Stabby’s Cafe

With a brother in town fixated on getting his breakfast on at a neighborhood joint, I consulted my friends at Unilocal to get the 411 on Stabby’s. I had Kristin’s Vegetarian Revenge. It was on the money-​large portion, great combination of ingredients (and the coffee was pretty decent too.) The service was adequate, not crabby, but not overly attentive either.
The coup de grace though was the warning to the Eagles at the cash register.

A couple of so-​so reviews almost kept me from stopping by. I am really glad I decided to try Stabby’s! It was an awesome meal! I love breakfast so I tend to be a little picky about what I get. Stabby’s has lots to choose from. Service was awesome and she was very attentive and friendly. I ordered The Farmer’s omelet (I think that’s what it was called). It had bacon and onions in it and it was covered with sausage gravy. Yum! Spiced hash browns are a must try option. Huge portions. They have good looking lunch and dinner selections as well. I’ll be back.
They do not accept AMEX.

All good things must come to an end.
After moving to the Twin Cities in April, we quickly began checking out all of the breakfast spots in the area. Stabby’s quickly became our favorite for pancakes. Their moist, fluffy, buttery buttermilk pancakes were great and the gingerbread banana pancake was delicious.
Unfortnately, our last few times at Stabby’s have been less then spectacular. The pancakes have done a complete 360. Judging by the Wonderbread in the pastry case, it looks like Stabby’s is cutting corners and finding cheaper ways to produce their food. I asked if their pancake recipe had changed and did not receive an answer. If I had to guess, the real buttermilk is gone and has been replaced with either instant buttermilk or a pre-​made pancake mix.
Sorry Stabby’s but 3 strikes and you are out.
If you decide to upgrade your ingredients let us know and we will come back.
PS. The egg dishes still look decent. I would request using hormone free eggs though.

It’s OK. If it’s busy the service isn’t great. The food gets the job done. I’m happy they graduated to not having stacks of Sysco boxes in the dining room (we tried this place out very soon after they opened), but it seems the food quality has only come up a notch or two above the low-​grade foodservice stuff they started off with. Everything tastes fine, it’s just kind of lacking the personality of fresh, homemade ingredients. Like I said, it gets the job done.

With a name like Stabby’s I clearly had to go check the place out. It has been on my list of places to try since I first heard of it. However, it isn’t particularly conveniently located, so we hadn’t made it yet.
Then they offered a Groupon deal. Awesome! I bought the Groupon and it moved higher up on the list of places to try.
It wasn’t busy when we went, and there was no wait. The seats weren’t very comfortable, but not too bad. We all had breakfast items (pancakes, DIY omelet, and Eggs Benedictine). We got the cajun hashbrowns, which weren’t very spicy or particularly cajun-​y, but at least had some flavor and a decent level of crisp to the outside. All the other food was enjoyable and priced about right (making it a good deal with the groupon).
Our waitress was cheerful and got our orders to us correctly, and kept the coffee full.
Unfortunately a man, who appeared to be in some sort of in charge position, was complaining about Groupons and Groupon users loud enough for us to hear. Dumb move. I didn’t force them to sign up to use Groupon, but they did and I took them up on the offer. They had a chance to make me feel welcome and prove that they were worth dining at regularly.
After being made to feel like unwanteds for daring to use a special offer, we paid our bill (and tipped on the pre-​discounted price, of course), and headed out with our feelings about the place seriously dampened.
Since the food was decent, I’d go back again if somebody else wanted to, but I won’t go out of my way to go back again on my own. They are welcome to their negative opinion of customers who use deals, but they might want to rethink expressing it where customers can hear.

A group of friends and I checked out Stabby’s Café one Sunday mid-​morning, based on the positive Unilocal reviews it had received. Most of our group found the food to be above average, including myself. I ordered the Kristin’s Vegetarian Revenge, an omelet featuring veggie sausage, an array of vegetables, choice of cheese, and spiced hashbrowns inside and out. Very tasty.
The only issue we ran into was regarding the service. They would not give us an estimate for waiting time, and we ended up sitting there for an hour awaiting a table. We would have left had we known how long it was going to be. Our waitress was okay, but we went long periods without seeing her. While it was fine, I wouldn’t go back with all the other great breakfast options in South Minneapolis.

Nice greasy spoon, very promising as we walk in.
Service was ok, she was on top of everything we needed, but a little cold.
On to the food, I ordered the Eggs Benedictine with the spiced hashbrowns. First things first… hashbrowns…spiced, why don’t more places do this? They are cooked perfectly to my liking and the spice mixture is very nice, no complaints here… I’ll have more. The Eggs Benedict on the other had is a different story, first taste is butter. Sure I like butter, but want to taste the ham, egg and the star hollandaise which at this point I am assuming is the culprit. Many places make their hollandaise to buttery, and not enough lemon/​vinagar. Then I get to the second half, and I look at the english muffin, which is drenched in butter so I scrap the top half of the muffin away to find out this is an excellent hollandaise sauce and a very good Eggs Benedict. I will want to try other things there, but if I order this again, I may ask for it without butter.

