Café Maude

Amazing craft drinks and food. Looking for another excuse to make it to that side of town to go again.

Best happy hour on earth.
Did you hear me? offered daily from 2pm-​6pm and again at 9pm, this place rules. I do feel bad I haven’t had a full dinner here, but the happy hour just fills me up! Prices are highway robbery and the options are so tasty! Here are my happy hour notes:
Limited tap options but for $ 2.75… who cares! Also they always have a delightful special cocktail for $ 5.Now, into food. Get the fries. Get the mussles (BIG), get the lamb sliders. Get the wings too.
Basically, I’m recommending everything I’ve ever eaten here because its all good. Ugh, come on 2pm. Just 4 more hours.

We went with a party of nine. My Sausage and biscuits were very good, the mocha I ordered was superior. The service was solid, and the prices were very reasonable. Everyone at our table enjoyed their order. A really great feature is how comfortable the bench cushioned seats are — like sitting on your living room couch. I can’t speak for the booths, but they looked just as comfortable. Nice!
One small gripe a 20% gratuity is added for large groups and then the gratuity is taxed. It’s true that adds up to small change. I just feel a way to handle the tax issue which is more respectful to customers is to drop the added gratuity and let customers tip as they normally would — tax free. I happen to know also that added gratuities do not generally go entirely to servers, so that is not a good reason for the practice either.
Otherwise, nice place and looking forward to going again.

–This review is based on a experience I had a couple of months ago. I provided the business a chance to respond via email twice before posting this, but I never heard back. Below is the original email correspondence to the business.–
Hello,
I would like to bring to your attention a dining experience two friends and I had at Café Maude this past Sunday. I’ll begin with saying that I’m not one to complain at a restaurant even when encountering bad service or receiving an incorrect/​unacceptable order. I am also not one to bash a company publicly on Unilocal,Facebook, or other media sources, regardless if it’s warranted. I work for a market research company that specializes in gauging and reporting levels of customer service at hundreds of thousands of businesses across the country in almost every industry, and can admit that I often am hyper-​sensitive to customer service quality, wait times, food quality, etc. because I’m exposed to and work intimately with it on a daily basis. At the same time, I also understand that many circumstances come into play during any type of customer experience and many of those that are out of the control of the actual business.
The experience we had on Sunday was both surprising and disappointing, to say the least. It was the first visit to Café Maude for all three of us, and all three of us left without any desire to return. I had heard great things about Café Maude, the ambiance, food, etc., and had even researched on Unilocal,Facebook, Trip Advisor, and actively promoted it to my two friends Sunday afternoon while we were discussing where to dine that evening. We arrived at approximately 8:15pm and there was just one other party dining/​finishing dining in the restaurant. We were greeted by the server and he was friendly throughout our time there, however service speed was a bit slow for only having one ticket open in the entire restaurant (this is beside the point). The three of us ordered different meals: the beet salad, the turkey burger, and the Margherita flatbread. My guests said the Margherita flatbread was okay, warm instead of hot and the flavoring was lacking. The turkey burger was very burnt and dry, and had an arugula problem as detailed next. Next up, beet salad: Upon receiving our food, all three of us nearly gasped at the quality of the beet salad. Honestly, I thought we were on a hidden camera show like Punk’d. The arugula lacked the vibrant green it should be, and was instead yellowing/​browning and many pieces were growing mold spots… mold! Now, I understand this happens with some pieces of lettuce in a batch, however, this was nearly the ENTIRE salad. I began fishing out the yellowing, brown, wilting and molding pieces and it ended up being too many to remove. The beets, pistachios, oranges, and cheese were far and few between and the beets were hard. I cannot even imaging being a chef and having that plate to leave my kitchen. I can say that this was hands down the most repulsive dish I have ever received at a restaurant. Attached is a photo for your review. I notified the waiter of the issue and I received an apology and an offer to try another dish; however I declined, as I could not bring myself to imagine quality of other food and food handling in the kitchen.
Perhaps the reason for the above issues is because we arrived 45 minutes before closing on a Sunday and the employees were just ready to go home, or perhaps there was a new chef, or maybe they ran out of fresh arugula and the chef forgot the turkey burger on the grill. Regardless, I’m hoping this is an isolated incident, as the quality of product we received is simply unacceptable.
Thanks for your time.

