Cafe Maude at Loring

The drinks were fabulous! The food wasn’t too bad, perhaps just a little underwhelming. No complaints really. :)

Above average food, cute interior, and spotty service make this place a-​ok venue.
We went to this establishment during brunch hour on Sunday and occupancy was probably a bit under 50%. We were seated right away and food was served timely. Drink refill was not as timely and when I asked for bread, I was told that they get that for me, but it never was served.
Food itself. I ordered mushroom omelette with some goat cheese (I know what chèvre is, but I assume not everyone immediately connect these dots — case in point, my friend who was there was not aware what it was. Couldn’t they just write goat cheese?) cooked in and also took the option of potatoes cooked with chèvre (vs. small salad) since omelette was served over a bed of spinach. Food was definitely more than decent (thick fluffy omelette and even better was the potato side dish) and seasonal cheesecake, which is pumpkin at the moment, was definitely a pleasant way to end our brunch.

Unimpressed in so many ways, where to begin? Let me start by saying we have a monthly group that meets for brunch, and we almost always go to Lush. Yes, very different atmosphere and clientele… but we are definitely folks who know how to class it up when the situation arises. We went to Café Maude this morning for brunch, for a good friend’s birthday, with about 20 people. The restaurant was quiet at 11am, and we were approximately 50% of the patrons present. Positive note, they have bottomless mimosas. Negative note, it took forever to get a refill. It was 11:45 before our order was taken. We saw our server about 10 minutes prior to that counting out our table and making a plan for orders. I would like to acknowledge that a larger group such as ours presents challenges for a solo server, but I would also like to point out that prior proper planning prevents piss-​poor performance (yup, the 7 P’s). When the food finally came out 40 minutes later, the server and the other one helping auctioned off the food, and walked back with at least two incorrect orders that no one claimed. What happened to the plan?
We also specifically ordered the side of truffle fries as an appetizer, as we had been there quite some time and were very, very hungry. They came about 5 minutes prior to the rest of the food, and only after I asked if they were on the way.
Okay, fast forward to everyone finally having their order on the table, in front of the correct person. I’ll start with mine: I ordered the Armatage, and it was disappointing all around, except for the bacon. There is pretty much no way I received two whole scrambled eggs, although they did have a nice seasoning to which I needed to add salt and pepper. The toast had clearly been toasted, sat for an undetermined amount of time, been rewarmed, and tossed on my plate. It was dry, bland, and disintegrated upon tasting. On to the breakfast potatoes: dry, unseasoned, tasteless (sensing a theme here?). The best thing I ordered was the French fries, with a truffle cheese dipping sauce — honestly, they were to die for, and are solely responsible for the second star.
Another friend had the huevos rancheros, which had the tiniest little button of guacamole perched atop a surprisingly unflavorful mix of eggs, deep fried tortillas, tomato blend, etc. The only meal that was getting relatively good reviews at our table was the roasted mushroom omelet.
Sometimes, bad food can be saved by an outstanding server. That was definitely not the case at Café Maude. Our server had zero personality, and barely spoke a word to us, including when asked for things or when taking our orders. And he never once asked our group how our meal was (maybe for fear of our response?). When we asked for our bill, it came incorrectly the first time. We told him which items we ordered. It came back with an additional coffee and mimosa on it (literally no one on our end of the table ordered coffee). No apologies, just looked at the check and walked back to the bar.
The location of Café Maude is fantastic, the ambience and décor are lovely… and that is where the experience takes a massive dive. What a disappointing brunch. We will in no way be visiting this location again.

Staff is friendly, drinks and food are always to-​die-​for, and the menu changes enough so, even though I live a block away, it doesn’t get old. I’d love to have more places like Maude in Loring Park. If he’s not busy, talk to Shawn about how he thought up some of the drinks on the menu, or even just inquire about the name he gave it.
Also, the Chef de Cuisine, Craig, makes a hot sauce in-​house called Cry Baby Craig’s. But a bottle for $ 6, it’ll last FOREVER and it could be the best thing you’ve ever had.

