318 Cafe

Went for breakfast/​brunch on 4÷3÷16. Small portions $$$ I had the oatmeal for $ 6 and it was tiny, not even served with a spot of milk or cream. My boyfriend had the breakfast burrito which was cold. Fresh squeezed OJ was awesome.

Excellent latte but the vegetarian breakfast tacos are to die for. Can’t wait to return to try again!

By far best food in Excelsior!
…I got food poisoning.
Try their Red Velvet cupcakes and try the Brie, turkey, and apple sandwich! It’s the best!

The café is smaller than I thought as it looked bigger on a TV show I saw from their open mic night. I visited on a late morning and it was very quiet. It’s a little crowded with tables and chairs in a small space. I sat at the bar and used them in their coffee bar mode, as they also serve beer and wine with their menu, however it was still breakfast time and that’s too early even for me to sample craft beers. There is a handy menu of beers on a chalkboard showing the alcohol content.
The coffee is from Dogwood and I raved about the dark roast. I’ve had Dogwood at other places and it wasn’t as good as this one. An Egg Sandwich for breakfast with a surprise of fresh apple slices-​nice touch. The sandwich was soft in a croissant bun, sort of, with pressed ham and cheese. Service was fairly prompt and direct, no small talkin’ just thanks here’s your order and I have no problem with that.
Minus a star as the entrance is not from the sidewalk but from the street, I mean you have to walk directly in the outgoing lane from what is an exit street turned into a partial parking lot. The café opens to a gift shop and I would hope someday they could expand into that room. Typically these type of places tend to be low key lighting, but I found it a bit too dark inside.

Horrible service! Came in with my friend and his family they have two small children they ordered a breakfast sandwich and yogurt and granola for the kids as soon as we sat down. It still hadn’t come after a half hour. When it came the sandwich had obviously been sitting for quite a while as it was cold. Other people came in well after us and received their food before us. When the adults food finally arrived my sandwich was also cold. Don’t go here. The coffee cake was good.

My review would’ve been five or nearly five stars one week ago but today, a lot has changed at 318. We have been regulars for a few years and love the people and food; the tacos are to-​die-​for (especially the pork) and the fresh guac is outstanding. We’d always found them much better than Lago Tacos down the street. Taco portions were always generous and you can’t beat the happy hour prices. I am all for paying for quality food and did think 318 had a superb happy hour and likely needed to raise prices in the future. That said we arrived at 5 with happy hour ending at 6 only to be told rather rudely by a server we’ve had before that «we changed that. It’s over– ended at five.’ When did you change that? «Last week I think– oh, and prices went up a buck.» Wow– okay! She said we could get one drink at happy hour price but that’s all– great. When we went to order food at the same time, ‘kitchens closed.’ That was untrue and she likely misspoke as you could order the same items on the full price menu as were on the happy hour menu but it was the way she dismissed us. Clearly she sent a message that happy hour business is not wanted. When the tacos came– we were fine paying full price– there was a measly clump of pork inside and a big hunk of cheese as another diner mentioned. Within one week, they not only shortened happy hour, raised drink and food prices but reduced portions by roughly half as well! I’m not sure what we expected– maybe the recognition that we’ve been customers for years and a heads up that this was coming? Not necessary but definitely appreciated for loyal customers. We always ordered several drinks, tacos, apps, etc. So disappointing. We won’t be back anytime soon. 318 you lost several long time customers that night. I give two stars because flavor is still there and atmosphere (and location for locals) but that’s about all now…

So, first let me say that I really messed up coming here because we were looking for something filling to eat. I misread the reviews on the place and mixed up two different restaurants. So we wound up coming here. The food was fresh, and I loved my craft root beer. We ate out on the patio and my only complaint about the patio was dealing with the amount of flies and wasps around the place. Besides for that our waitress was friendly and cordial. I saw that someone else had written a review and said that it wasn’t expensive. Well, I am not wealthy so maybe my idea of expensive is different 3 sandwiches and three drinks along with 3 desserts came to $ 90.00 with the tip. I really felt bad about not leaving a bigger tip but I simply could not afford to spend over $ 100.00 on three sandwiches. Oh I forgot we also had the cheese sampler for an appetizer. Now again maybe my not being wealthy made this seem extravagant but sticker shock is all I can say. Looking back on it we could have bought a bottle of wine, went to Subways and got sandwiches and chips with a drink for less than $ 90 bucks. But that’s just me. This is why I gave it only three stars though and forewarned is forearmed keep track of your spending here because you could easily wind up washing dishes or taking out a loan to afford your meal.

Great ambiance. The outdoor patio is great for a relaxed evening. Love the selection of local items.

This is a great place to meet someone for coffee, breakfast or lunch. I have been a few times and always have a good experience. The menu is small but good.

