Citizen Café

Our service was great, but 3 out of 4 said their food was terrible. I orded the Portobella burger. Easily the worst, most underseasoned mess of a burger I’ve ever had. It was so bad, I didn’t even make it through have of it. Kudos to the server for getting us in and out quickly when we mentioned we had a even to rush to.

Thanks to Emily for the wonderful service and to the Chef Special Halibut with monster shrimp. The crackers were better than crack.

Hollandaise. Forever.
I’ve searched, and looked, and hunted, for the best of the best brunches. Well hello Citizen Café, you must have a key to the heavens, because the clouds just parted, angels sang, and beams of sunshine filled the room as our waitress brought me your pulled-​pork hash. Covered in an over-​easy egg, smothered in hollandaise. PULLED. PORK. HASH.
The coffee was delish (and local — True Stone roasters right next door in St. Paul), our waitress was witty and knowledgable, the pull-​aparts were NOT burnt, but crispy on the outside, doughy on the inside, the hash browns were crispy and savory… WHY DO I NOT LIVE NEXT DOOR TO YOU, CITIZEN. Or better yet, just save me a permanent seat.
I loved the copper light fixtures, the old jazz playing softly overhead, the bench (and pillows) along the edge, and the retro advertisements that adorn the walls. You’ve got the food, the coffee, the staff, and the ambiance. QUADRUPLE THREAT.

I’ve eaten at Citizen Café more than a dozen times and each time the food has been perfection. Wonderful flavors, beautiful colors. The menu is simple and diverse. The server has always suggested the perfect wine to go with the meal.

I’ve been to Citizen a few times now, three breakfasts and a dinner to be exact and I always have a solid meal. During my latest trip, for dinner, it was a nice surprise to discover several daily specials (fish, app, cheese, sandwich, and soup of the day) so the menu is always something new regardless how many times you go there. The veggie sandwich and chips didn’t disappoint.

I don’t know why but based on the same I thought that this place was just a regular old coffee shop and even though I’ve lived in the neighborhood for awhile, I always just dismissed it. My mistake because coming here for breakfast was quite the pleasure.
We were seated and ordered coffee right away. Minneapolis has set my coffee bar extremely high and this coffee was just okay. You have to ask for water, the reason for which is unclear to me. We ordered our breakfasts and I noticed how extremely reasonable the prices were.
While waiting for our orders, we were given a little taste of their cheddar chive biscuit. I was worried since I ordered the biscuit benedict and the bite-​sized one was really dry. But not to worry when it came out because the luscious yolk of the poached egg and the velvety hollandaise took care of that in a jiffy.
I could write paragraphs on this hollandaise. Creamy and lemony and really truly superb; it’s what my food dreams are made of. I don’t think anyone should go there without this sauce being drizzled over ANYTHING. Hey… Maybe I just realized what would make the coffee better? …just playin’

Excellent dinner Thursday night. Everyone enjoyed their food. If you are in the area you should stop by.

I came here for Brunch with some friends visiting from out of town. The restaurant was small and not very busy, but the décor was cute. We were greeted with a strange hesitation from the staff, which was off-​putting. We sat on the patio which is nicely shaded by an awning and some trees. My friends ordered the pulled pork hash, a scramble and I ordered the gravlax benedict because I couldn’t resist the idea of «house-​made» gravlax. The complimentary cheddar chive biscuits was a very welcome surprise.
I sampled my friends’ dishes and was very impressed. The pulled pork hash was everything a hungover twenty-​something would want. Delicious fried potato chunks, meaty pieces of pork and cheese. The hash browns that came with the scramble were perfectly brown. I was not impressed by my dish. The house-​made gravlax was extremely salty and I didn’t quite enjoy it. The hollandaise sauce was almost to the point of breaking. The egg was perfectly poached, though. All together, my dish was a mushy, salty mess. I will definitely come here again, but I think I will stick with the more typical breakfast offerings.

