WSCO names ‘West Sider of the Year’
and ‘Business of the Year’

‘West Sider of the Year’ and ‘Business of the Year’ honored by West Side Community Organization
By Jake Spitzack | Staff Writer | December 2025

West Sider of the Year
Growing up on the West Side wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows for Toni Molinar but as an adult she now has a deep appreciation for the community and a passionate desire to give back to its youth. For her years of work organizing kids’ and family festivities for the West Side Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day celebrations, and her support of West Side Boosters youth sports teams, she was recently named the 2025 West Sider of the Year by the West Side Community Organization. The honor, which comes with a trophy engraved with the winner’s name, is awarded annually to a resident who has demonstrated leadership on a major issue or made valuable contributions to the community.

“I didn’t have much guidance [growing up], which ultimately led me down a dark troubled road,” said Molinar. “I got into a lot of trouble as a teenager and was in and out of jail…. Through all of that, though, I always stayed connected and on the West Side. I knew it was my safe space. The West Side is what kept me grounded and instilled the value of community.”

Molinar was born in Texas and moved to the West Side with her family while in elementary school. Aside from a few years living in other areas of St. Paul, she has always resided in the community. She is now a property manager and oversees the same building across from El Rio Vista recreation center that she grew up in, and her youngest daughter – an avid cheerleader and volleyball player for the Boosters – is growing up on the same block she did.

Molinar is committed to being a positive role model because she doesn’t want kids to go through the same challenges she faced.

“My goal is to be the woman that little me would have been able to run to,” she said. “My [youngest] daughter is very social, so she has a lot of friends, and I’m kind of like that. All the kids around here call me ‘Tia [aunt] Toni’ and I always have a house full of kids. Everything I do is based around kids, so I put that back into the community.”

In addition to volunteering with West Side Fiestas, the organization that has organized the West Side celebrations for the past three years, she recently helped host the third annual Trunk or Treat event at Humboldt High School. Looking ahead, she’s eager to continue seeing all the events grow, and in turn bring residents even closer together. She also frequently donates blankets, water and food to unsheltered individuals.

When asked about her favorite part of living on the West Side, she said, “I love it all. This is my home. This is where I can sleep comfortably and my kids grew up here. It’s like everybody is related when they’re not…. I love being able to raise my daughter on the same block that I grew up on. Everybody knows each other and you don’t have to worry about them. It’s different. There’s no other community like the West Side.”

The award “was a complete surprise,” she added. “I feel like I still have a lot of work to put in…but I am honored.”

Business of the Year
The West Side Business of the Year award was bestowed on Crasqui Venezuelan Restaurant, located at 84 Wabasha St. S. just across the river from downtown. This summer, the fine dining restaurant hosted a special dinner series highlighting Latino chefs from around the Twin Cities. Called “Cena entre Panas (dinner among friends),” the series raised $45,000 in proceeds for nonprofits aiding Latino immigrants. Owner Soleil Ramirez is a political refugee from Venezuela and opened the restaurant in 2023 after seven years of working in the restaurant industry in downtown St. Paul.

“I couldn’t even believe it [the award],” said Ramirez, who also operates Arepa Bar at Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis. “I thought I found a community over there [Midtown Global Market] but I cannot even compare it to what I found on the West Side…. People here really believe in the community and that together we are stronger.”

Regarding the Cena entre Panas donations, she said, “I wanted to help the people who were struggling with getting separated from their family.” Ramirez was quick to praise the many immigrant resources offered at Neighborhood House on the West Side, which was one of the nonprofits that received a donation.

Ramirez is a member of the West Side Small Business Coalition and was one of seven candidates recently named to the WSCO board of directors at its annual meeting in November. She joined both groups in hopes of helping elevate the West Side, which she feels has been abandoned in some ways by the city of St. Paul compared to other areas of the city. As an example, she cited a recent WSCO social media video highlighting that infrastructure such as the Robert Street viaduct haven’t been renovated in 100 years.

“They [people] don’t even know what they can find in the West Side, and the history here is unbelievable,” she said. “There’s a lot of hope and a lot of good things we can make on this side of the river, but we need to fight for it because nobody is going to do it for us.”

It should be noted that the viaduct and much of Robert Street on the West Side are slated for reconstruction starting as soon as next year. Additionally, the city recently began offering grants that district councils like WSCO can apply for to improve major commercial corridors in each of the city’s seven wards. Ward 2 encompasses three corridors eligible for funding – Smith Avenue, Robert Street and Cesar Chavez Street – and Ramirez said WSCO hopes to have its final plans approved by the city council in the near future. Preliminary ideas include refreshed branding consisting of new streetlight banners and flags, and creating an interactive online map of all West Side businesses. Overall, the goal is to position the West Side as a cultural destination that people from other areas of the city want to visit and shop in.

Ramirez said that operating Crasqui has been satisfying but not without significant speedbumps. Two months after opening, a major street project she wasn’t aware of began on Wabasha Street, forcing a long detour for prospective customers coming from downtown. Early this year, the restaurant was forced to close temporarily due to water damage caused by another tenant in the building, and her landlord didn’t provide any assistance during that time, she said. Further, being situated between downtown and the West Side has made it somewhat difficult to draw customers from either neighborhood. She also said that fewer people seem to be eating out since the pandemic.

Perhaps the most daunting problem is one she’s currently facing. New state laws taking effect in 2026 require employers with five or more employees to offer a retirement plan as well as significantly more paid time off for medical leave. She estimated that the latter alone could cost her an extra $92,000 a year, and she doesn’t know where those funds will come from. She can’t secure a line of credit or apply for loans or grants because she’s not technically considered a permanent resident of this country despite her asylum being approved this year, and therefore the business must survive solely off daily sales.

Despite all of this, she was adamant about donating the proceeds from Cena entre Panas.

“We’re going to keep doing what we are doing,” she said. “I always tell my team, I think we need to focus on us and our little community. I think that we can build together…. I’m very worried about next year for all the new laws Minnesota approved for small businesses. I think this is going to create a lot of problems and chaos and a lot of small businesses are going to start closing their doors.”

She encourages people from the West Side and beyond to shop locally and discover all the neighborhood has to offer, from businesses and parks to nonprofits and more. She also hopes that the new WSCO board – of which all seven new members are women from different professional backgrounds – will be able to shape positive change for businesses and residents alike.

“That [award] was one of the best things that happened this year because now we feel more close to home,” said Ramirez. “I never thought that people will vote for us because we are very new to the neighborhood but that means what we are doing, even if it’s little, it’s right. So that makes me and my team to be very proud of what we have created in these four walls.”