Good neighborhood bar– food is okay but nothing spectacular. Always find myself struggling to pick something to order as nothing sounds very good.

Moved to the SW corner of Minneapolis and found this gem next to the Ace Hardware on Penn! 3^rd stop in here, just small plates so far with a couple of beers, but this place has been great. I need to nice it up a bit for casual date night. Great happy hour but pricing seems reasonable anytime.

Great local restaurant with a cute small patio in the warm weather. The food is excellent, drink selection is wonderful.

I love this small neighborhood café. The cocktails are always a treat, I like to pair them with a dessert. The staff has always been attentive and kind. The atmosphere is great on evenings and weekend brunch. Can’t wait to enjoy the patio now that it’s warming up!

Came here for Sunday breakfast today, first visit. We were greeted at the front door & asked if we would like to sit at the bar (there were many open tables for 2), we requested & received a table in front of the window.
Biscuits & gravy were good, but no hash browns available. What was most frustrating however, was the staff. The guy filling our water glasses was more attentive than out waitress — and when you get bottomless mimosas you want more than one with your meal. Staff this place better & it’s more like 4 stars.

The food is great and the service is good. I personally recommend the truffle cut fries, the truffle Mac and cheese, and the seasonal cheesecake. The truffle fries are a perfect appetizer to share or to just eat by yourself. Remember to save room for dessert! My personal favorite is the seasonal cheesecake. The cheesecakes are served in a creative and innovative way. My server was Ruth, and she was polite and personable. I would definitely recommend Café Maude to anyone looking for a good restaurant in the neighborhood.

It has been too long since we have been to Maude’s. We had Monday nite Happy Hour mussels, cocktails and small plate specials. Off the chart value food and service. Great cocktails, great food, great service. Can’t wait to go back.

Mmm, I loved this place!
We went New Year’s Eve for dinner and were able to make reservations. We arrived pretty early but stood at the bar for some amazing cocktails. Our table was ready way beyond our time and staff was very nice.
Cocktails are fresh and delicious! Well priced for the great quality. A perfect place for a cocktail without having to go downtown.
We ordered small plates and a warm baguette. My partner had the Egg and Spinach and was stuffed. He loved it.
I got the house cut fries with truffle fondue and they were amazing! A good size plate of fries and fondue for the price. I couldn’t finish the fries!
I can’t wait to come here again!

Not long ago I stopped in for happy hour. I had the mussels, some truffle fries, and the cocktail of the day, for one of the most pleasant dinners in recent memory. I think the service here is almost always excellent.

Service was excellent. Brunch was delicious, I opted for the mushroom and spinach omelette which comes with a lightly dressed salad. Love that you can sub egg whites if you desire! Friends had their banana bread French toast and loved it. The drink prices are a little high ($ 4 for a green tea bag?) But the food prices are reasonable so I guess they have to make their money somewhere. I would go back and would recommend this little place. Also easy to locate and get to, nice location.

Dropped by with some friends for the happy hour from 4−6pm and the food was delicious. I had the mussels on the menu which was full of flavor and had an little spice to it. The Fries were fried in truffle oil which gave it a unique taste. Similarly the fried avocado was pretty good. Our beer opinions were decent. They only have a few on tap and I chose the sunken city from insight. Over all the atmosphere was beautiful.

