Rise & Dine
| By METRO Staff |
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(Photo by Sara Rubinstein)
The Best Breakfast. Period.
Good Day Café is wildly popular for breakfast, with a come-one-come-all approach that offers everything from smoothies and espresso to corned beef hash and almond French toast. The breakfast/brunch wait is now much shorter at Hell’s Kitchen, so you can enjoy your lemon ricotta hotcakes or huevos rancheros before your blood sugar reaches dangerous lows. The eggs en cocotte with puff pastry, Italian ham, truffle cream, poached eggs and Comte gruyere may be the pièce de résistance of the Grand Café’s weekend brunch menu, but dishes like the brioche French toast make it an excellent brunch all-around. Is it the sourdough flapjacks or just the really good, crispy potatoes that make Blackbird’s weekend breakfast so noteworthy? We don’t know, but since there’s never a wait for a table, we think it’s totally underrated. [Good Day Cafe: 5410 Wayzata Blvd., Golden Valley; 763.544.0205]
Biscuits & Gravy
Homemade biscuits are key: Our favorites come from the Grand Café, where a huge, 60-year-old conveyor oven produces unbelievably tasty biscuits, which are kissed—not smothered—by a delectable red-eye gravy; and the Modern Café, which uses paprika and chives to make a red gravy that almost tastes like chili, and whose biscuits are so in-demand on weekends that they regularly run out.
Breakfast at the Bar
On the rare occasion that we need a break from our neighborhood diner, we take our breakfast at the bar. For fresh, no-frills fare in an elegant setting, hit up Monte Carlo Bar and Café’s Sunday brunch (the pumpernickel toast is transcendent). If you’re feeling lower-brow, the Triple Rock serves breakfast with a punk-rock soundtrack on Saturdays and Sundays (try its yummy vegan options, such as the tofu scrambler). [Monte Carlo Bar and Cafe: 219 3rd Ave. N., Mpls.; 612.333.5900]
A Perfect Cup of Coffee
When we’re in need of the perfect cup of coffee to go along with our most important of meals, we make sure to go somewhere that serves either Peace Coffee or our other favorite local roaster, MorningStar. For the former we hit either the Birchwood Café in Seward or Common Roots Café in Uptown, both of which are known for their local-organic mantras and their very own custom Peace Coffee blends. For MorningStar, the lesser-known but no less satisfying purveyor of black gold, we like the Modern Café in Northeast or the Citizen Café near 38th and Hiawatha. All four spots serve up the joe for $2/cup, with free refills for those especially foggy mornings. [Citizen Cafe: 2403 E. 38th St., Mpls.; 612.729.1122]
The Best Pancakes and Waffles
Maria’s Venezuelan corn cakes (get ’em with cotija cheese) are light, moist, bursting with flavor and, yes, deserving of the monumental legend that surrounds them. There’s something special at the tiny Colossal Café, where the “flappers” are so yeasty and savory that they make sandwiches out of them. And at the Original Pancake House, try the Dutch Baby: a baked, lemony pannenkoeken so eggy it tastes like flan and so sweet and moist that you needn’t even glance at the syrup. Victor’s is home to a mango waffle that makes us yearn for the Havana childhood we never had, while Hot Plate keeps us transfixed with visions of whipped butter melting into the crisp grid of a buckwheat-pumpkin waffle. [Colossal Cafe: 1839 E. 42nd St., Mpls.; 612.729.2377]
Hash Browns Done Right
Too often restaurants treat hash browns as a soggy, overly salted afterthought. Not so at the following potato-lovin’ eateries. The browns at Our Kitchen and Pearson’s Edina Restaurant are cooked to old-school perfection—meaning they’re crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, not too greasy and seasoned just right. Feeling like hot dish for breakfast? Try The Local’s creamy hash browns, a cheesy, gooey Minnesota-meets-Ireland take on the breakfast staple. [Our Kitchen: 813 W. 36th St., Mpls.; 612.825.3718]
Hidden Diner Gems
We’re not normally morning people on the weekends, but the thought of uncovering great, little-known-outside-their-community cafes will unleash in us an actual urge to rise and shine before 8 a.m.—OK, maybe 9. Hamel’s Peg’s Countryside Café, with its delicious country sausage (made with a rich mixture of beef, pork and spices and griddle-fried to perfection) and impossibly adorable charm, is worth so much more than forfeited sleep. As is Peterson’s Bacon and Egg Café, a tiny gem (cash only!) in Columbia Heights that turns out a classic breakfast—two over-medium eggs, golden hash browns, crispy bacon and hot, buttery toast—with such precision that we still brag about it as “our find.” [ Bacon and Egg Cafe: 513 40th Ave. N.E., Columbia Heights; 763.789.4544]
Bloody-Good Bloodies
All hail to the refreshing morning pick-me-up, the hangover delayer, the explosion of flavor that’ll make that plate of eggs you’ve paired it with a hell of a lot more interesting. Locally, the spicy cocktail works best at three spots: the supper-clubby JD Hoyt’s, where it’s simple and delicious, garnished with but a lime and crisp dill pickle; the Uptown Bar and Cafe, where it’s made from a secret, sneeze-inducing mix; and the Red Stag, where it’s called the “Hail Mary” and comes with jalapeño-infused vodka and homemade beef jerky.