I’m giving Maude 4 stars with reservations, because the food was amazing but the service was really terrible.
I’ve been to Maude at Loring several times now: twice for breakfast and once for dinner with a living social deal.
Brunch: No issues with service. Have had the eggs benedict and the huevos rancheros. The latter was pretty tasty but was an odd take on this classic mexican breakfast dish. I am from Southern California though, so I don’t really like huevos rancheros anywhere. I really enjoy their eggs benedict with crispy red potatoes (which come with goat cheese and are awesome!). The coffee is a bit overpriced and not amazing.
Dinner: It took 35 minutes for the server to even take our food order and 50 minutes for the first course to even arrive. This last part wouldn’t have been so bad if the first course weren’t a cheese plate. Its not like they had to cook it… And frankly, the service issues persisted throughout the evening. However, the cheese plate was so delicious that it made up for the long wait. The cheeses on this plate change regularly, so I won’t go into the different kinds we had, but I recommend you get this as an appetizer if you get the chance because its nicely portioned and they really seem to put a lot of effort into choosing interesting cheeses and fruit pairings. We then each had a salad that was pretty average (mixed greens, goat cheese, walnuts, and a few strawberries). Trust me it sounds better than it was. I really hate overdressed salad so normally I like my salad a little underdressed, but ours were both really lacking on the dressing and so the salad ended up pretty plain. I then had the scallops with saffron, a sun dried tomato romesco and something they called chili that I thought was really Israeli couscous. It was glorious. Despite looking really unappetizing (the romesco looks a bit like regurgitated pasta sauce), it blew me away. The scallops were mostly cooked well and the flavors they built were lovely. It was a a flavor punch without being spicy, which was in contrast to the North African flatbread that my boyfriend ordered (and loved). His had lamb, tomatoes, raw onion, cheese, and some spicy yogurt that was also really tasty. I wouldn’t have wanted a whole plate of it, but he seemed to really enjoy it. I didn’t let him kiss me for a while though lol :)
Overall the food was awesome. The service sucked, but I’d still definitely go back.

Finally made it out to Maude’s.
There are a couple cute little tables with dainty red umbrellas just outside the café –feels like I’m in Paris.
Inside is cozy, intimate, with lots of velvet red colors. There’s a variety of seating, tall tables and chairs by the windows, seating at the bar, or tables in the central area. I sat at one of the super cute circle-​y booths by the wall.
The tall fashionable hostess appeared harried and preoccupied. She wasn’t very smiley, but, then again, I’m not that smiley of a person either.
I got there around 1pm and they were still serving brunch. It wasn’t very crowded, although to be fair, the space is much larger than most typical cafes. The service was competent and concise. Again, not smiley or super friendly, but that’s okay because I wasn’t looking for a cheerleader today.
I ordered egg’s benedict and was pleasantly surprised with it. I normally don’t eat eggs benedict, so I am not sure if all eggs benedicts are usually so elegant! Quite the refined presentation. Too bad I didn’t have a camera on me. Although the aesthetics of the eggs benedict was lovely, I have to admit, the taste was underwhelming. It didn’t taste bad, it was just sort of, weirdly, flavorless. The red potatoes sides were yummy though.