I was very happy to find a place like this in the neighborhood. Unassuming with good food at a god price, My kinda place. I loved the blueberry pancakes and the spiced hashbrowns. My wife had the biscuits and gravy and those were pretty damn god as well.
I also like that it isn’t as loud and hectic as some other breakfast places like the uptowner and Louisiana café.

Needs some work…
Pros: friendly staff, tasty (free-​trade) coffee with plenty of refills.
Cons: so-​so breakfast food, no sense inside of what this place is trying to be – with a name like «Stabby’s» I expected something less bland.

You gotta love a restaurant that gets straight-​to-​the-​point like Stabby’s (pun intended). Stabby’s doesn’t seem to mess around with its menu: they have typical sandwich and breakfast staple goods. What don’t they have on their menu? Salads!
Stabby’s isn’t trying to be a little of everything– they do a few things pretty well. Their hot-​dog menu has more variety than most burger places burger variety. I had an omlette (make-​your-​own), which was awesome. I like that I was able to choose what I wanted from a large selection of ingredients. The spiced hashbrowns were delicious, but not as unique as I was expecting.
My companion’s lunches looked good. Everyone raves about the tuna melt, but as I don’t like Tuna within a foot-​long radius from my nose, I can’t attest to its deliciousness. Another friend ate a grilled cheese that looked tasty.
My one complaint was that for a on-​and-​off again calorie counter, they didn’t seem to have many options. I went with an (egg-​white) omelette because it seemed like the best choice. I would have been interested in a lunch item had there been a side salad option to go with it.

So for clarification, in case it hasn’t been mentioned, the name Stabby’s is from the owner’s nickname, which is short for some long and complicated last name (Stabinofski or somesuch).
This charming place is super close to our home, and the best in our little area for breakfast. Last time I went with a friend I ordered the Kristen’s Vegetarian Revenge Omelet, which was AMAZING. I’m a total meat eater, but for some reason this one just called to me when we sat down. It was to die for, and you could absolutely split it as it’s the size of a cinder block. We also split a banana blue pancake, which was also, you guessed it, AMAZING! The service is friendly, the art is fun, and the price is great. You won’t regret trying this place out.

Two words = Cheese Louise. Translation is an awesome omellette where you can pick three cheeses. I like to do two doses of cheddar and one mozzarella. Even though I’ve been to Stabby’s probably 15 times, this is the one and only item I’ve ever ordered because it’s so great. I love the spicy hashbrowns, and often end up taking home half my meal since the portions are so large.
The service is really great, after going just twice one of the regular servers recognized us and started saying hi when we came in. And last time I was there, I was just in the need of some green stuff to accompany my standard Cheese Louise order, and I asked if they’d be willing to do a side of veggies — and viola, I get a heaping bowl of yummy fresh broccolli which perfectly complemented the meal.
I have had experiece of waiting 10 – 30 minutes during prime weekend brunch times, but it’s worth it and there is a nice waiting area.

Went here with a Groupon last weekend and could not have been more pleased. The service was wonderful, and the food was delicious and plentiful (rarely do I take eggs to go). I had Kristen’s Vegetarian Revenge and it was awesome. Our server was very prompt, despite being bum-​rushed by us folks off the street, and apologized for the lack of air conditioning — although we hadn’t noticed since it was quite comfortable in there. I will be back!

This place is damn near perfect. Great food, excellent service, little to no wait, food gets out quickly, free newspapers to peruse…
The serving sizes were pretty good, but not on the same level as the Uptowner. The biscuits and gravy was amazing. I would say they are the second best biscuits and gravy in the Twin Cities.
Our server was friendly, prompt, and quick to fill up the water. Perfect for being slightly hungover. The atmosphere was perfect. Unlike some places which are crowded and noisy, Stabby’s is the perfect spot to kick back, eat breakfast, and eat the paper.
TLDR: Best breakfast spot in the neighborhood, even worth the distance if you live out of the neighborhood.

The worst part about Stabby’s Café is that it’s called Stabby’s. Stabby’s just doesn’t sound appetizing or friendly (or safe). It’s mostly uphill from there though!
The corner diner is nothing fancy, but it has everything my man and I need during breakfast:
Biscuits and gravy for him… check.
Veggie omelets and scramblers for me… check.
Sports section of the paper for him… check.
Crossword puzzles for me… check.
Quick water refills for him… check.
Quick coffee refills for me… check.
I had the Kristen’s Vegetarian Revenge omelet ($ 8.99), which was packed full of veggie sausage, onions, tomato, mushrooms and spiced hashbrowns and cheese (I chose pepperjack). It was very satisfying.
The biscuits and gravy were great too. Not the best I’ve ever tried, but still a solid plate of B&G.The banana pancakes sounded amazing, so I’ll be back for those sometime. They also serve Detroit-​style Coney dogs and some standard sandwiches.
One thing that brings this place down a notch for me is that it’s not very «homemade.» So sure, it tastes good, but not everything is made-​from-​scratch fresh as it is at some comparable breakfast joints in town (e.g. Colossal Café right across the street). At the register, I asked if the veggie sausage was made in-​house and the server seemed to get confused and said, «Probably not.» And the pepperjack in my omelet was that soft kind that is essentially American cheese with peppers in it.
I still like Colossal or Victor’s better, but Stabby’s is a valid (and delicious) alternative when the lines are too long at one of my faves.