Eggs Benedict Authorities
St. Paul Grill perfects classic eggs Benedict, along with a Benedict of the day, Florentine, grilled tenderloin and Maryland crab cake versions, served with cream hash browns. Fittingly, the Sample Room lets you mix and match your Bennies at its Sunday brunch; half-sized portions of a classic with thick-cut ham, Florentine, Portobello mushroom and salmon are all modestly coated with made-from-scratch hollandaise. Zumbro Café aces a straightforward eggs Benedict, made with local organic eggs and toasted stirato bread in place of the traditional English muffin, offered daily. And the classic eggs Benedict served daily at the friendly, neighborhood Bon Vie, smothered with a rich and lemony hollandaise, has long been revered by Bennie connoisseurs.
Sinful Sweet Stuff
No human can resist Isles Bun & Coffee Co., with its enormous, decadent cinnamon and caramel-pecan rolls and puppy dog tails (cinnamon-roll fingers for kids), served with a vat full of help-yourself homemade cream-cheese frosting. Swede Hollow Café brings us the down-home loveliness that is homemade sweet rolls, scones, bread pudding, peach cobbler and turnovers (topped with real whipped cream!). [Isles Bun & Coffee Co.: 1424 W. 28th St., Mpls.; 612.870.4466]
This is Why We Brunch
The amazing five-course champagne brunch at the scenic Nicollet Island Inn, includes pastries, omelets, crêpes, quiche, eggs Benedict, French toast, seafood, desserts and a complimentary champagne or mimosa. Stunning views form an elegant backdrop for the Sunday brunch at 20.21, featuring made-to-order omelets, cinnamon raisin French toast and Asian-inspired dishes such as Chinese chicken salad and seafood green curry. Café Maude also has a spread to be reckoned with: chorizo hash with a fried egg, avocado and harissa, or the sautéed flatbread with scrambled eggs, bacon, cucumber, cilantro and sriracha (sounds weird, but it’s good). And the brunch at French-inspired Barbette features organic, local ingredients used in crêpes, Croque Monsieur or Madame and daily specials.
Good Day Café is wildly popular for breakfast, with a come-one-come-all approach that offers everything from smoothies and espresso to corned beef hash and almond French toast. The breakfast/brunch wait is now much shorter at Hell’s Kitchen, so you can enjoy your lemon ricotta hotcakes or huevos rancheros before your blood sugar reaches dangerous lows. The eggs en cocotte with puff pastry, Italian ham, truffle cream, poached eggs and Comte gruyere may be the pièce de résistance of the Grand Café’s weekend brunch menu, but dishes like the brioche French toast make it an excellent brunch all-around. Is it the sourdough flapjacks or just the really good, crispy potatoes that make Blackbird’s weekend breakfast so noteworthy? We don’t know, but since there’s never a wait for a table, we think it’s totally underrated. [Good Day Cafe: 5410 Wayzata Blvd., Golden Valley; 763.544.0205]
Biscuits & Gravy
Homemade biscuits are key: Our favorites come from the Grand Café, where a huge, 60-year-old conveyor oven produces unbelievably tasty biscuits, which are kissed—not smothered—by a delectable red-eye gravy; and the Modern Café, which uses paprika and chives to make a red gravy that almost tastes like chili, and whose biscuits are so in-demand on weekends that they regularly run out.
