The Uptowner Café on Grand

What a disappointment! I’ll start out by saying that I love diner food. Large portions of comfort food goodness are the best when you’re in the mood for that kind of thing. This place just didn’t deliver.
We came here around noon on a Saturday for some late brunch. Now, many reviewers have pointed out that the kitchen area is very dirty. On the one hand, yes, the whole restaurant could use a good scrubbing. On the other hand, their kitchen is on full display for patrons to see. When you go to any other diner, where the kitchen is hidden away in a different room, do you really think it’s any cleaner? We decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. What I can’t excuse is the smell. Having the kitchen right out in the open means that all the grease from the grill ends up wafting throughout the entire establishment. I was nauseated from the moment we stepped in. I figured we’d be in and out pretty quickly, but our food took a good 40+ minutes to arrive. Yes, it was packed, but if you’re running a restaurant, you should make sure it’s staffed up to handle being full. When our food finally did arrive (and I was very close to just walking out at that point), there was more disappointment. I ordered an omelette, which came out overcooked and flavorless. I honestly couldn’t eat more than a few bites. The hash browns were a little better, but I had to basically drench them in ketchup in order to make them palatable. The only thing I really ended up eating was the toast.
In all fairness, our server was very friendly and polite. Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing her again. There are better diners around.

decent food and good service. Recommended if you’re nearby and need to find a table fast!

Delicious and massive breakfasts. Yum.

Cute little dinner. But I think I got food poisoning from here. It looks and smells like they use old grease to cook their food. The minute you walk in you can smell the grease. Service was quick however the waitress gave us our check when she gave us our food. No rush she says, but kept coming back more than twice to ask if we needed anything else. I had the biscuits and gravy with hash browns and my boyfriend had pancakes with eggs and sausage. Pancakes were very good, has a cinnamon taste to it. Food is good but we both felt sick after a few hours and service could have been better. Overall I give this place 2 stars. A little overpriced as well. I would go somewhere healthier, it would be more worth your price. Probably not going to come back here. We smelled like grease when we walked out, it was gross.

Had a fabulous ham and cheese inlet with a cup of fruit!!! Great service with a smile!

As a Jersey girl, I know a good diner when I see one. You need the essentials: Hot coffee, attentive staff, crispy hash browns, and eggs cooked exactly the way you ask. The Uptowner has ALL of these things. My friend (fellow Jersey girl) and I stopped in for breakfast before hitting the road. I got the «eggs and meat” — she got The Cajun. Both were exactly what we were craving. Our coffee cups were never empty and our forks were never set down for more than 5 seconds. The only disappointment we had was we got way too full to finish our plates.

Tight setting. You may have to wait by standing with your ass to someone’s table. But when you do get a chance to sit down, their food is divine. I would gladly eat their eggs Benedict directly off of a strangers ass.

My cardiologist and my stomach are both happy!
A diner in every sense of the word. Not fancy. Bar stools at the counter and friendly service. Had the B&G… to me, one of the greatest test. Easy to make a bad gravy. Not here! Perfect mix of consistency and spice. Nice touch with the Cajun sausage.
The hash browns were crisp and the portion was generous (I guess that is the word for a full plate).
Thought no way I would finish this, but looking at my empty plate says otherwise.
My only regret was not coming with someone. Would have loved to try the Tex Mex. Oh well, next time — like next Sunday. It’s that good.

I ordered a side of French toast with strawberries and also a side of hashbrowns. Some of the best French toast I have ever had. Yum!
Large portions for a reasonable price. I liked the busy atmosphere and the service was friendly. Parking was no problem. There is a convenient parking lot in the back.
The restaurant was a bit dirty though. There was no room for my jacket and purse up at the bar because it was so crowded.

This is my favorite diner in Twin Cities. It’s a classic down-​home diner. I enjoy sitting at the breakfast bar watching the grill master do his thing! The service is prompt with coffee and a smile. Street parking is never difficult.

Breakfast — the most important and my favorite meal of the day. Except this day I ended up coming at the tail end of lunch, around 2:30p or so. The place was quiet, the vibe very much subdued, and doesn’t have the community feel of some diners I’ve been to around town. None of the employees really say much to you or each other. Nevertheless, service was fast and generally friendly. I noted they had late night hours as well so I’m going to assume that is an entirely different experience altogether.
I got the Farmer’s Breakfast, which as you can see in the attached photo is giant slab of hash browns over scrambled eggs (you can’t really even see them), sprinkled with cheddar cheese. It was exactly the greasy, fatty, hearty breakfast that needed. I am not sure it was worth the nearly $ 11 I paid for it, along with the few sips of coffee I also paid for. Maybe if they threw in some bacon or sausage I would see the value.
As other have mentioned, the place isn’t the cleanest around. That is pretty evident from the outside and definitely from the inside. Overall the place could definitely use a dust off and a good scrubbing. The grill was almost black from residue of previous night (s). Maybe that adds to the flavor but I don’t need to see it.
If I’m around the area, and it’s late at night, I wouldn’t hesitate stopping by. However, I think for the sober guy in the morning there are better and cheaper options around.

