Charlie’s Cafe

Breakfast all day! Loads of specials on the board. Home cooking. Friendly service!!! Located on a bike trail.

Awesome and charming. Wednesday night is German night and we had the potato pancakes. This is my favorite place to go when traveling between Fargo and the cities.

I go every time I head to the cities. I love the quaint atmosphere, the people and the classic food. One of my favorite places to eat in Minnesota!

The story goes that this is where Garrison Keillor hung out listening to the conversations that led to his best-​selling book «Lake Wobegon Days.» Regardless of whether you’re a Keillor fan or not, this very typical small-​town diner/​café is what you’d expect. It’s almost like it’s frozen in time. You’ll find tables spaced closely together, fresh, hot café-​style food in good portions, and delicious desserts. I can’t believe that someone wrote to avoid the pie. The pies I’ve tasted have been excellent, as have the caramel rolls, the breakfasts, and the sandwiches. If you love German food, you have to go on Wednesday night for all your German favorites.
Don’t expect Charlie’s to be a romantic spot to eat. Like I said, it’s close-​quarters, where you’ll be able to hear the conversation at the next table. But you won’t go home hungry. Everyone has to try Charlie’s at some point.

Charlie’s epitomizes Minnesota’s courteous nature and esteem for comfort food. The smiley face watertower draws me in to Freeport every time I make the drive from the airport to Chokio. The classic Midwestern diner style dishes are humble, admittedly lacking flavor at times, however, the spectacularity of the caramel rolls compensate for any missing salt in main dishes. They rival my Grandma’s, who made them every week for about fifty years. This place is a mandatory stop if you’re passing through the area!

We had stopped by Charlie’s on our way to Fargo. Our group got the Reuben, Southwest Salad, Bleu Cheese Burger, and the Roast Beef Commercial. All were enjoyed by our party. The Reuben I had was a little soggy, but that’s the hard part about making one.
Sadly after a good entrée experience, we had to follow it up with some pie. Their strawberry rhubarb was okay, but the lemon meringue was way too gelatinous to be enjoyable.
If you’re on the road and looking for a place to grab some food, Charlie’s is great — just avoid the pie.

Recently, we were on our way from the Twin Cities area towards NW Minnesota when my mom and I were looking for a place to get a late morning breakfast. We had gotten off at the exit for Freeport as my mom was also looking for any signs for the area known as Lake Wobegone (which we had seen along the way up on 94). As we were heading into town, we found Charlie’ Café and decided to stop in.
We were seated quickly and I scanned the menu. I found what I was looking for in one of their skillets (with 3 kinds of meat in it) and my mom settled on a simple egg and sausage kind of breakfast.
The food which was served a short time later, was great. My skillet had just the right amount of meats, mushrooms, onion, potatoes, and peppers (and cheese too) and was very tasty. Prices were not bad either.
I’ll gladly stop at this place again when passing through.

Amazing breakfast! My steak and eggs were cooked perfectly, Sarah was a great server! Hidden gem!

Sometimes Freeport can just be a drive thorough town. It’s just off the freeway between the Twin Cities and Alexandria. But time after time those big yellow signs just keep beckoning you in. Well, it is worth the stop.
We swung in on a quite Thursday evening on the way to Fargo. I was hankering for some fried chicken and guess what the special was? That’s right ¼ chicken dinner for a measly $ 7.95. Both me and my wife ordered the special. It arrived quickly and was steaming hot. The chicken was deliciously crispy on the outside, while still nice and moist on the inside. I had the side of coleslaw which was just as good with a slightly sweet taste with little to no tang. Yummy! The fries (steak) were good, but nothing to brag about.
Overall the service was homey and quaint. The food was delicious and prompt, and the café is just a perfect slice of small town america. Loved it!

