Glaciers Café

We are staying at Shriner’s Hospital and wanted some comfort food and this was the perfect place! The food was so wonderful. Hope to go back before we leave!

I was first referred to Glaciers by Dave at Top Gear Automotive (to which by the way I’d like to assign 5 stars but I can’t find them on Unilocal). Anyway, I was looking for a place to eat while they worked on my car.
I’ve eaten here several times since for lunch and breakfast. If I lived closer I might be a regular. It’s not a destination kind of place but a pretty decent neighborhood café. The House Burger is not bad. Fries are decent. The California Chicken Sandwich looked better than it tasted but it did look awfully good.
The Breakfast Burrito was a disappointment. It was blah, on the dry side and not helped by a very mild salsa. My son had the French Toast and pronounced it great. The frozen custard is fine but not outstanding.
The inside seating feels awkward but the outdoor patio is pleasant. BTW, the exterior mosaic wall is an amazing piece of artwork.
I’ve seen a few reviewers comment on poor service. That’s not been my experience.

Frozen custard, what fun. And an online «Frozen Custard Flavor Calendar»! Even funner! I can feel like I’m in Milwaukee, without actually having to drive there and be contaminated by passing through The Dells.
I enjoyed the vanilla custard with crunchy marshmallows, and the grass fed Black and Blue half pound burger was very nice. But what I really appreciated was that it came with some nicely seasoned, stir fried mixed vegetables.
«An Authenticly Classic American Café,» is their motto. Overlooking the mispeling, I’m still not sure what this means. Is it authentic in a classic way because of its American-​ness, or is it classic in it’s American-​ness in an authentic way, or … Regardless, they seem to be trying to hard to be something. Presumably, their notion of what the quintessential café was like during an un-​named golden age (that never was) of American cafes. And isn’t naming something a café a pretty recent phenomenon in this part of the world anyway?
But the décor is nice, they serve beer & wine, and they hold a fun sounding kid’s event once a month. MY service experience was fast and very friendly.
Money saved — $ 6 with an Entertainment 2 for 1.

I gave Glaciers a few chances, but my experiences were similar to that of Mahad M. It takes much too long to get service, especially when you have to send things back. The food isn’t especially memorable, save for the most horrid broccoli cheese soup of all time. (OF ALL TIME.)

One of the most uninviting cafes We’ve ever encountered. We stopped by to grab a couple of mochas and the lady behind the counter didn’t even make eye contact with us before she said, «give me a minute, I gotta check those people out». We waited nearly 15 minutes after the people had left and the lady was still fiddling with the register when we finally lost our patience and just walked out.
We’ve had better service else where but i wouldn’t mind going back there just to check out the food.

The atmosphere feels motel-​ishto me. The server was helpful in recommending the most popular sundaes and she was upbeat.
I knew I was coming here for dessert, but I don’t think the custard lives up to the hype. It’s not bad, but it’s not great (i.e., worth 4 – 5 stars).

Stopped in for lunch while the guys at the hubs bike shop set up my ride.
Lots of young people zipping around on bikes. The crowd looks to be largely hipsters, people living the creative and alternative lifestyle of a college town. Then you have a couple of young families and groups of folks older than me hanging around. It just goes to show that a quality eatery can draw from a very wide demographic.
The owner of the place invited me in while I was studying the daily special sign placed in front of the door. The man is a natural restaurateur. Very engaging, funny, and he actually cares.
The daily special was a club sandwich with wasabi spread. Hmm, interesting, but I am not a big fan of club sandwiches.
Wait! What have we here? Grass fed beef patty burger with feta cheese and kalamata olives? Sign me up! Better yet, I can choose roasted veggies instead of the fries? I’m all in.
How was the food? The veggies were the star on the plate. Perfectly seasoned and roasted to a seared, moist succulent bite size morsels that will please your taste buds into a frenzy.
The burger was a bit over cooked and I ordered it medium. The patty could not overcome being cooked to death, and that’s too bad. The idea of topping a burger with feta and kalamata olives on the other hand is pure genius!
The menu was peppered with creative takes on familiar dishes, piquing my curiosity for a future visit.
The pluses:
Family owned!
Creative approach to food.
Great people
Fantastic people watching opportunity at the window seats or the patio.
Downside:
Service can be slow as it gets pretty busy
They over cooked my burger.
Final analysis:
Just go and enjoy the food. I’ve been to plenty of pricier joints that claim to be on the cutting edge, but only follow the pack. This place takes some chances and appears to succeed more than not.
To the guy who thinks the food here is comparable to Applebees — huh? Applebee’s is about as interesting as webers white bread.