The hashbrowns? Greasy, flavorful, everything you could ever expect from a little diner. I had the biscuits and gravy and was not disappointed. The sandwiches are huge and the fries are pretty good. It’s got the feel of a little hole in the wall diner place, which is exactly what it is. It’s décor is drawings from kids and customers, and has a real sense of a local favorite.

As advertised in the St. Paul paper and on the sandwich board, the hash browns were crispy and delicious. The pancakes were some of the most tasty that I’ve had at a diner. The cook and server were friendly and welcoming. I enjoyed the robust cup of coffee also. I will definitely come back.

Me and the hubby thought we would switch it up from our usual breakfast spot (The Buttered Tin). I got the Tex Mex and he got the Cajun breakfast. Both were delish but the Cajun definitely won. This is good if you are up for a very hearty breakfast. The waitress did throw out that we could order a half portion but just ignored that (I will definitely listen next time) They have perfected the art of crispy hash browns. My only thing is it should be $$ instead of $. But worth every penny. We’ll be back!

OK, yes, the Cajun breakfast is amazing. But I must be getting old, because I couldn’t get past the grime on the walls and the stains on the coffee mugs (do they clean the flattop?). I guess a dive that’s really divey isn’t my thing any more. But the hashbrowns were crispity delisiousness so they still get a four star.

The Cajun breakfast is super spicy and amazing! Share it, it’s huge! Really cute drawings by kids all over the walls. Kitchen out in the open and a really nice waitress. ‘Twas a lovely breakfast! Thanks!

Be prepared for a wait, especially weekends, but the food is amazing. Greasy diner food at its best. I’m obsessed with the hash browns and the mighty meat omelette.

Large portions of good food. It’s a quick serve and move along kind of place on the weekends since it is pretty small and very popular. The menu has a lot of good options to cover the likes of most people. I was disappointed in the cinnamon batter pancakes that they serve… they are kind of just bland and limp. They aren’t awful but I’ve for sure had better.
Went this past weekend and just got a side order of hashbrowns and they were great! What hashbrowns should be! They do the diner foods very well and it’s a great place to stop if you want good prices and comfort food.

Lets start with some prefaces on this.
1. It’s a grungy, dungeon’esk kind of diner. This isn’t a fancy, compote or chutney kind of place. Keep that in mind.
2. The grill is no more than 20 feet away. If you come during the summer, it’s going to be ROASTING in this bitch. I strongly advise coming during a not so hot day or the winter (we went on Saturday, the hottest day of the year, and probably sweat off 10 pounds while eating).
Those out of the way, a place with free parking on Grand? Say what?! Parking lot is just behind the diner on Lexington.
Stroll in, and seat yourself. Bar seating, a few tables and a few booths. All the magic will happen on the grill right in plain view. Check the specials white board to the right of the grill.
Service was fantastic through out the meal, and they didn’t mind us eating and chatting post closure.
I opted for a couple cakes with blueberries and their mighty meat omelet (ham, sausage and bacon with cheddar). My buddy went with B&G, hash and over easy eggs. He also went with a rootbear float that was, and I quote «fuck yeah dude.» Translation is it was amazing.
Very brief wait for the food considering we were the only ones left in the place.
Rundown: Omelet, very tasty! The cheddar was sharp enough to really pull it together, and wasn’t lacking in this maze of meatyness. The meats didn’t lend themselves to being too greasy in there either, which was fantastic. Eggs were fluffy, not ripped up, and the omelet was perfectly wrapped. Rye toast was a great shovel for the mess into my face hole. The hash browns. I will come back to this place for hash browns alone. PERFECTLY CRISPY. Not over cooked, but, see the all the caps portion again. And not short on the portions either.
Cakes, a cinnamon batter really through me for a loop. It came out tasting more like a cinnamon roll than a pancake, and you know what, that’s just fine by this guy! Perfect syrup soak, great amount of blueberries that added some extra tarty sweetness, and huge portions. I’d put these into the upper decks of cakes in the metro. Damn fine I tell ya.
B&G was damn good by all accounts.
Oh yeah, play where’s the bathroom when you come here, you’ll have fun finding them!
Great service, great chow, atmosphere can be great if you come during the winter, and free parking.
Dropping the 5 star approval on this place!

Love this place! As an over night worker its very convenient to come here and grab something amazing. I’m a huge fan of breakfast food. Staff is always great, high energy, friendly, personable and full good times. Highly recommended this place

There is only one thing you need to know about the Uptowner. PERFECT SUNNYSIDE UP EGGS. I love sunnyside up eggs but too many breakfast/​brunch places don’t know how to make them or make them well. The Uptowner joins my short list of spots in St. Paul and Minneapolis that pay attention and make them right.
Thank you.