After looking for places on-​line for breakfast came across this place and chose it because of the variety of their menu.
Great prices and a great variety of things to choose from.
Nice atmosphere with the tables and pew like benches. The tables are close, but still spread out just enough so it doesn’t feel like you’re right on top of your dining neighbor.
I went back and forth between the Benedict and the Frittata of the day. Wound up choosing the Frittata (Spinach, ham and cheese) which was pretty good. Lots of spinach and plenty of ham the way I like it. Nice big chunks.
My friends each ordered the Benedict which I admired across the table. They said it was pretty good.
All of our meals came with fresh fruit. (Melon, grapes, pineapple) Mine came with hash browns which were ok.
The little onion, chive preview biscuits were all right. I didn’t expect the sweeter flavor in them.
Service was great.
Their graphics make me think of some print Shepard Fairy would make.
A little surprised t hat the place wasn’t more packed, but better for us.
Very nice place for breakfast! Would return.

I love me some biscuits and gravy, and had my expectations set to what I heard was the «best biscuits and gravy in the Twin Cities».
Despite the chive biscuits and pretty rich gravy with yummy pieces of sausage, the rest of the experience was pretty meh. i had a 10am reservation on Mother’s Day — it was not too clear who was the hostess and when I said I had a reservation gave me a mildly dirty look and said «well, you’ll have to wait». My party ended up being 3 rather than 4, and the same lady was pretty rude when she found out. They still seated us at a 6 person table — great welcome to Citizen Café to my Mom visiting!
Besides that — the food was fine. But to be honest we would have had a nicer experiece getting bagels and eating at home. As for the biscuits and gravy — they were fine, but I’ll go to Sun Streets next time.

Meh. Okay service. Portions were small for price. Not worth going back.

Citizen Café was opened in 2008 by Chef Michael MacKay and his wife Seaen, so it’s certainly not new to the Twin Cities — just new to our household. The concept behind the café is to use local, honest ingredients to create a menu of delicious house-​made items free of msg, preservatives and other unnatural food enhancers.
The café is a small, cozy space — with hardwood floors and sturdy chairs that combine with dim lighting and large windows to create a contradiction in atmosphere. A contradiction that works really well. Large groups were able to push a few tables together without making tables of two feel cramped. The wait staff was knowledgeable and friendly. I was really impressed that, given the number of tables in the place and the fact that there were several people waiting for seats at any given time — we were never rushed by our server. It was nice.
My wife and I spent a really long time studying the menu. A REALLY long time. It’s so diverse and interesting — what I call «Accessible Foodie.» As in, know-​it-​all foodie types will appreciate the old school country pâté… but so will a regular person who has been known to enjoy a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. To buy us a little time with the ordering, we asked for the appetizer sampler which featured a mini citizen joe (their version of a sloppy joe, baked into a puffed pastry shell) + the country pâté + a sausage of the day (which I believe was lamb with garlic and pistachios — whatever, it was, it tasted good!).
After the appetizers, we realized that whatever each of us chose would be amazing. Took a lot of the pressure off making sure we ordered the exact perfect item. I went with the restaurant’s signature dish — pulled pork roast that was so incredibly meaty, it could have been mistaken for beef. Sara chose the turkey bacon and brie sandwich, which was ooey and gooey and fantastic.
Citizen Café may not be the best restaurant ever, but it is surely better than most!

I need to update my review. Today we ate outside and I am not sure that had anything to do with the experience but our service today was not as stellar as last time. The server was not nearly as friendly or attentive. The food was OK at best and way overpriced. I guess i didn’t realize how overpriced it was last time.
We ordered eggs Benedict, one pancake (which I thought was not good at all), french toast with sausage, and frittata with hash browns. The frittata was a hit again. I should have learned my lesson last time. The breakfast special which is a frittata and hash browns is the best value here. My fruit which came with my eggs Benedict was OK but the melons were not ripe. My friend commented there was nothing special about the sausage or french toast either and for $ 14, it should be.
Coffee was not the best, service was OK, most everything was overpriced and I doubt we will be back.