A friend and I stopped in here before a show downtown. Being an east-​sider, I’d never heard of this place being either here or at its original location. We were greeted immediately (about 8:30 on a Friday, the place was not very busy) but opted to sit down at the bar, half-​hungry but looking primarily for a couple of cocktails.
I ordered a rye old-​fashioned and my friend picked a bourbon sour. I’m not sure exactly which moment we were on to something different. For me it was either 1) when the bartender used a pick to fracture a beautiful, clear iceberg from an ice chest and placed it in my glass, 2) when the bartender asked if I’d mind if he used a little bit of housemade orange bitters in my drink, 3) when he used a thumb on a straw to taste the drink he was making AND THEN MAKE ADJUSTMENTS. Regardless, our first round were some of the most well-​balanced & delicious «standard» cocktails we’d ever tasted. The bourbon sour was frothy and not oversweet, and the old-​fashioned didn’t smack of booze and wasn’t sickeningly maraschino cherry-​flavored. The large glacier in my drink kept it cold without melting too fast and watering it down.
The drinks take a while to make, so I imagine all the flourish might get frustrating on a busy night. It appears there’s one master bartender and he personally puts together the cocktail barside. For this reason alone I’d recommend sitting at the bar. You don’t get the full effect if you can’t see it in front of you, just a long-​ish wait for a delicious drink.
The success of the first go inspired round two & some food. We had (at the bartender’s suggestion) a hummus flatbread and their coal-​fired burger. He claimed it was the best in town. I chalked it up to salesmanship and hyperbole, but GOOD LORD that thing was delicious. Toasted bun, cooked exactly to temperature medium rare patty, vibrant red tomatoes and bright green leafs of butter lettuce. We got it with cheddar and bacon. The bacon was good but the need to tear it detracted from what was going on. Doing it again I think I’d just add the cheese. My friend observed that it had the most satisfying & cleanest burger aftertaste of any he’d ever had. I have no idea what was so good about it because mine was gone so fast.
The flatbread was sort of an unrolled chicken gyros. Good for an appetizer or to soak up some booze, but I think it would be a let down for a main course. Which is sort of the problem with the entire menu. It’s hard to tell what’s good for one and what’s good for two and what’s going to fill you up and what isn’t. It’s got eight categories, only two of which are identifiable as appetizers and entrées (small plates and big plates). So assemble your nosh at your own risk (or with the counsel of your server).
My second drink was «Goodbye Mrs. Esterhouse» which, apparently the bartender is entering into a Bombay Sapphire cocktail contest. Gin, yuzu (Asian citrus) and pink peppercorn. I’ve never liked gin, but BY ZEUS if that thing doesn’t win I can’t even imagine how tasty first prize must be. The zing of the yuzu picks up that typical gin floral taste (read: pine needles to haters like me) and rounds it out with nice sweetness.
Overall: go with a few friends and a few hours to spare. Sit by the bar, share everything, and keep an open mind.
Absolutely fantastic.

Wow, horrible service and terrible food!
I really enjoy Café Maude’s Penn & 54 location, so when my friends wanted to try the Loring location for brunch, I was all for it.
First off, the brunch menu is pretty plain right now, so my expectations were not high. Secondly, I think they were short staffed. That combo would normally make me pretty forgiving, but as events unfolded, yeah, not happiness.
Maude started with a great recovery: long wait for drink, floor manager brought us our drink on the house, and my drink, Weapon of Mass Seduction, was ridiculously tasty.
Then there was the wait to order food for the table (fries and toast), the wait for food, the wait to order meals (I had to go find the floor manager), the rush to get us our food, finally getting a basket of soggy and a basket of over cooked fries, receiving the well-​done/​over cooked poached egg next to the medium done poached egg, the remade rare poached egg with no Hollands, the salad mess up and crispy potato mix up, and finally a massive bill with our entire table leaving unimpressed to dissatisfied.
Brunch ended with a lot of grumpy people. I would have given the Loring Café Maude 2 stars if all our drinks were comped.

First of all, I love having this place so close to home. The original Café Maude is great, but I can’t walk there. On a recent Friday evening, my wife and I took the ten minute walk to Café Maude Loring Park. We walked in and grabbed a nice seat in the bar.
I ordered the steak frites and my wife ordered brussel sprouts and mussels. The brussel sprouts were good, but not necessarily better than those found at any number of nicer eating establishments in MPLS these days. For some reason, these things have been popping up everywhere lately. My wife said her mussels were good not great, but I’ll let her write her own review on that.
At $ 27, the steak frites were reasonably priced, but when compared to other restaurants in the area, the portion size of the steak was a bit small. I thought to myself, «this had better be a good cut of meet.» Fortunately for me and Café Maude, it was. All in all, it was a fantastic steak, the bernaise sauce was good, and the (truffle) frites were excellent. I would definitely order this again, despite the comparatively small cut of meat. In the end, it was probably for the best.

I love the original Maude but this is a great addition to the Maude name. The larger space makes group gatherings easier here. Still a cozy neighborly vibe. I had a lovely cocktail here but haven’t tried the food yet. If it’s as good as the first Maude, I’m sure you can’t go wrong here. Will update the stars when I return for food.