We came here because we had a coupon in the Entertainment Book and because it had such great reviews from my fellow Unilocalers.
I loved this place immediately when we stepped foot onto the outdoor patio. The tables were nicely placed apart from one another, the chairs were comfy, and it is a very interesting part of town to people watch.
The coffee came and was served in nice big mugs with your own little silver creamers. I am now totally digging this place.
What we ordered:
Breakfast Burrito with cumin Potatoes
French Toast with cinnamon butter and bacon.
We each ate half of our dish, then passed it to the other and I thought the burrito was very good and the french toast was really good too. I would order either of these two dishes again.
The service was good but horribly slow… How can it be good then you ask? Well, the waitress kept the coffee filled and checking on us, while apologizing how long it was taking for the food to come out. I am not sure what was going on in the kitchen because there was only one other table of four in the entire place but this time, it didn’t really bother me because I was happily drinking the delicious coffee in my big red mug on a beautiful sunday morning.
I will most definitely be back but I would not come here if you are in a hurry.

This place is great, and here is why:
1) The french toast is very tasty, and comes with maple syrup, bacon and this lovely cinnamon butter that is very tasty.
2) The coffee is good, AND they have free refills. Also, they bring the creamer in a metal container that lasted me for three cups of coffee. Also, the coffee mugs are big.
3) The owner is super nice! I told him I read reviews on Unilocal about his store and that he was really nice and he sat at our table for 10 mins and chatted with us. Told us stories about him and asked about us. What a nice guy.
Overall, the food here was pretty good, but the service and feel was awesome. 5 stars for overall experience.

I just got the mock duck Vietnamese sandwich here the other day which was good. I’ve also enjoyed their greek salad and some breakfast items. All around a café which is worth a stop in.

The food was well prepared but unoriginal, basic American Applebees type stuff. The custard was REALLY good though. I’d recommend the chai flavor. The patio is also very nice. If you’re an adventurous eater, you’re not going to find much to like here, unless you’re in the mood for a good summer treat.

Late dinner on Saturday night. The food was really good. Turkey/​Swiss/​BLT sandwich with fries for me (excellent bread, crispy bacon, fresh turkey, a little bummed about the iceberg lettuce, I was expecting something a bit better), wings and a veggie burger for the BF (he loved both, and the side of roasted veggies that came with the burger). We split a sundae and it was awesome! Will for sure go back for the custard. The sundae was served in an old school parfait glass, which made it fun.
Our server was really friendly and helpful with menu rec’s. Looking forward to hanging on the patio this summer!

While I won’t go quite as far as to say they have the best breakfast in town, Glaciers for sure has the BEST French Toast I have ever had. They serve it with whipped butter that has the cinnamon already in it — devine! And such a genius idea!
My husband raves about their crepes. His favorite is the Applewood Smoked Bacon. Not being a pork eater myself, I cannot say for sure on that, but I will say after the first time we went and he had one, he couldn’t wait to have an excuse to drive back across town for another.
The most recent time we went, our waitress was great. My husband and I each got our favorite items (mentioned above), but also decided to split a breakfast burrito. Without even having to ask, the waitress had it split and on two plates when it came out of the kitchen (at no charge, as some places do). We had the burrito with veggies (it normally comes with sausage), but she happily added extra veggies to fill it up. Excellent taste and presentation, not to mention great price (only $ 5.95, and that includes potatoes!)
Overall, I really like Glaciers. They have a nice dining space, not too big, not too small, with a nice atmosphere.

I had been meaning to try this place for awhile. We were looking to have breakfast on a Sunday morning and thought we would give it a try. We sat on their fantastic patio which was a great start. We both ordered the breakfast burrito with chorizo. We probably could have shared one but at these prices, why? It was brimming with fresh peppers, eggs and sausage. The staff and owner are very friendly and even offered us a sample of their custard. This is a sample? It was a small scoop and it was delicious.
Reasonably priced well made food. There are not enough places that I can say that about. The patio is the icing on the cake.

