Colossal Cafe

As a server, I realize I am overly critical of my serving experience and usually let it go and chalk it up to a bad day. However, when you get crappy service and crappy food it usually is more than just a bad day.
From the start, our server Carter was less than enthused to be at work, and even less enthused to be serving our table. Had to ask for coffee refills, more cream, and finally she just stopped coming to our table and someone else dropped off our food, refilled our coffee, took our plates. She came back when we needed our check and promptly took pens out of her hair for us to sign our slips with. Didn’t ask how to food was — which I would’ve replied the Strawberry Nutella french toast special of the day was incredibly dry, even with the syrup I had to ask for. She also just dropped off our slips and cards and left, no ‘thank you’ or anything. Maybe drop the attitude and provide better customer service.
This location has some good things and some bad things, but when all the bad things combine — not a great experience. Probably will continue to make the St. Anthony location my spot instead of this one.

This was the most disturbing breakfast I have ever eaten. I would compare it to a backwoods café located in the middle of nowhere (Arkansas, maybe Mississippi?) It has this false charm that fills the air until you sit down and are in fear of that first bite. The aroma of the pancakes fill the air around you of yeast as they’re set down on your table. Buttermilk pancakes??? Yeast battered??? I couldn’t even take a bite. However, I did and was soon disappointed that I took the plunge to do so. The sausage patties resembled a horribly thrown together mini-​hamburger in which I would never even feed my dog. The only redeeming quality was the hash browns done to a perfect crispness, albeit, the flood of maple syrup I poured on them probably helped the taste itself.

Solid breakfast or brunch pick. Finally ate here today after passing it every day in my neighborhood since it opened and did a late breakfast. Eggs were the real weak point, but all the other offerings were excellent, particularly the toast and jam.
A lot of the other reviews reflect the fact that Colossal Café has limited hours and is always PACKED, which seems to be the case. I avoided this by going and sitting alone at the bar, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend this place for a group larger that 2 – 3 due to the wait times. Food was reasonably priced and good, but throw an hour in-​person wait into that mix and it ain’t worth it. I’ll probably be back.

Top. Notch.
Hard to top this place when it comes to brunch. Breakfast sandwich, biscuits and gravy, the classic… it’s all good. Bonus points for serving beer and mimosas. They’d get a 5 star rating if they served bloodies… hint hint ;)

Got there around 9:30am on a Sunday morning before the MN Wild hockey game at TCF Bank stadium so we were expecting a wait. We were told a 30 minute wait for 4 by the hostess and were seated right within 30 minutes. Service was great and both the hostess and waitress were very friendly and attentive. We all split the cinnamon roll. It was giant and delicious; definitely recommend it. I had the colossal breakfast and it was a great simple breakfast done well. The homemade bread and jam were a nice touch. Other people in my party had the biscuits and gravy and flappers with Brie. All enjoyed their meals and said they would order again.
If you’re looking for a great breakfast place; this place is definitely worth stopping in.

Excellent breakfast. The wait for the table may be an issue. Servers work hard but may need some more help.
I like the traditional colossal breakfast, bakery items are wonderful.

You’ll most likely find yourself waiting for a table at this location, but friendly staff and excellent food. Stuffed hash browns were killer! If you haven’t tried stuffed hash browns don’t hesitate to try them out!

I love the colossal in St. Anthony neighborhood. But I’ve been to this location a few times, and as all other reviewers have said, the service sucks. 30 mins on average for your food to come out, and when it does, its Luke warm. On all visits, it seemed as though our server had a 10 table section, no wonder service is terrible. Twice I had to go up to the manager and ask for things our server kept forgetting. I also heard two other tables complain about how slow the service is.
I’m not sure why this location went with a full service model? Ordering at the counter seems much better as I’m not at the whim of the slow service.
And lastly, the tables are crammed and the non existent waiting area make you feel unwelcome from the start. I hope management reads this response, as the poor service could sink this ship…

Food C+
Service B
Price B–
Americano-​making technique C–
We went here for breakfast today. The wait was long, the service was very slow, and unfortunately the food was not worth it. Compared to other breakfast spots in the area, this place ranks low due to lackluster food and service.

I’ve been going to Colossal ever since it was a teensy, tiny, not-​very-​colossal place. Liked it then… like it now… and I sure like having it just 5 minutes from my house. I had the biscuits and gravy. The biscuits were done to perfection, and the gravy was a savory sage-​and-​sausage mix. My Sweetie had a «flapper» egg sandwich. Also good. This is a good solid place to go eat.
Insider tip: If you don’t want to wait a million hours on a weekend morning, and there are two or less (sometimes called «one») of you, opt for the counter. Folks in the queue were waiting for ½ hour. We sat down in 5 minutes. Bonus! You are right in the middle of the action and can’t help but chat with your counter neighbors and the staff on the other side.

I like the homemade biscuits. My ham, egg and sandwich was good. Also, the cinnamon rolls are «colossal» and i loved it!
The only weird thing is the pancakes. They are really dense and I didn’t care for them. The syrup was really good though.

Here’s my issue with brunch: unless I’ve had my usual two or more cups of coffee prior to showing up, I’m probably going to be pissed at the number of people I’m surrounded by and by how long I have to wait for some frickin’ pancakes. Why oh why don’t places allow reservations for brunch?
Unfortunately for Colossal Café, I had the requisite coffee and still managed to be entirely annoyed and disappointed by the experience.
We showed up around 10 AM and were told it would be a half hour wait. An hour later, the three of us were put at a table for two. To their credit, they did ask if we would be okay with that, but we were so hungry that we didn’t care at that point.
We ordered our food quickly because we were hangry. However, it took another solid half hour and then some for our food to appear. Pro Tip: order one of the giant sweet rolls to share to keep yourselves from stewing angrily over your mediocre coffee.
I ordered the spiced turkey breast sandwich because by the time we ordered it was after 11 AM and I wanted something substantive. It came with a side order of the day’s soup, which was some kind of pumpkin delicious nonsense. Whatever that was I wanted a giant bowl of it, especially after I had the sandwich. The sandwich was eh fine, but it was also a bit burnt, not particularly juicy, and just generally surprisingly dry.
My friend had the walnut and brie pancakes, which is one of their staple menu items. I tasted them and they were good, but so, so sweet. She couldn’t eat more than half because of the sweetness.
I give ‘em an extra star because the customer-​facing staff was so apologetic at every turn. But, if they have to apologize for everything but their own service, that’s not a good sign, eh?

