family style and cost just 35 cents in 1935.

The eatery established itself as a proper dining hall with table service in 1944 when the church purchased a stand-alone building for $900. That building was torn down in 1967 to make way for a new building, the same one we visit today.

Since the beginning, most recipes for dishes served at the Hamline Church Dining Hall have come from church members featured in the church cookbooks. The ham loaf recipe was submitted to the church cookbook by Gladys Helling and hasn’t changed since it was first served at the state fair in the 1930s. Gladys started coming to the fair with her parents in 1911 when she was just 13 years old and remembered stopping at the food stand. She’d go on to help supervise the dining hall operation beginning in the 1930s. 

This year, the Hamline Church Dining Hall is introducing a new offering, Swedish ‘Sota Sliders. Be sure to stop by their place on the north side of Dan Patch Avenue between Underwood & Cooper streets to try it and support one of the last remaining church dining halls at the fair.