What a strange experience, with both highs and lows. Made a reservation for 5:30 on a Saturday night for 2 adults and 1 high chair. Yes, we took our 2-​year-​old out for a nice dinner. But, he is a chill kid and received multiple compliments for his perfect behavior. We didn’t hesitate to bring our son, because their website explicitly states «We’re also Kid Friendly…»
Arrived just before 5:30, and they were surprised when we arrived and needed a high chair, so it felt like a bit of an inconvenience. The person on the phone confirmed the need for a high chair, but that somehow wasn’t in their computer. They found us a high chair, and seated us at a table with a comfy couch-​like bench on one side, which was enjoyable. Atmosphere was comfortable and very nice.
Since we were there for an early dinner, we were able to take advantage of a couple of Happy Hour specials. Server talked me into a rather tasteless red wine, and husband had a good tap beer. Mussels were amazing (be sure to push them down into the broth first — it’s delicious!), and the Charcuterie Plate was excellent (OMG for the prosciutto and pickled onion!).
Next course, we had the Grilled Lamb Skewers, which were fantastic. Flavorful, juicy lamb, with a delightful yogurt sauce. The Summer Succotash was a fabulous little small plate to have on the side with some of the heavier options. The Spinach & Wild Mushroom Vol au Vent was meh. Rather tasteless, honestly. My kid loved the puff pastry though. Ordered the kids Mac & Cheese meal, which came with this course. The cheeses were stronger tasting than what many kids would like, but my nugget dug it. The carrots were still crunchy and hardly cooked at all, which isn’t ideal for little dudes & dudettes.
From this point, we barely saw our server the rest of the night. Honestly, I think she forgot she had our table. After our first courses arrived, I had to ask someone passing by (not our server, who had disappeared) for my kid’s milk (which is part of his meal). They brought out what looked like skim milk in a high-​ball glass. For a 2-​year-​old. Not super kid-​friendly. Thankfully, I had a plastic cup along.
All of the food was brought out very quickly. I’m sure they wanted our table for the 7pm crowd. Next course arrived and looked good at first. Fun presentation. Flat Iron & Wedge Salad was pretty dang good. It tasted a bit heavy by the end, but was delish. Steak was just a tiny hair below medium-​rare, but was very tasty.
The Steak Frites was a disaster. The fries had too much truffle oil, but were perfectly golden at least. The steak was awful! It was RARE (not medium-​rare, as ordered), and was utterly flavorless, aside from the completely overwhelming charred taste from the outside layer. (Seriously, my steak arrived and it smelled like something unpleasant was burning!) I have never in my life sent something back to a kitchen, but I would have, IF our server was around. She was still MIA, and we were getting antsy, since 2-​year-​olds can be a ticking time bomb as bedtime approaches. So, I tried to hack my way through the steak, which was loaded with tough sinews that my steak knife couldn’t make it through. The 1.5 forkfuls of spinach that were hiding under my steak were good though, as was the little dipping sauce, which helped me choke down part of the steak. This was the biggest waste of $ 40 for an over-​priced entrée.
Finally, our server magically reappeared after AT LEAST 45 – 50 minutes, no joke. Never asked how our meals were. Just said, oh, you need another drink! Um, yeah, I would have ordered one 35 minutes ago, but you lost that opportunity, because we need to get moving so our kid doesn’t lose his $#!t. Didn’t order dessert either, due to the time. We took the free kids dessert that we all shared (yummy, soft chocolate chip cookies), and asked for the check at the same time. Cookies arrived, and server was MIA again. Finally flagged her down to ask for our check again.
This meal took over an hour & a half, because we just sat there much of the time. The place was bustling by 7. Others were receiving stellar service. There was a manager-​type buzzing around, although he completely ignored us. There is an unfair stigma about diners with kids, I think. Our rugrat is well-​behaved, and I picked up the 3 small pieces of food he dropped. We even bring a plastic table mat, to minimize the mess we make. We would have ordered even more food & drinks if our server was around, and I normally tip 30−50%. I cringed at giving the 20% we ended up leaving, but figured that with all the people who brought all our food, cleared our dishes, filled our water, etc., they must share tips somehow, and felt bad stiffing them, even though our server was just completely non-​existent after the first 15 minutes or so.
All in all, most of it was pretty dang good. But the absolutely atrocious service of our server and that awful $ 40 joke of a meal put a really bad taste in my mouth, quite literally.

Every time I eat here it’s great. The food menu seems to change and is unique and tasty. The menu is a little spendy but worth it when your food arrives. Parking can be tough and there is plenty of tables available. I think that this place works well for a nice dinner and drinks during the week.

Great Prix Fixe at Café Maude last night. The food was yummy. The service was excellent. And the price was nice! Thank you for introducing me to grits — I never thought this Yankee could say I liked them! Also, a big thank you for introducing the bf to fine dining a la prix fixe — I think we’ll be back soon!