What an unexpected pleasure!
My husband and I had a wonderful dinner here after a series of plans fell through and we ended up on foot at the corner of Lake and Minnehaha. We were starving and didn’t know where to go so we went into Glaciers.
The bruschetta is amazing– the goat cheese spread is delicious and the balsamic vinegar was the perfect compliment. I had a side salad that was an extremely generous portion with a chunky homemade-​tasting blue cheese dressing. We got a side of garlic aoili with the fries and both were awesome.
The service was super friendly, too! And the prices are so reasonable. Will definitely be going back!

Top things to note about Glaciers
1) Beautiful patio
2) Dog-​friendly patio
3) Excellent custard
4) Friendly owner
We found this on Unilocal when looking for a place nearby with ice cream (ahem, custard). Reviews were great and while I didn’t get to try to the food, the custard we had was mmmm so good! Patio was beautiful and the owner was welcoming everyone in for a book reading that day. Told him it was our first time and he took the time to walk me over to the menus and break down what they had for custards (shakes, sundaes, scoops, Blizzard-​like treats).
They have vanilla and chocolate custard everyday and 2 special flavors everyday except Sunday where they only have one special flavor.
Would definitely recommend trying out. Can’t wait to go back and explore the menu a little more!

Go Eat Custard. This is by far the best place in the cities if you are looking for a frozen treat this summer.
We went for a quick lunch and ended up deciding this will be one of our favorite restaurants. The food was great. I had the turkey Rachel, which comes out on their own bread and with a Memphis style slaw that was equally as tasty.
The lady had the BBQ chicken salad and it was also very good and very filling.
But then came the main event… We asked for a sample and what we got was a Dixie cup filled with this frozen delight. It would have been plenty but it was soooo good we decided to get another but this time with Reese’s and as a grown man I will for the first time in my life use this… OMG!

I’ll begin by stating that I went here today after I learned yesterday that they’re giving out a free crêpe to those who «give the password» through 12−31−09 (see my Unilocal Shout-​Out).
I arrived mid-​afternoon and found a quiet, comfortable-​looking and well-​lit space. The only other customer was a woman with a young child.
I went up to the counter to ask for a crêpe and then gave the «password». The young woman behind the counter was unfamiliar with this offering. Luckily, the chef (Josh) was in close proximity. He overheard me and quickly took the lead, asking whether I’d seen the interview on Kare11 (yes, I had: on-​line), and also asking if I wanted one «sweet» or «savory». I ordered a «sweet» one, being all geared up for some of their homemade custard. He said it’d be about 5 minutes.
I also ordered a cup of coffee — they had several Peace Coffee selections in those serve yourself pump pots.
The coffee was good, and that sweet crêpe with a scoop of vanilla custard on top along with a drizzle of chocolate sauce (brought to me by Josh, himself) was deeelicious. It’s been way too long since I’ve had a crêpe. As far as ‘quality’ of crepes goes, I’m lacking sufficient experience to comment.
Josh was friendly and engaging and encouraged me to come again sometime. He even invited me out into the hallway to look out over their summertime patio and showed me a picture of what it looks like without snow on the ground. I’m not sure if Josh is the «owner» of this place, but I sure did enjoy my contact with him and I will return sometime.

Glaciers is now 2 for 2 on outstanding experiences in my book. If I lived closer by, I would make it a regular stop. The food is exceptional — their specialty burger, «Grab the Glacier», is as good a burger as I have had in the Twin Cities. Generous portions at great prices.
Also, I appreciate their attention to the small things — roasted garlic mayo on the burger; Chiffonade Basil on their pizza; french fries that are baked, not fried.
And the prices are Recession-​friendly!

Talk about surprising! We have been putting off going here because it looks really generic and honestly, I expected the food to suck. But since it is like, two blocks away from our house, we had to try it sometime.
The first thing we noticed how crazy low their prices are. This is a good thing when you are trying to sell burgers and fries next to the Town Talk Diner. I had the sliders, for $ 5.95, and they were rockstar. First of all, I think they are too big to be called sliders. They had garlic mayo, roasted onions, chedder and applewood bacon. Served with Au Jus. Tasty. I couldn’t even finish the three of them.
The custard alone is worth the trip. I had a kids sundae with marshmallow crème and strawberries. Boy had all kinds of food and ice cream, and enjoyed it all. Their salsa is really yummy.
Friendly service, cheap prices… I hope they get a new graphic designer so they might actually make it. There is too much to compete with on this street to look so mediocre.