Breakfast at the Bar
On the rare occasion that we need a break from our neighborhood diner, we take our breakfast at the bar. For fresh, no-frills fare in an elegant setting, hit up Monte Carlo Bar and Café’s Sunday brunch (the pumpernickel toast is transcendent). If you’re feeling lower-brow, the Triple Rock serves breakfast with a punk-rock soundtrack on Saturdays and Sundays (try its yummy vegan options, such as the tofu scrambler). [Monte Carlo Bar and Cafe: 219 3rd Ave. N., Mpls.; 612.333.5900]
A Perfect Cup of Coffee
When we’re in need of the perfect cup of coffee to go along with our most important of meals, we make sure to go somewhere that serves either Peace Coffee or our other favorite local roaster, MorningStar. For the former we hit either the Birchwood Café in Seward or Common Roots Café in Uptown, both of which are known for their local-organic mantras and their very own custom Peace Coffee blends. For MorningStar, the lesser-known but no less satisfying purveyor of black gold, we like the Modern Café in Northeast or the Citizen Café near 38th and Hiawatha. All four spots serve up the joe for $2/cup, with free refills for those especially foggy mornings. [Citizen Cafe: 2403 E. 38th St., Mpls.; 612.729.1122]
The Best Pancakes and Waffles
Maria’s Venezuelan corn cakes (get ’em with cotija cheese) are light, moist, bursting with flavor and, yes, deserving of the monumental legend that surrounds them. There’s something special at the tiny Colossal Café, where the “flappers” are so yeasty and savory that they make sandwiches out of them. And at the Original Pancake House, try the Dutch Baby: a baked, lemony pannenkoeken so eggy it tastes like flan and so sweet and moist that you needn’t even glance at the syrup. Victor’s is home to a mango waffle that makes us yearn for the Havana childhood we never had, while Hot Plate keeps us transfixed with visions of whipped butter melting into the crisp grid of a buckwheat-pumpkin waffle. [Colossal Cafe: 1839 E. 42nd St., Mpls.; 612.729.2377]
Hash Browns Done Right
Too often restaurants treat hash browns as a soggy, overly salted afterthought. Not so at the following potato-lovin’ eateries. The browns at Our Kitchen and Pearson’s Edina Restaurant are cooked to old-school perfection—meaning they’re crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, not too greasy and seasoned just right. Feeling like hot dish for breakfast? Try The Local’s creamy hash browns, a cheesy, gooey Minnesota-meets-Ireland take on the breakfast staple. [Our Kitchen: 813 W. 36th St., Mpls.; 612.825.3718]
Hidden Diner Gems
We’re not normally morning people on the weekends, but the thought of uncovering great, little-known-outside-their-community cafes will unleash in us an actual urge to rise and shine before 8 a.m.—OK, maybe 9. Hamel’s Peg’s Countryside Café, with its delicious country sausage (made with a rich mixture of beef, pork and spices and griddle-fried to perfection) and impossibly adorable charm, is worth so much more than forfeited sleep. As is Peterson’s Bacon and Egg Café, a tiny gem (cash only!) in Columbia Heights that turns out a classic breakfast—two over-medium eggs, golden hash browns, crispy bacon and hot, buttery toast—with such precision that we still brag about it as “our find.” [ Bacon and Egg Cafe: 513 40th Ave. N.E., Columbia Heights; 763.789.4544]
Bloody-Good Bloodies
All hail to the refreshing morning pick-me-up, the hangover delayer, the explosion of flavor that’ll make that plate of eggs you’ve paired it with a hell of a lot more interesting. Locally, the spicy cocktail works best at three spots: the supper-clubby JD Hoyt’s, where it’s simple and delicious, garnished with but a lime and crisp dill pickle; the Uptown Bar and Cafe, where it’s made from a secret, sneeze-inducing mix; and the Red Stag, where it’s called the “Hail Mary” and comes with jalapeño-infused vodka and homemade beef jerky.
Eggs Benedict AuthoritiesSt. Paul Grill perfects classic eggs Benedict, along with a Benedict of the day, Florentine, grilled tenderloin and Maryland crab cake versions, served with cream hash browns. Fittingly, the Sample Room lets you mix and match your Bennies at its Sunday brunch; half-sized portions of a classic with thick-cut ham, Florentine, Portobello mushroom and salmon are all modestly coated with made-from-scratch hollandaise. Zumbro Café aces a straightforward eggs Benedict, made with local organic eggs and toasted stirato bread in place of the traditional English muffin, offered daily. And the classic eggs Benedict served daily at the friendly, neighborhood Bon Vie, smothered with a rich and lemony hollandaise, has long been revered by Bennie connoisseurs.
Sinful Sweet Stuff
No human can resist Isles Bun & Coffee Co., with its enormous, decadent cinnamon and caramel-pecan rolls and puppy dog tails (cinnamon-roll fingers for kids), served with a vat full of help-yourself homemade cream-cheese frosting. Swede Hollow Café brings us the down-home loveliness that is homemade sweet rolls, scones, bread pudding, peach cobbler and turnovers (topped with real whipped cream!). [Isles Bun & Coffee Co.: 1424 W. 28th St., Mpls.; 612.870.4466]
This is Why We Brunch
The amazing five-course champagne brunch at the scenic Nicollet Island Inn, includes pastries, omelets, crêpes, quiche, eggs Benedict, French toast, seafood, desserts and a complimentary champagne or mimosa. Stunning views form an elegant backdrop for the Sunday brunch at 20.21, featuring made-to-order omelets, cinnamon raisin French toast and Asian-inspired dishes such as Chinese chicken salad and seafood green curry. Café Maude also has a spread to be reckoned with: chorizo hash with a fried egg, avocado and harissa, or the sautéed flatbread with scrambled eggs, bacon, cucumber, cilantro and sriracha (sounds weird, but it’s good). And the brunch at French-inspired Barbette features organic, local ingredients used in crêpes, Croque Monsieur or Madame and daily specials.
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