Stuck between a 3 and a 4 here — while the mac and cheese I ordered was delicious, we had gone to check out the prix fixe menu and, by the time we arrived for our reservation, it had sold out. Same with the wait staff — our server was attentive enough to alert me to the turkey burger having aioli, but when it came to service after our food was delivered, we waved our arms for 10 minutes trying to get his attention to bring my friend ketchup for her fries. My friend did comment that it was the best burger she’s eaten in the Cities, so that’s definitely a ringing endorsement.
The ambiance is cute — tiny vases with what looks like freshly cut flowers out of someone’s garden. Great wine selection. Charming neighborhood. Give it a shot — just get there early on Wednesdays if you want to try the special.

It’s been one of my go to favorites in the past. I’ve always had good food, and enjoyed the atmosphere. That being said I bought a groupon a while back, and I’m not usually a big groupon guy, but saw Café Maude and thought why not get deal.
Going to use the groupon with my wife was a disappointing enough experience that we haven’t been back since. As soon as we walked in we mentioned the groupon, and was informed we would have a «special» menu. From the second we mentioned the groupon we felt like we were second class customers, and that feeling continued through service to the end of the meal. I’m sorry they offered the deal that clearly the staff weren’t fans of, but whatever the cost of that groupon was (i can’t remember) it’s cost them a long time customer as neither of us have felt like we’ve wanted to return after that second class experience we received at that meal.

Underwhelming. Too bad our experience was so lackluster. We may give it another shot but not before trying a lot of other places.
Interesting choices on the menu, but disappointing returns. Mussels were small and overcooked in a broth lacking flavor… The spinach and egg seemed couldn’t be saved by with sauces… The lobster flatbread was imitation crab and a flatbread that was too hard yet unfortunately chewy to stay (I had to scrape off the toppings and eat with a fork).

I want to love this place, but I just don’t. It seems to have everything on the outset that I am drawn to — great ambiance, creative food, drink, and dessert menu, and interesting live music. However, both times I have been there, it has all fallen way short.
I’ve been there on two separate Saturdays for apps, drinks and dessert. I have not had a whole dinner experience there, and I don’t feel inclined to go back to try it. The food and desserts weren’t terrible, but they were 3 stars at best and overpriced for what they were.
The drinks… again, sound interesting, tasted like cough syrup. $ 9 cough syrup isn’t my thing.
I think they do a great job choosing interesting live music, but that space is SO small for it… it is very, very loud, and subsequently extra hard to shout across your booth to have an actual conversation.
Also, our servers have been lacking both times we were there.
I’m disappointed overall. I really wanted to like this place. I love the idea, but the execution was not there.

Went to dinner on 5÷6÷15 with a co-​worker. We are on business and were looking for something different. This place has it all! Excellent service, great food, great ambiance at reasonable prices. The only reason I wont give them a 5 star rating is because the 9.00 dollar glass of Malbec was a bit stingy. Otherwise, this place is awesome!

I bookmarked this place because I wanted to check it out but I remember I came here before two years ago. Wow, I know! First visit was for brunch and second visit was for happy hour. I enjoyed their happy hour list. It is kind of a far drive but hey it was worth the drive.
We arrived late and ordered mussels, burgers, fries and beignets. They were all tasty but the mussels were a little salty other than that we finished our food. The space is a good size and the service is AWESOME. The server keeps coming in to check our table. Since we came in late, it was not crowded. It’s a great place for many things: catching up, casual date night and family. If you are on a date, you don’t have to dress up wearing flashy clothes because this neighborhood is very chill and cool. Parking is great too. Enjoy!

I really dig Maude for the location, atmosphere and food. But my experiences here have been a little bit «meh» when it comes to service. So here we are, at a very ok three stars.
Love the bar. Warm and a little more intimate — as far as bars go.
Really love the booths along the back and like the tables up front on the window. Lots of red & black.
Great patio with sunny spots in the evening.
Interesting cocktails.
Straightforward menu. I seem to always get the burger here. I have a bit of a problem with their ala carte up charges for the burger. $ 2 for cheese, $ 1.50 avocado, etc.
The mac & cheese is good too.
Oh and the truffle fries. Everyone does truffle fries but these are pretty damn good.
Bonus points:
Private lot that seems to always have one spot left just for me.