As a Loring Park resident, I was more than happy to welcome Café Maude to the old Nick and Eddies space across from the park. The restaurant is nestled between Joe’s Garage (boring) and Café Lurcat (intimidating) with a warm and inviting atmosphere paired with reasonable prices for excellent, unique food.
I’ve gone in without a reservation twice now on weeknights even though it always seems to be nearly full. The service is near perfection and I love the new décor. The bar is beautifully lit and candles are everywhere with a deep maroon wall color and lots of interesting art pieces.
While I don’t eat meat or fish, I was very impressed with what the menu had to offer to my carnivorous friends. I went with the Egg and Spinach small plate, kind of worried that I’d be disappointed, but oh was I wrong. This small plate brings on the flavor with a mix of garlic mint yogurt and a not-​too-​hot-​for-​a-​scandinavian-​palate harissa sauce. Pairing these flavors with the inherent blandness of egg, spinach and basmati was GENIUS. My boyfriend got the North African Flatbread, which I should note was smaller than expected, but again, full of flavor and a unique combination of ingredients. I tried a piece without the spiced lamb and was blown away. The Mixed Greens with citrus vinaigrette is a great pairing for both dishes for balance.
Personally, I’d welcome a few more dishes sans-​meat, but I’m excited to go back, even if it means I keep getting the same dish or trying their signature Mac N’ Cheese (aged cheddar, fontina, grana padano, OH MY!).

Great cocktails, okay service. It’s difficult to want to return to a place where the food and drink are worth a visit but the service is surprisingly shitty.
Came out on my birthday with some friends. Originally I’d wanted to go to Bradstreet, but it turns out there was some sort of event going on. Café Maude at Loring was entertained as a possibility, but previous reviews on the service made me cautious. Nevertheless, with five people in tow we had to make a decision and thus we ended up here.
Great drinks, very well made. I loved everything I had. The food was good as well, especially the cheese plate and the mac n cheese. However, the service was so bad that I felt terrible for subjecting my friends to it. Waitress left us waiting at our table for a while before taking our orders for drinks and food. Didn’t give us enough silverware and didn’t check on us often. The bill took forever and came out wrong twice.
It’s been about two months since so I sincerely hope the service has improved. It would be a shame to let that drag down an otherwise excellent place.

We stopped in for a short Happy Hour, or in Café Maudes case Leisure Hour before seeing a show at the Walker and although they had most of their tables reserved they made accommodations for us as we let them know we would be out of their hair by 7pm.
Our Server was fantastic. He was very friendly and helpful with the menu.
We had a few apps; the olives, fish plate, chipotle popcorn and I had the Duck Bahn Mi Salad.
All of the food we had was very good, no complaints at all.
The prices are definitely on the higher end but when I’m in the area this is good to-​go place… much much better than it’s neighbor.

Décor: In that nice little neighborhood of restaurants with Café Lurcat, etc. It’s a nice casual, warm and toasty atmosphere (I love the inside, actually). I didn’t find it pretentious or intimidating, just upscale cozy. Plentiful seating.
Service: Friendly waitress, very patient with our indecisiveness and many questions. Thanks!
Food:
— Boston Bibb: We shared this with the table and while it’s a pretty good salad, a part of the magic went away since we shared it, lol. Well mixed in dressing!
— Duck breast: I was not a fan of the egg rolls it came with– it was as if they took dried up pieces of duck, put them in some tight, salty egg roll crêpe and fried it. The duck breast, on the other hand, was decent. I think it was cooked very well, but I felt like it lacked that bold duck gamey taste that I love. But the legumes that was set on top went well with the green beans too.
— CaramelTart: SO DARN GOOD!!! I hate caramel for the fact that it gets stuck in your teeth and then gets all hard. But the chef has managed to take out this annoying characteristic out of the caramel and produced a chewy, decadent tart! Kudos all around!
Overall: My friends and I ended up chatting at the table for another hour + after we had paid or bills and the staff did not rush us out at all. Perfect place to catch up with some friends in a nice place. Food was okay, but service and atmosphere bumped up my stars ratings!