We stopped in one afternoon recently for a quick sit on the patio and a bite to eat. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot and it was better than I expected. Still, it wasn’t perfect. I suspected we might be in trouble when our waitress knew pretty much nothing about the beer on tap. The beer list is not extensive — there are maybe a half dozen tap beers. But she didn’t know what the seasonals were, and the menu was printed in such a vague way «Indeed seasonal» that we were forced to ask. She could not answer a single beer question without running into the bar to ask. Foodwise, we got the pork nachos, which were light on the pork and one big glop of melted cheese. They were average I would say. My BLT was also pretty standard, and I was surprised that it was not even an option to order fries. Chips or bust. My husband got the beet salad, which was probably the best thing on the table. A nice generous portion of beets and a very tasty salad. In all, the food quality was better than I thought it would be, and the patio seating is lovely on a nice day. But service was lacking and the food was not memorable or craveable enough to spark a return visit any time soon.

A haven in the cold for a delicate charcuterie, and some tunes from a local musician. Saucy young waitresses and the crackling fire finish the warm, welcoming atmosphere.

This is such a great place to sit, relax, and grab a bite to eat!
And if you get there on some nights, you can hear music!

We went here for breakfast during the week a few weeks ago. I appreciate that they serve more than coffee and pastries given the location.
The breakfast burrito was very good. The side of guacamole was worth it. The side of bacon was a strange crumbly mess, which may have been because they forgot it then hurried. Maybe it’s a turkey bacon? I prefer a thick and hearty bacon — if you’re going to indulge it better be delightful.
Service was adequate and good for a leisurely morning. The ambiance is like a coffee shop without the noisy machines.

Nice relaxed and cozy atmosphere. Connected to cute gift shops too! We are going back to have a wine and cheese night for sure!

Great service! I always order the same thing. Turkey, Brie and pear (or is it apple?) sandwich. Consistent and hits the spot. Local craft beer on tap. Good to dine alone at the bar or with friends. Try their desserts, they never disappoint!

Went here on March 18^th, which seemed name appropriate. The restaurant is located in charming downtown Excelsior, in the summer this is a fun town to walk around. The ambiance is very sunny, simple, and not too crowded.
Food is also ⁵⁄₅. I had the pear– blue cheese salad with added prosciutto, which I would recommend. Great dressing-​green-​goodies ratio and taste. Others at my table had a flatbread and turkey sandwich– both gave their meal ⁵⁄₅ as well.
I’ll be coming back.

Cute place, but food is way overpriced for what you get and menu hasn’t been updated in years. In Excelsior, your much better off heading to Dunn bros for live music, at least there’s no cover when the music is mediocre. The sister venue, Aster café, has much better quality live music.
Also, please, Please have the bathroom in the building fixed, no lie, the whole building smells like raw sewage when I walk in there.

Four of us were heading to The Old Log Theater, we wanted to try a new place I hadn’t gone before. I called for RSVP’s, Sat 6PM, it’s a date. We got to 318 just before 6, checked in to find no RSVP, sorry not on the list. Thankfully, they weren’t busy yet, so they sat us at a table by the door, then had us get up and move to another table right after we were seated, they needed the room for a disabled person, no problem. They moved us to the second table and unfortunately totally forgot about us. The «lets try a new place» wasn’t going well so far. After talking to one of the staff they had a waitperson help us. We ordered wine and beer, things were looking up. The beer selection is focused on locals microbrews and the wine list had a good choices.
We were running late now, so we had to skipped an appetizer. We ordered salad’s and dinner. The salads aren’t marked on the menu as available in a half sized, we were all glad half-​sized orders were available and that’s what we chose. We ordered the roasted beet, avocado, the pear, and the queso fresco salads. They were all very good.
For dinner we ordered the roasted pork taco’s, the roasted vegetables flatbread, the open-​faced roasted vegetable sandwich and the chicken taco’s. Again, they were all very good.
After we ate dinner we were in a rush to get to the Old Log, we needed to go get our check from the server and head out.
All-​in-​all, had the service not had a very rocky start it would have been an extremely pleasant «let’s try a new place», sadly the service kind of mucked up the experience. Thankfully we made the play with seconds to spare.

The food at 318 is delicious. Dine in for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner! They’ve got yummy egg sandwiches, quiche, waffles, tacos, burritos, sandwiches galore, salads, flatbread, and many more great choices! Not to mention they’ve got a nice happy hour with great beers on tap and a good selection of wine.
The live music is also a really nice touch to such a cute little café right on Water St. Plus the décor makes it feel warm and cozy and welcoming.
The downside of 318 is the service. It just depends on the day you’re there I guess, because once I was there with barely any customers and our breakfast took a long time, however, the last time I was there it was pretty packed and we got our food in a fair amount of time. So if you’re willing to look past the waiting, then this is a great place to try!

Holidays now in the past, we tried again to experience the 318 Café.
Glad we did! Service was very attentive without being intrusive. Our server was very congenial and knowledgeable about the menu items. We selected sandwiches: two chose Cubans and I chose the beef with tomatoes and Gorgonzola. Two of us had the field greens as a side, the other chips.
Excellent experiences with everyone’s dishes, including a cup of Tomato Lentil soup… which was very well seasoned and very tasty! Two enjoyed the house chardonnay at a very reasonable $ 6 per glass.
The fine food, reasonable prices, and – now – attentive and personable staff have made this an experience to revisit.
Now…let’s check out the live music in the evenings!!!
To be continued…