Whether you're searching for something gourmet, organic, exotic or just want old-fashioned bacon and eggs, downtown Minneapolis has a restaurant to suit your appetite. Many of the area's breakfast locations started as neighborhood staples and have since gained regional or even national acclaim in magazines or on television shows. For great locally grown, organic food, try the French Meadow Bakery and Cafe or Birchwood Cafe. Hell's Kitchen offers a gourmet take on breakfast favorites, while Victor's 1959 Cafe adds Cuban flavor. If you're in the mood for classic buttermilk pancakes, try Al's Breakfast, where they've been serving signature stacks for more than 50 years.
Award winning chef-owners Steve Meyer and Mitch Omer serve up a sizzling breakfast with gourmet flair at Hell's Kitchen, a downtown Minneapolis favorite. Food lovers will delight in dishes like scrambled eggs with lobster, shrimp and crab cake with poached egg, and bread pudding with black currants and creme anglaise. The restaurant's special homemade peanut butter comes with every order of toast.
Hell's Kitchen
80 S. Ninth St
Minneapolis, MN 55467
612-332-4700
hellskitcheninc.com
Try the French Meadow Bakery and Cafe for local and organic breakfast choices. French Meadow offers a variety of pancakes, waffles and toast served with organic free range eggs and all natural Duroc bacon. Vegan diners can enjoy a breakfast of tofu scramblers with vegan sausage and organic hemp toast. French Meadow serves organic fair trade coffee and a wide variety of black, green and herbal teas.
French Meadow Bakery and Cafe
2610 Lyndale Ave S.
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-870-7855
frenchmeadowcafe.com
Birchwood Cafe's bright, funky decor and displays of local artwork complement its artfully presented breakfast selections. Much of Birchwood's menu contains local, organic ingredients. The cafe offers vegetarian and vegan options as well as a kid's menu. Sunday brunch is a special treat at Birchwood, with gourmet selections like grass-fed sirloin benedict with lemon and horseradish hollandaise in addition to the everyday fare.
Birchwood Cafe
3311 E. 25th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55406
612-722-4474
birchwoodcafe.com
For 10 years, Victor's 1959 Cafe has been dishing out Cuban-inspired breakfasts in South Minneapolis. Victor's patrons enjoy exotic pancake varieties, including mango, corn or banana. For those with large appetites, try the bistec criollo, a dish of steak with peppers, eggs, yuca fries and toast. Victor's serves a variety of coffee drinks and tropical juices. The restaurant has been featured on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."
Victor's 1959 Cafe
3756 Grand Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55409
612-827-8948
victors1959cafe.com
Dinkytown neighborhood favorite Al's Breakfast has served hearty Midwestern classics in its crowded 14th Avenue establishment since 1950. The diner has only 14 stools, so patrons must often wait in line for Al's famous blueberry buttermilk pancakes. In 2004 the restaurant won the James Beard Foundation award in the "America's Classic Restaurants" category.
Al's Breakfast
413 14th Ave. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
612-331-9991