Best breakfast in St. Paul. We did have a wait, but it was well worth it. While waiting, we enjoyed fresh bakery and wonderful coffee.
The owners and staff were exceptionally polite and friendly. It is obvious why it is so popular. Even though it was busy, the tables are pre bussed, food arrived fast, hot, and fresh. The interior as well as the exterior are clean and attractive.
The spinach, mushroom and provolone omelette was excellent. Also try the sausage gravy made with sausage and bison. The owners obviously take great pride in their food and service. You can taste the pride put into the cooking.
Definitely a must go to spot!

Well … this location for Colossal has a lot of things going for it. It is WAY bigger than the St. Anthony Park location, and it is WAY bigger than the Minneapolis location. In my opinion it is a WAY better use of this particular space. Despite that, this place was still on a wait when we went in at like 11 a.m. on a weekday. I was surprised. The front entryway doesn’t really lend itself to waiting. There’s one little bench and then not much space to stand to wait. Funny how much things stay the same. Anyway, once we were seated, our meal was just OK. My husband said he thought the menu was less creative and less exciting than the Como location, but I didn’t see much of a difference. i found my favorite — biscuits and gravy. And I spotted the brie pancakes that I think are the other hallmark of breakfast at Colossal. Maybe there were some things missing. I’m just not sure. At any rate, my food was good, though the biscuit still leans on the dense side. That’s just how they do it. My husband got some kind of wrap type breakfast deal that just looked OK, and he didn’t finish it. Maybe he just needs to order better! Anyway, I also ordered a latte, which took forever to arrive and was bitter. My husband’s plain black coffee took even longer to arrive than my latte, which was bizarre. In all, service was not impressive. So while I am happy that Colossal got some new bigger digs, our first visit there left a lot to be desired. Not sure we’ll be back particularly soon.

We stopped in here for breakfast on a weekday having heard that the wait can be long on weekends. As others have mentioned, the atmosphere is comfortable and friendly but quite loud. That being said, the food was good but not great. We split an almond apricot croissant that was as good as any French bakery in town-​flaky, buttery and just sweet enough.
Husband had burrito which he loved, and I had the Colossal breakfast which was okay.
We will return to try the flappers and breakfast sandwiches.

My husband and I were excited for Colossal to open and it hasn’t disappointed! We’ve tried most of the breakfast items and always leave happy and full. The burrito is awesome but enormous; you could easily share with someone and still leave full. On that note, you could probably split anything on the menu and still leave full. The flappers aren’t my favorite but that’s just because I prefer a fluffier/​lighter pancake.
The homemade toast and jam is delicious and a welcome addition to the delicious omelets.
One downfall is the slow service, so don’t come here if you’re in a rush. Besides that, it’s a welcome addition to the neighborhood! I’m pretty sure it’s a father and daughter who own it and they couldn’t be nicer.

A welcome addition to the neighborhood. I went to the Mpls location last weekend and could not get enough of the baon, cream cheese, scallion omelet. I ordered it again. This one had a ton of bacon in it, too. The only thing was that it was really greasy. They used a lot of oil that was drenching the tissue paper in the to go box.
Ordered the kids colossal breakfast which came with a nice container of fruit, eggs, toast and bacon. This will last him awhile. Big portions.
Husband had the biscuits and gravy which also looked good.
Another place in the area to go for breakfast.
Take out is quick nd this one takes cards.

Eat here it’s so good! Came here for breakfast and loved it! The décor is nice, atmosphere upbeat and the staff was very friendly and very knowledgable about the food and tea menus. I had a egg and cheese biscuit sandwich, omg so good. The biscuit was fluffy as were the eggs and the cheddar cheese was melted to perfection. My fiancé had a spinach mushroom cheese omelette which he loved and seriously won’t shut up about, so we have to come back.

The food was quite good. It was our own fault for sitting outside, but they really shouldn’t have the outdoor seating. It was loud on Grand Ave. it’s right across the street from the Sinclair gas station. I sear you can smell the gas as you sit there having lunch. In addition, you sit there and watch all the people come in and pump gas. Not the nice, bucolic view one expects from a restaurant.
The food was quite good. I don’t know what they do to there hash browns but they were the best we’ve ever had. The sliced ham was out of this world. My wife’s omelette was amazing. We will be back. Just sit inside and let the people pump gas in private.

Went for lunch with a friend who was dying to try the trout salad. Egad, gross. Fish on lettuce scares me.
However, I had a taste of this wacky, enormous salad and will get it next time!
At noon on a Wed. there was a 10 min. wait for a table, but we could sit outside or at the bar immediately. We chose the bar and it was just lovely.
I ordered a Café Mocha (delicious) and the egg/​cheese on a buttermilk biscuit. YUM
It came with a side of grapes and orange slice. $ 10 total. Nice.
Staff was very friendly/​prompt service.
Way better vibe than The Twisted Fork that was in there previously.
Near the door is a separate area that sells bakery food. I regret not getting a cinnamon roll to go. Or should I say a frosted cinnamon queen size bed. Those things are gigantic!