Found this accidentally as I was hungry and found this on Unilocal in the neighborhood. It was not very crowded so got seated quick. Pleasing subtle ambience was quite inviting. Drinks were good. Now to the food. Truffle fries with cheese fondue was a treat. Can anyone dislike fries ?? Lamb skewer was awesome. Perfectly cooked, tender and flavorful with a cool mint dip. The Maude burger was just about average. Nothing to beat the burgers at Red Cow or Blue door pub. Had to try the desert. Chocolate fudge something something with pistachio ice cream. The fudge was a tad too hard and the overall pore was very confusing and had no cohesiveness in flavor or plating. I still ate it as I ordered it and nibbled at everything on the plate individually. Overall it was a good experience. May not necessarily go back unless I am the area.

Ah, Café Maud… the best brunch in town, if you like being punished.
Pros:
–The fries (which I didn’t order unfortunately, I stole many from my sister-​in-​law because I was starving)
–the nonalcoholic craft drinks from the bar (took 10 minutes to get to us, we were never offered more.)
Cons:
–We were giddy and excited to have a great family brunch until we were greeted by a surly male server. When we enquired as to how his day was going, he said, LONG. He takes our drink order, and the punishment begins!
–Water arrives: I immediately smell something foul in the glass. I take a sip, and it tastes just like it smells. No one else at the table has this issue. Either they served me toilet water, or the glass was never properly cleaned or sanitized and had something that smelled like hot garbage in it prior to my water.
–We order our food from Mr. Surly and our drinks finally arrive. I ordered the strawberry starlight, which I drained immediately to get the foul water taste out of my mouth. It was very good. If I had known how precious every drop in the tiny champagne flute was, I would have conserved it better.
–30 more minutes go by. We are looking around and getting concerned by now. We all have empty glasses. We notice that everyone in the place is pissed off and trying to flag down Surly. One guest actually leaves after asking for his beer 3 times. The server ignores everyone and runs by, clearly in the weeds. Maybe it’s not his fault, maybe the rest of the staff called in, but this was never addressed. He just kept ducking us.
–A woman leisurely strolls out of the kitchen and drops off our food ONE DISH AT A TIME. We politely ask her for drinks on one of her many trips. She never comes back, and my mother never got her food.
–10 minutes later, Surly is back! At this point, my spirits lift because I start to get my hopes up again. The place had cleared out and I truly believed that he was going to bring us a beverage! None of us had eaten more than a bite or two because Mom still hadn’t received her meal, and there wasn’t a drop of liquid on the table between all 5 of us to have with our meals. We tell Surly that we are missing a dish and that we need refills.
–He returns immediately with her food and disappears again! We are now very parched. We flag down a hostess/​bus girl (Side note on this girl: we saw her setting tables and grabbing the silverware by the tines with her fingers. Ew.) We beg her to get us drinks. She returns and is clearly annoyed, because this is «not her job.»
–The food: I ordered the French Toast and a side of roasted potatoes. Not sure what they did to it, but believe me when I tell you I could had gotten better French Toast on an airplane in a third world country. It tasted like gummy paper mâché with fake Del Monte peaches on it. Next I try the potatoes. They are «Meh» but I eat them because I am starving. Then I FIND A SHORT BLACK HAIR in them.
–At this point it is almost comical but we are also pissed and just want to get the hell out of there. Only 2 out of the 5 of us liked their meal. I have never sent a dish back in my life, complained, or given any business a negative review. Had he ever come back or asked us how it was going, I would have just simply ordered a different dish or dessert and hoped for the best.
–We finally pay and leave. We are all grumpy because our experience was so negative and I am still starving. My Dad called to complain later today. They said they COULD NOT FIND the manager. Imagine that?!
Too much competition in this town to ever go back.