Let me preface this review by saying I really wanted to love Stabby’s, I really did… but in fact I did not.
We waited about 15 mins for our table on a Saturday morning, which is perfectly acceptable, no qualms there. Unfortunately, once we were seated it took 3 different head nods/“excuse me’s” and about 15 minutes to get a waitress. Maybe we should have been quitters and just left — maybe not, but again, I really wanted to love Stabby’s so we stayed.
I decided to do a D.I.Y. omelet with Polish sausage/​broccoli/​onion/​green pepper and pepper jack cheese with plain hash browns. In the realm of flavorfulness it tasted great, the cheese was a legit pepperjack and packed a little spice and worked well with the sausage and broccoli. The onion and peppers were pretty non-​factors as they were oily and cooked down. Hash browns were pretty alright, especially with the addition of some Cholula, which I appreciated them stocking as well. But as I got a few more bites into my omelet I realized that there was an ever growing puddle of oil/​butter/​wetness on the plate, which was attacking the egg. Not sure if it was residual grease from the griddle or if the omelet was designed to be this greasy. Mind you, I’m still pulling for Stabby’s at this point, all matters aside, but it’s starting to look bleak. Unfortunately I only get one more interaction with the waitress, which was the check, so I didn’t feel the energy to query her about the state of my omelet.
Ah well, excusable I guess, but I have yet to discuss my other dining companions experience. One of then ordered the Blueberry Buttermilk pancakes with sausage, the other Buttermilk pancakes with ham. At 9:45 AM. On a rainy Saturday morning. After placing our seemingly innocuous order we settled in to drink some coffee. No problems there. Then the waitress returns after a bit to let my companion know that the kitchen is out of blueberries, all berries in fact, but still in possession of bananas. Bummer. Especially at 9:45 on a rainy Saturday morning. Order changed to Buttermilk cakes, crisis averted. Unfortunately both Pancake patrons were decidely underwhelmed with the cakes. Both found them to be sour-​ish and borderline soggy/​underdone. But both being the good sports they grinned and beared it. Given the absence of our server I can’t blame them for not wanting to give another round of them a shot.
All things considered, it could’ve been a much worse visit. We all survived. But truthfully, it was not a great experience, both the food and the service were exceptionally disappointing, even in the scope of hole-​in-​the-​wall neighborhood café.

Really 3.5 stars…
Solid neighborhood breakfast spot, reasonable prices, good coffee. The menu is pretty standard, but there are a wide variety of options for omelet fillings, and this carb-​lover appreciates the bread options (including biscuits!) for toast. Tablemates were big fans of the gingerbread pancakes.
Two reasons I can’t give this place 4 stars… I wasn’t a huge fan of the Cajun hasbrowns… not super spicy but they were pretty overpowering with a lot of Cajun spice. Will stick to the regular when I return. I also hate the name. Stabby’s just doesn’t have an inviting ring to it.

I have had nothing but food that has made me happy when I eat here. The omlettes are all great and the spiced hashbrowns are wonderful! I am a huge fan of the grilled cheese though because you get to pick three different types of cheese! and for a cheese fan such as myself, this is amazing.
The music is from an IPod, but has great selections from Hank III to Mariah Carey Christmas music :)
The prices are very affordable as well. This is definitely a great little café to stop at for breakfast or lunch and I will be going back.

Great little place with a great name. We moved into the neighborhood recently and have driven by and laughed at the name a few times. We decided to try this place out for breakfast last weekend and we were happily surprised with the outcome. I had one of the omelets and it was delicious. Also we both commented on how the hashbrowns had a good crisp on them which is sometimes hard to find.
Also as a native Michigander I loved the little shout out in the middle of the menu to the coney dog… I miss those.
Can’t wait to go back and try a few more things, the only thing I would hope is that eventually they add a couple more tables and maybe a few tables that can seat more than 5.

Stabby’s café just opened about a month ago and is a great new addition to the neighborhood!
We went for breakfast and ran into a few neighbors who said it was their 2^nd visit. They got omelettes that looked delicious, but I was craving pancakes. The pancakes were delicious! My friend ordered a grilled ham and cheese sandwich that looked good, too.
Everything was very fresh and high quality. They are open for breakfast and lunch– until 3pm.