It’s all about the attitude and Café Maude at Loring has plenty — and not in a positive way. From the moment we walked the hostess proclaimed «if you don’t have a reservation then good luck!» We were fortunate to find a seat at the bar to enjoy a cocktail and dinner, which in many places equals more personalized service.
The various bartenders were more engaged with showing off their bottles of liquor and bitters than truly engaging in my cocktail preferences when I couldn’t decide what to order. Instead I got a cocktail that had a lot of ‘show’ but not great taste.
The food on the menu was felt overly complicated. When the food arrived the flat breads and stew tasted mediocre, but were not worth the price paid or rather pretentious ingredients.
In the end Café Maude at Loring was a let down. I expected the South Minneapolis friendly, welcoming attitude with good food with a few unexpected twists. Instead I got a welcoming that was more like ‘you’re not good enough to eat here’ and bartenders who were too overly confident that their drink concoctions were the best in town.
If you’re looking for a place with fun, innovative drinks skip Maude and head over to Bradstreet Crafthouse or the new Nightingale in uptown. And if you’re looking for a more welcoming environment with food that has a twist, check out Café Lurcat next door.

Thank Maude there is no more Nick & Eddy. That place was so horrible. The food was fantastic, service fantastic, drinks, I ordered another one. Can’t wait to come back. In fact, I’m going to a show at 1^st ave tomorrow, and planned on another pre show drink, but may change my plans and come here instead.
We then took a hike over to the Walker and took in some art. It was a sweet evening made even sweeter by Maude.
so a sincere THANK YOU.

After a love hate relationship with the former occupant Nick and Eddies; my expectations for Maude were a little skeptical.
Walking into the new place for some wine and snacks I felt like I was entering my old favorite bar: complete with its cozy albeit unfilled space. This was a little different in that the service was AMAZING, and it was a little more FULL compared to the barren N&Es. I ordered the house wine and the smoked salmon plate. Love my smoked salmon.
I am hoping they have some live music like Nick and Eddies as well — and I might have found my new favorite place. AND if the Mac and Cheese is anything like the south minneapolis location I’ll be jazzed!

Stopped in for a cocktail with my co-​workers a few nights ago and I’ve really taken a shine to this place. I only recently made my first visit to the original Café Maude and loved my lunch there, so I had been really excited for this to open up within my walking/​biking-​distance radius.
The service was super friendly on the sidewalk patio and my beverage was delicious. I pretty much love it when you order a drink and it comes with a little carafe filled with the rest of the drink. It’s like a malt shop, but instead you get to fill your glass up again with booze!
On the menu you’ll find classics like Corpse Reviver next to something called a Milwaukee Michelada. I ordered something with egg white and the name escapes me, but it was delightful. I also discovered they have a whole menu of «alcohol-​free cocktails» and brunch drinks too. Mama like.
First impressions? Wonderful. Can’t wait to come back and update after eating here!

I was very excited to be able to ‘pick’ Café Maude at Loring Park for my birthday dinner/​get together with two close friends. The restaurant was not surpringing the same layout as Nick & Eddies, but felt a little more character. We had an ‘earlier’ seating around 6pm, so just missed Happy Hour, but definitely did not miss the AARP ‘early seating’ program. LOL
Our server was very attentive and had some great and honest suggestions. Our table ordered the «Pan Margherita» flatbread, the smoked salmon flatbread and the Brick Chicken. The Margherita flatbread was suggested over the linguine (hint hint).
The smoked salmon was surprisingly spicy, probably from the mustard, however still very nice. The Margherita was probably your ‘standard’ margherita flatbread but somehow tasted better, very rich taste. I was very happy that I ordered the Brick Chicken. Wow– such a combination of tastes! The apricot purée was the perfect accompianent for the chicken/​pilaf. The swiss chard made a great addition. I would HIGHLY recommend this dish. I’m now a member of the clean plate club at Café Maude!
Definitely going to come back to try their Happy Hour and bar seating. Looks like a great addition for Loring Park.

Could’ve been better.
Primary issue: pork chop was severely underdone. Server said they like to serve it medium, and I agreed that it might not be a bad idea. Medium meat tends to not have that raw look in the middle; this chop did. This was fixed, but still, I’d appreciate the use of a thermometer. Early-​in-​life stumbles I suppose.
Cocktail selection was decent, high on the nerdy scale. Good for gin drinkers. Kinda wish there was a nice modified Manhattan or similar but it’s a summer menu so I can’t hate too much.
Service was solid enough. Décor was a significant step up from the prior inhabitant Nick and Eddie.
The menu seemed to have a couple voids — steak is offered, pork chops are offered, but no steak-​tier fish — marlin, salmon, swordfish, etc.
I’ll need to return at a later date to re-​evaluate things, though. Reasonable start but definitely needs some work.