A cozy and friendly environment, serving up carefully prepared, local food that was both creative and delicious. The prices are very reasonable for the quality of the food and friendly service. The noise-​level is low so it’s a great place for a date with your lover or to catch up with old friends.
We shared our dishes, as usual, starting with their House-​made gravlax. Delicious and delicate with wonderful flavor! Served with minced red onion, creamy dill crème fraiche and pumpernickel toast points — we would go back just for that!
Up next, the Tomato Purée Soup: the least desirable or flavorful dish of the night. Still fresh — just a bit boring. It was, as its name suggests, simply a tomato purée, and not much more that we could decipher.
But the Side House Salad was fresh and light with tomato blue cheese dressing. Very zesty!
We followed with our entrées of Grilled CAP NY Strip (medium rare) and Pulled Pork Roast. Both were cooked perfectly and were so flavorful that we finished every bite.
Needless to say, we departed, stuffed and shall return again soon!

Holy breakfast!
Citizen has been on my list for a while after seeing numerous reviews regarding their phenomenal cheddar chive biscuits. We made our way over a little after 11a & the place was relatively busy, but no wait.
I had a tough time deciding between the pulled pork hash & the eggs benedict, but our waitress (with no hesitation) suggested the eggs benedict. Ryan got biscuits & gravy.
Before our meals arrived we received a small plate of breakfast breads that were incredible! Even the butter was abnormally delicious.
Plates arrived & the eggs benedict definitely was a great choice. The hollandaise was super velvety just like the menu said. When Ryan asked how I liked the ham, I said it tasted expensive. Weird response, but it tasted like really good, expensive ham!
Ryan’s plate was fabulous. They didn’t skimp out on gravy that’s for sure. The biscuits were dynamite. It was delicious & though I think every week I say «…X restaurant now it has the #1 spot for best biscuits & gravy», this just might be it out of the places we’ve tried so far in our hunt! (or, until next weekend at least).
Good spot, good food, good prices, good service!

Went here with my gals for dinner on a snowy Saturday night. I am generally relied upon to pick the restaurant, so when one of my friends recommended Citizen Café, I was more than happy to try it out! I was a little nervous about getting seated, given that there were five of us and they don’t take reservations. However, given the fact that it was the first snow of the season in Minnesota and judging by reviews it seems like more of a brunch place. Given that, dinner was great! Decent prices and great quality for comfort food kicked up a notch.
I started off with a glass of sauvignon blanc. A nice sized pour for $ 7 bucks and they had a very nice amount of wines by the glass, most around the 6 – 8 dollar range. Dinner was noms noms too. I had the pulled pork roast with rosemary gravy, mashed potatoes, and roasted vegetables. Pulled pork roast = give me more now please before I hurt somebody. Big chunks of pork that were fall-​apart tender smothered in a rich gravy. The mashed potatoes were pretty darn good too, nothing to write home about (but worth writing about on Unilocal?) but they worked with the pork. The veggies were mostly good. I say mostly because the majority of the vegetables were well cooked, but every once in awhile I would get a large carrot chunk that was still a little bit, uhm, crispy. Oh, and my dinner was $ 16 bucks! For all that food. Amazing!
Of course I was the only one to order dessert, what’s new. I opted for the hazelnut truffle with maple candied bacon. Hazelnut truffle was really good, hazelnut flavored dark chocolate ganache rolled in toasted hazelnuts. The bacon was meh. Maybe I had my expectations up a little high, but the bacon was kindy weird and chewy and cold. I was expecting it to be warm, which would have been ah-​may-​zing. Alas, it was not.
Service was wonderful, she was very attentive, especially since we arrived over the span of half an hour. Each time one of us showed up, there she would be with a glass of water. She was pleasant without being fake, and attentive without being annoyingly so. We also sat at the table for about a hour after we were done, which I almost never do. Considering there wasn’t anyone waiting for a table, I didn’t feel too awful and the waitress had no problem with this either, she just let us hang out!
Last notes: they have a parking lot on the side of the restaurant and street parking is ample. Prices are very reasonable and even though they don’t take reservations they didn’t seem especially busy for dinner. Can’t wait to check this place out for brunch!

