Al's Breakfast

Al's Breakfast
413 14th Ave SE  Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612) 331-9991

Hi,

Long time no blog. I have been dying to try Al’s Breakfast ever since seeing them featured on Diner’s, Drive-ins and Dives.

It’s located in Dinkytown, which is one of my favorite areas in Minneapolis, right along the the U of M campus.

I brought my 12 year old and we had so much fun. The whole experience was great. That was due in part to the fact that the weather was not normal for July.  I was told to expect a wait and sure enough, we were outside in line for an hour and a half hour inside. We got there at about 10:44 and sat down at 12:11. It’s not as bad as it sounds and next time we go back, and we will go back, I would suggest getting there at about 8:30 as the place opens at 9:00. Might have better luck that way.

I loved the experience. You wait in line and once you get inside, you find that it’s literally a long row of bar stools and a counter. As you continue to wait, you are against the wall about one foot from the people seated and eating. They have music playing and it’s just really casual in spite of the close quarters. The staff banters and chats with the patrons the whole time. Usually the other patrons pass around a menu for to look at while you wait. I did manage to find a menu online and my daughter and I had tentatively picked out what we wanted already but of course, upon seeing their menu, I changed my mind.

 

 

We were seated and both opted for egg dishes. They have a variety of pancakes and waffles that I am dying to try and I’ll go back for that. I ordered scrambled eggs with fresh mozzarella, basil and tomatoes with a side of rye toast. My daughter ordered a ham and cheddar omelet. Fabulous. They weren’t kidding when they said fresh. The mozzarella was sooo good, fresh chopped basil and diced tomatoes. I ate the whole thing and I’m not a big eater, especially of breakfast. My daughter’s omelet was the fluffiest omelet I’ve ever seen. She could only eat half of it. All around me, I heard other patrons exclaiming over how good their food was.

As far as cost, it’s so cheap. The portions are huge compared to cost. You will definitely get your money’s worth.

If you’ve wanted to go, go. You will love it. It’s a place I plan to go back to again, as often as I am able.

After you are a done, you can go for a stroll through Dinkytown. There are a lot of little shops with something for everyone.

Enjoy and thank you Al’s Breakfast for a wonderful experience.

 

Pictures taken from the web

The Anchor

302 13th St NE, Minneapolis, MN. OK, my sister told me about this place over a year ago and I have wanted to go ever since. My daughter and I needed something to do today and it's unseasonably cold and snowing. Seemed like a good day to go somewhere cozy and fill our bellies.
It's literally a little hole in the wall place. There is lighting but it's dim. You can pretty much seat yourself. It's not a large place, minimal tables and really only seat two per table. Because of this, you have to go earlier in the day as this place fills up quick in the late afternoon and evening. They are known for their fish and chips. It's no wonder as they are cooked with good, old fashioned lard. Lots of salt to but not over the top. The fries, or chips add they are called, are made the same way and man are they nummy. My daughter got a burger. She loved it, said it was very good. The fish is cod and it was phenomenal. The service was basic but friendly and smiles all around.
It was affordable too. Just the fish was $6.95. For fish and chips, it's $9.95. My daughter's burger and chips were around $9.50. With sodas, the bill came to just under $24.00. Very nice. Go!!

The Spaghetti Factory

Having lived in Minnesota most of my life, you would think I would've eaten here before. But nope. I will go back though. It's downtown. On Park and Washington. The reception area is beautiful. All velvet chairs and couches. Looks medieval. We were seated quickly, the waitress was very friendly. She took our drink orders immediately came back with them and with frag bread and butter. My mom had questions about the menu and the waitress was helpful with suggestions. The food came quickly and was fabulous. I had the spinach tortellini in Alfredo sauce. Oh my God, it was delicious!!! It was not the best Italian I've ever had but it was very, very good. I would highly recommend it. Cost was not high end either. More than average but not through the roof. Go give it a try!!

Carol's Restaurant in Blaine, MN

Hi everyone,

Well like I said, this blog is not supposed to a professional critique of restaurants. I am not a professional food taster. I couldn't tell you what goes good with what or what should compliment what. I'm just someone who likes to eat out, try new places and new things and who happens to like to write about it.

Carol's restaurant is at 11888 Aberdeen St. NE, Blaine, MN 55449.

I've been in Blaine for 4 1/2 years and always wanted to try it. My mom had been there before and loved it.

First of all, I loved the inside of the restaurant. Very open, with lots of light. When you walk in, the restaurant is to your left and there is a little store on the right.

We walked in and only to wait a minute or so to get seated. The waitress appeared right away, making sure we got something to drink. The menu is big and includes a good variety of different choices. There is something for everyone. The prices were good too. And the portions were huge.

Everything there is homemade from scratch. So what you are getting is fresh and straight out of the oven so to speak.

My mom got the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy and I got a coconut chicken salad. Like I said, huge portions. Both of us had to take some home with us, it was to much to eat.

The waitress was very, very good. She wasn't there so much that you felt it was invasive but you never were left sitting there waiting to have your order taken or waiting to have your glass refilled.

After we ate, we went into the little store. For a little girl, it would be like walking into Wonderland. It's definitly a store for women. Lots of sparkling jewelry. Lots of soaps, body lotions, etc. Little gadgets that you never thought of but upon seeing, just feel you have to have. My only complaint is that it is so packed full with things, that it was hard to walk through in it's entirety. But it was fun!!

I will definitely go back to this restaurant. I want to try much of what was on the menu. I would highly recommend this place to anyone.

Deeeelishious...yup spelled it wrong but it just sounds so much yummier that way!!

Have a great day, go to Carol's...

The Roasted Pear

So this blog is just for fun. I love that show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Minneapolis has been featured a couple times. So I decided I'd start trying some of the places that are featured and other's as well and that I'd let you know what I think.

For my and my brother in law's birthday this year, we went to The Roasted Pear. I had heard good things about this place and was very excited. They have two restaurant's, one in Brooklyn Park and one in Burnsville. We went to the Brooklyn Park location.

It's a pretty restaurant, dim lighting and a very warm, inviting ambiance.

Unfortunately, that was the highlight of the experience for me. So many people have had good things to say about this place, so I'm guessing that this isn't the norm.

It took the waitress forever to take our order. Like literally 45 minutes. We were done with our drinks (just water for me)...and still we sat there waiting. So, then we ordered and we waited again.

When the food came, we had mixed reviews. My sister had ordered the Cheesy Garlic Bread Steak Sandwich. It lives up to it's name. It was literally dripping with melted cheese. Way too much. She ordered her steak done medium rare and it was medium. My mom and one of my daughter's got the club wrap. No complaints there. I got a chipotle burger that was supposed to come with a chipotle mayonnaise and that was missing so I waited for the waitress to come back and when she didn't, I finally asked the host to track her down and tell her what I needed. The burger was done and it was cooked the way I like it. My youngest got a burger and she said she'd give it a 65%. My brother in law got the walleye which he said was fabulous. More than anything, my complaints center around the service. Our waitress was incognito most of the time.

I think that I would give this restaurant another try but only if someone took me there, it's not on my list of places that I have to go back to.

So, there you have it, my first review on this blog. I don't go out to often so this blog will be hit or miss but I will write when I try something new!!

Peace :)