This place serves great American breakfast! At first sight, you may think «Oh greasy bar place». but seriously their food is actually not as greasy as many other breakfast places I have been to. Their hash brown is so crispy at the top but it is not as oily. Their eggs benedict is great!
I have to agree with the other reviewers that the place can be dirty and grimy. I am originally from Southeast Asia and I love eating street food so compared to that reality, dirty in the US is all relative. :) I just avoid looking at the floors directly when I get there.
We saw signs that they are open till 3am on the weekend. Oh my goodness, no wonder they have no time to clean up before they open at 6am the next day. Hopefully, if the owner is reading their reviews on Unilocal,they could take note and wipe that place down as much as they can.
When we arrived at 11am on a Saturday, our wait was about 20 minutes, which was not bad at all considering the crazy brunch culture that this city had adopted lately or has always been. There were many servers on the weekend and they are super friendly. We noticed though that there are always 2 cooks at the grill whether it’s weekday or weekend so there will be a little bit of a wait regardless when they are busy. Do give this place a try!

It’s dirty. The little grimy kitchen is open to the small «fake clean» (I see the dirt swept under the counters, you can’t fool me!) restaurant. The bathroom is downstairs in a creepy, dark, cellar like space. I’m scared of it. One bathroom experience was enough.
On this occasion a lamp shade from the ceiling just fell from the bulb it was covering and crashed to the floor. Luckily it wasn’t too busy at 8am, and no one was standing under it. Everyone carried on like no big deal while a server cleaned it up.
So way four stars then? Because their greasy Cajun breakfast dish is my favorite breakfast dish ever. Even though it gave me a stomach ache today, I’m blaming it on eating spicy foods at 8am… not the dirty kitchen.
Crispy hash browns topped with cheese, perfect yolky eggs, hollandaise sauce, andouille sausage, and a peppery Cajun seasoning. Comes with choice of bread, always sourdough for me. I never finish this giant plate, it’s 3 meals for me at about $ 13, including the extra for andouille. I love you Cajun breakfast.
Service is always fast, friendly, and efficient. That’s all I require. I’ve tried a couple of other breakfast plates here, Tex Mex and biscuits and gravy, all good. If you can get over the grime, come early, the place fills up, and there’s limited seating. You’re squashed next to others if you don’t get a booth.

The food: It was delicious. Huge huge portions, greasy, hangover food. Really nothing to elaborate on– nothing was exceptional but it all tasted good and was hot and fresh.
Everything else: The service was fine, it’s small inside, which makes it noisy. Nothing too bad, but enough to have to speak up to hear one another. The restaurant is definitely a little grimy, and that grossed me out a little.
I’d go back if someone else wanted to go, but I wouldn’t choose to come back.

What a great place for breakfast. Old school diner feel. Open grill with hashbrowns, bacon and burgers sizzling. Rachael was a great waiter. Fast, friendly and helpful. We used a Groupon. So easy to use on the smartphone. We had the pancakes and the basic breakfast with eggs, sausage and hashbrowns. The hashbrowns are some of the best in the area. Comfortable seating. Large free parking lot in back of building. Orange juice was great. We will be back!

I’ll start with the good.
The food was really good. Really, really good. I had the Cajun breakfast. And our server was very nice and good at her duties.
I can’t let go how filthy it was.
Look, I love dives. I do. This isn’t that «dirty, divey atmosphere»… It’s straight up FILTHY.
Your kitchen is open and in plain view… I’m a professional chef, as I’m sure many of your customers are kitchen workers… I’ve seen many horrors during my career. And I could easily spot yours.
There’s absolutely and positively NO EXCUSE for that kind of filth… Especially when you close at 3pm. That’s a lot of down time for cleaning.
There’s thick dust on the ceiling, on the neon signs, the walls. The grill was gross… Raw egg on the spatula I saw you flip burgers with…
Just because the food is good doesn’t mean you get to stop giving a damn.

Thanks again my Unilocal friends! I was looking for a non-​corporate option to mom’s Ihop choice. This was the perfect spot between downtown St. Paul and the airport with an easy on 35E via Randolph that let us avoid morning rush-​hour on 35E and 494(the Randolf entrance ramp is the 7^th st. exit).
We arrived just after 6 am and the place was empty. Great friendly cook and waitress~Not sure if I rate them higher than the coffee ;) …I almost didn’t add cream, mom had come off an overnight shift and wanted to nap on the plane but, she also thought it was quality coffee and would’ve partaken huge.
Thanks to reviews I ordered the cajun which I ate half of and had the rest for lunch today, YUM (1minute in the micro). Dad had the benedict and mom a couple scrambled with bacon.
WOW! Stop here and avoid rush hour on the interstate!

I’ve been here for breakfast 3 times. I really like this place. While it’s busy, I’ve always been able to get a table so it seems like there is just the right amount of traffic for them. I don’t really do sweet breakfast so I’ve had omelets and hashbrowns.
Everything has been very tasty. I particularly like the way they do hashbrowns — one of the better places for hashbrowns in St. Paul.
They’ve got a lot of variety so there is something for everyone. You should go expecting a greasy spoon kind of place, it’s not fancy. Service is also efficient and friendly but don’t expect a long conversation with your server, they are busy.
I’d recommend it when you are in the mood for a good American breakfast without the frills.