It might not be the best food you’ve ever had, but you won’t have bad food here ever. That was clear to me before I even ordered. I’ve eaten at A LOT of small, main street diners trying to maintain yesteryear, mainly by looking like they haven’t been cleaned since yesteryear. Charlie’s is spotless. That’s an appreciated attention to detail absent in too many establishments.
I had the quarter chicken Thursday evening special, dark meat, salad, and baked potato. My son had the country fried steak breakfast (served all day) with hash browns and two eggs. There was plenty o room for greasy, and it just wasn’t there. The chicken was nothing special. My son’s breakfast though was nearly perfect — perfectly cooked sunny side eggs, perfectly crisper hash browns.
The real highlight was the pie– pecan for him; coconut crème for me. Let’s just say this: I’ll stop at Charlie’s anytime just for the pie. The coconut crème was high, tall, and firm with a marvelously browned meringue. The pecan wad good too.
Don’t miss this Minnesota classic stop.

The Chicken soup was excellent. The steak was tender and service was perfect. Love the accent. You gotta stop by here. The pecan pie was wonderful and my son wolfed down the country fried steak. Great gravy. We will be back.

If you are ever passing through in the afternoon and want a quick break. — and a piece of pie? Well this is your place. We passed on lunch after flying in from the west coast and were headed to Fargo. So this was a great afternoon snack. The blueberry pie was outstanding. I’m sure they all taste great. Very local. The farmers were everywhere. Go and enjoy.

I sat at the counter (with its original boomerang Formica) and received water and a welcome right away. The egg salad sandwich was better than most; had a little zing to it, almost like there was pickle juice in the dressing (I didn’t ask). Chicken and dumpling soup was fine for me but if you don’t like things good and salty, this might not be the soup for you. Pumpkin pie was excellent. My waitress rendered lightning-​fast, friendly service. I took a caramel roll to go which didn’t make it home. I will absolutely stop again anytime I’m passing by Freeport!

Great little small diner with truck parking (big deal to me) at the park right across the street. Super friendly staff and amazingly low prices. This is small town food lovin’ at it’s best. What a great vibe and excellent service.

If you didn’t have a calendar here, you’d never know what year it was. It reminded me of the café from In the Heat of the Night. It’s just under 2 hours to Fargo. From now on I don’t stop anywhere else on the way up or back. I enjoyed the breakfast skillet and a bite of caramel roll. But on the way back we stopped for pie. My choice was chocolate cream. At last, people in MN who know what it is. Not that french silk crap. A huge filled piece and the most tender traditional crust. Since I love German food I gotta get here some Wednesday evening just for that. A part of MN history.

You might be put off by the garish signage and billboards, but once you’re inside, it’s a fine diner with good food and great prices.

Charlie’s is the place to go if you’re looking for classic diner food. The waitstaff is pleasant and attentive and the food is always top notch. Try German night (Weds) or all you can eat fish (Fri) for a little variety or order a hearty breakfast which is served all day.

I like this place! Small town feel, good food and great service.
Very reasonable prices and lots of American family restaurant menu choices. Only con, probably can’t bring a huge group because it’s a small place.
Ordered a BLT salad, a ham dinner, side of fries, two coffees and a pop all for $ 18– that’s a sweet deal. If I get a chance to go back, I’m ordering some of their pies… looked just like how grandma made them.

The best damn food in Freeport. Think small town diner food. R.I.P. Charlie.

This is one of the two restaurants located in this lovely little oasis in the vast wilderness of Minnesota of off I94. We were passing through on a Sunday afternoon and decided to try this place out for lunch.
This place is no more that you your typical small town restaurant but it seems to be very popular with the locals. the service was very flighty for lack of a better term. Our waitress forgot Lara’s soup and her milk and the manager forgot to bring me my Heinz 57 steak sauce.
I really did not need that sauce because the steak was actually a tasty cut of meat. My steak may have even been a local resident of the surrounding area before I ingested it. I am thinking my eggs may have been local at one point too as they seemed very fresh. My only complaint with the food was with my coffee and I can’t really hold this against them. I think the water just tastes awful everywhere in southern Minnesota outside of Minneapolis.