So, the Mr. and I stopped here on our way to a concert on a Thursday night about a month ago. Having eaten here a couple of times before (and had spotty service), I didn’t have many expectations except to eat/​drink quickly and get on with our night. This place seemed to understand our needs and obliged.
We were greeted immediately by a nice host and requested the bar, which was wide open. The bartender was a little cold but so was the beer, thus we forgave his somewhat unfriendly demeanor. We split the brussel sprouts (delicious!), a burger, and an order of truffle fries. Everything tasted fine and we were on the road forty minutes later.
Altogether, I can’t complain. I’m only being stingy with a star because there always seems to be an air of superiority from the staff at Maude, that I find unjustified. If you can brush that off, it has its charm.

What a fun little place. Megan knew about this place forever and finally took me. It was late and we didn’t want a full meal so we had apps, cheese plate was great and the truffle fries were ten outta ten! They were a tad bit salty for me but I’d take another bowl in a heartbeat!
Quite atmosphere with comfortable seating. Perfect date place. Friendly staff made it that much better. Plus easy off street parking!

So Todd, the manager, writes a comment on my initial review (see below) and I reply back giving him the information requested along with inquiring how he is going to correct the issue instead of taking the status quo with excuses. Of course, it has been several days and still no reply back to me; even though he made it look like on Unilocal that he was reaching out to me. Nice fake-​fronting for the other Unilocalers reading my review. Again NOT impressed!
Comment from Todd S. of Café Maude
Business Owner 2÷19÷2015:
Like you said, five-​star reviews are the norm for us, and I’m really sorry to read what a negative… Like you said, five-​star reviews are the norm for us, and I’m really sorry to read what a negative experience you had at our establishment. Would you mind telling me the date and time you were here? That would really help me find out more from our team.
Sincerely,
Todd, Manager

The Natasha is the bomb!
I wanted to check this place out for quite a while and finally made it a couple times in recent months. We were in the neighborhood on Valentine’s and popped in for a couple drinks at the bar. What a cute little joint!
The bartender, who looks just like Nick Swisher, was mixing great cocktails and had some great 70’s, 80’s and 90’s love mix music playing. We had such a great time just sitting there with the regulars chatting and drinking. Not sure how many Natasha’s I had, but man, they are good. It’s a black berry cosmo with a great tang and cute accouterments.
We made it back for dinner a couple months later. My husband started with the lamb skewers and he really enjoyed them. I’m not a huge lamb fan, so I passed. We each had a salad — he had the beet and I had the butternut and blue. He liked his and I loved mine! The vinaigrette it was dressed with was perfect, the squash was great and the butter lettuce was a base for these fantastic ingredients. I would eat a giant plate of just that!
We could not decide on entrees so we got 2 and split them — the chicken and the pork tenderloin. The chicken was by far my favorite. It was cut all fancy and the potatoes and cauliflower purée were so good. The skin was crispy, but not greasy and if I were at home, I might have licked the plate. I liked the stuff that came with the pork more than I liked the pork. It was served with a good amount of sweet potatoes and arugula. The gastrique that was served with it was a little too tangy for me. My husband really enjoyed it. It was well made, but just not for me.
The food is great, the drinks fantastic, the price is very reasonable and the place so darn fun, this might be a go to joint for us. Brunch menu looks very tempting as well!

Just dropped in for happy hour with a friend on a Sunday evening. The décor and atmosphere of the place are great – modern, upscale, cozy, and very inviting. Our server was attentive and friendly.
I got a drink called the «Rubber Ducky,» which was blue raspberry lemonade with a marshmallow peep on top. A peep! Too cute, and very sugary delicious.
I also got the lobster croquettes, which were fantastic! I never would have thought that avocado, cucumber, and sprouts would accompany such a treat, but the combination was delicious.
I don’t normally take much note of restaurant bathrooms, but the restroom here was one of the nicest ones I’ve seen in a restaurant, so as much of a dork as it makes me feel to do so, I have to mention it. The colors and décor are beautiful, and there was a fancy automatic paper towel dispenser. They even had a candle burning in there. That’s a classy touch.
I subtract one star only because the prices were on the high side. After tax and tip, I shelled out over twenty bucks for a non-​alcoholic drink and an appetizer. While both were delicious, I can think of other delicious things I can get at other places that are a better value. I’ll be back to Café Maude, but likely not often.