JESUS EFFING CHRISTO. Love this place.
First, it feels like a prairie schoolhouse. The pew seating, the slightly creaky floor, all of the subtle décor choices give the restaurant a homespun feel. Service is familiar but not intrusive. I love that it doesn’t get too packed, either.
Everything on the menu looks great, but I’ve had the eggs benedict and I just can’t not get it. When they describe the hollandaise as velvety, they’re not shitting you. Absolutely delicious. The thick bacon… mmm. Sometimes I prefer longer, thinner, curlier bacon, but I won’t stick my nose up at a thick slice of bacon.

My Saturday brunch here was spectacular!
My momma and I were looking for a laid-​back spot for a late breakfast and we found it in Citizen Café. This place has been off my radar for too long.
I agree when Molly B. described the atmosphere at Citizen as slightly more bourgeois than revolutionary. But who needs a revolution when you have a bacon Bloody Mary in front of you? Not me.
I started with their Sake Bacon Mary… this drink is not messing around. There’s a thicky thick cut of bacon sitting atop it and it’s actually hot off the griddle! Gotta give ‘em credit for the healthy heap of horseradish mixed into the glass too. Hands down, the best sake Bloody Mary I’ve ever had.
I had my heart set on eggs benedict today, and I was happy to see they had gravlax benedict on the menu for $ 12 (with house-​made cured salmon). I think I still prefer the Grand Café’s version, but this was excellent and comes in a very close second. I liked that it came with a generous amount of fish, but I could have used some spinach or arugula or something on it to balance the saltiness of the fish a little more.
We split one of the cheddar chive biscuits ($ 2), and it lived up to the Unilocal hype. It reminded me a little of those scallion pancakes that you can get at Chinese restaurants, but in a biscuit form. I want to learn how to make these immediately so that I can gain 20 lbs.
My mom ordered a scramble, which was $ 7 with one ingredient and 50 cents for each extra ingredient. I didn’t try it, but I enjoyed stealing bites of her hashbrowns (good and crispy on the bottom and the top!). I took a tiny taste of the homemade ketchup. I’m not impressed with ketchup in general, but this was a’ight. Almost forgot — everybodygets a couple of small breakfast breads before the meal, and we both raved about the banana bread with maple butter.
Our server was on her game the whole meal and helpful describing the specials and some of the dishes that we asked her about. All with a smile.
I can’t wait to try dinner here sometime!

Everything is scratch made and the atmosphere screams neighborhood gem. If you’re having trouble picking a spot tom eat and want to try a place that’ll almost certainly be added to your favorites list check it out.
Go. Eat. Enjoy.

The husband & I were on our way to Powderhorn Park last January for the art sled rally & we had some time to kill beforehand. Being that we were hungry & in the neighborhood we decided to finally try Sweet Lorraine’s, a place we’d frequently admired from the outside. Needless to say we were disappointed to find that it was gone, but agreed to try the restaurant that had taken its place. Normally it would have been out of our budget but we decided to splurge since it was lunch & therefore not as spendy as dinner.
It was quiet & clean but a little on the cold side for January. That was to be expected considering the large plate glass windows we chose to sit near.
The service was friendly & attentive. I believe we were one of only 3 tables at the time, so if service had been otherwise I’d have docked a star.
My husband had the portobello burger, which he seemed to enjoy. I had the meatloaf sandwich, which I also enjoyed, though the hint of cinnamon in the bread was kind of a weird combination. Nothing was truly spectacular, but we do intend to return. It looks like breakfast might be a good idea.