318 Cafe

Sadly our waitress was downright rude. She dropped all the coffee all-over our table in a rough way. Never apologized. Did it again with another hot drink that she sets even close to the 1 year old in the table and spilling even more of that coffee. We had to do our own cleaning, she never even apologized. Only half of our food came out. Had to ask for the rest. Sadly not a good experience even though the food tasted good.

Cute Cafe and wine bar in a historic building. Food was free and very tasty. The atmosphere was very chic. Staff was friendly. Nice little gift and toy store attached. This entire downtown area was very fun to explore. Right on a bike walking trail. We'll worth a stop.

This space is a true gem. I stumbled into it and found it to be one of the most authentic communities around. Highly recommended!!

Quaint Cafe. Smallish menu, but with enough choices to satisfy everyone. Food and drinks were very good. We were there on a concert night, and they were up front with us and told us they were understaffed, was suprised and thankful for their honesty, and yet the food was hot and service was fine. Definitely go there again given the chance!

Cute little coffee shop. Decent food in good sized portions. Do they consistently have live music as well

Discovered when passing through town and are so glad we did! Charming atmosphere. Breakfast burrito served with exceptionally tasty homemade salsa. My dining partners had avocado toast, which was quite good. I asked the owner for a beverage recommendation and I absolutely loved the spicy cinnamon maple tea blend she recommended (I can’t remember the name).

Just a wonderful ambiance, great staff and excellent food and superior coffee?!! Never disappointing! Keep up the great work! We love having you as a staple in Excelsior.😊

Everyone is beyond friendly and accommodating! Saw GB Leighton perform. Great sound and great crowd! Food was amazing! Will definitely go back!

I love the 318 Cafe! Sitting outside on the patio during the summer just feels so right. Staff (shoutout to Bailey, Kate, Alex, Halia, and Suzie: owner) are always warm and welcoming, and food is usually out quickly! Cute atmosphere, and a great place to work or meet with friends. If I had to narrow it down, my top three choices are: *TAB: Turkey, apple, brie. This is a combo I didn't know I needed in my life, but having it has changed how I view sandwiches. So yummy and always hits the spot. *Carrot Cake: WOW WOW WOW. I don't usually like carrot cake, but this one has changed my views (for the better). The hint of chocolate pairs so well with the carrot, and the icing on top brings it all together. A must try! *Quiche: I recently had the tomato and mozzarella quiche, and dang, it was delicious. No surprise of course! The crust had a nice crunch, and I definitely think cheese was baked into it. You really can't go wrong with anything at the 318. The wine and beer selection is also fantastic. Make sure you stop at the special spot in Excelsior!

The ambience was nice. The mimosa was nice. The service was fine. But the food was sooooo bland! No flavor. I'm kinda still mad about it. Those carnitas deserve better. Justice for those potatoes. Those beans had dreams. But no. Not even a grain of salt.

We have had good food at 318 Cafe before, but breakfast this morning was a dud. I had the two breakfast tacos for $14. It was literally $6 0z. of cold food. Each taco was your normal size small street taco size, one tortilla each. This is a bit unusual, most place serving tacos, regular or breakfast use two per taco to hold the fillings. I had to eat it with a knife and fork as it all fell apart. Needless to say the scrambled eggs were dry and odd, like they were made with egg product from a carton, bacon cold as well. No potatoes or beans. No cilantro as advertised. My wife's frittata was cooked to death, I had one bite and that was enough. Bill plus tips was $50 which include on latte. Being a local, I want to love this place but understand why there was no wait and half the tables were empty. Having been in the restaurant business for 20 years, there needs to be some tweaking as far as food and services goes, McDonalds would have been a more satisfying meal at a 1/3 the price.

Food is pretty good and the atmosphere is nice and chill. However their big issue are the workers. Very slow service and they aren't friendly. Not sure what is causing that but the culture must be poor or hiring the wrong people.

My favorite local cafe! The 318 is a great place to grab an early morning coffee and pastry, have lunch with the family, get work done at the bar, or catch some live/local music in the evening. I've been coming for years and the menu (and ownership) has changed, but if anything I think the food has gotten better! My favorites are the avocado toast (a little spicy and one of the best in the metro!), the roasted beet and goat cheese salad, the garden turkey sandwich, the El Cubano, and the TAB... lastly, 100% order the carrot cake, which is PHENOMENAL and homemade. Honestly, everything is good! Coffee drinks are also fantastic and in my opinion the 318 is the only place to get really high quality coffee and tea beverages in town (and that isn't a chain!).

318 is all about the ambiance. Unfortunately there are two seats (the penalty box) at the bar where patrons are expected to routinely slide or stand to allow servers and customers to pass. A bit of an ambiance killer. The owners would do well to sell a couple less tickets. If you go--do yourself a favor and make sure you're not in the penalty box.

Stumbled upon this place driving home from the airport, but I'm happy it was open so I could stop in! The decor inside and out is so cute and welcoming. Staff is friendly, and food is solid! My chai latte with amazing and was the best way to start my day. We ordered the breakfast sandwich with ham and the avocado toast. The sandwich was LOADED and was so good. The avocado toast was fresh and full of flavor. Great place!

Small and local feel in excelsior. Food was delicious, menu is very small. The Cuban sandwich was phenomenal.

Very cute wholesome feeling places and the food is always delicious- I love their tacos and homemade simple syrup!

El Cubano. I am visiting from CA . Wow this place is fabulous. Absolutely top knotch. The fantastic atmosphere and friendly folks is a treat.

Americanna iced coffee was not good I had to dump it! They charged $12.00 for 3-shots of espresso!

You people do music, food, drink, service and atmosphere right. Beet salad and truffle popcorn are so nummy. We enjoyed open for our first time a few weeks ago-what a great evening. Thank you so much.

Huge fan of the musical line up, the service, the beer and wine selection and the food! An epic place with charm and personality! Don't miss it!

Came here for brunch with a friend last Saturday. We got the Avocado Toast & Breakfast Sandwich. The chipotle mayo on the toast was absolutely amazing. The croissant for the sandwich was impeccable. Our meals were accompanied by two delicious mimosas. The service was a bit slow but okay since we were in no rush. Definitely recommend!

I love 318! I come here at least 2 times a week and it's always perfect. The best place to relax and enjoy breakfast, brunch, or lunch. The servers are all incredible and friendly and making sure you feel welcomed & are enjoying your meal. The food is yummy and always freshly made.

I asked for a water refill -- never got it. The staff acts like they are drugged or just too bored to work -- especially after the apparent manager left this morning. It's also way overpriced for what food you get but the ambiance is cute and quaint.

Quaint little coffee house/restaurant in the heart of downtown Excelsior. They also have a beer and wine license, but no booze. Mostly brunch, flatbreads, and sandwiches on the menu. I'm partial to their quiche which is available all hours. It's a rotating variety of flavors on this. Today the quiche was spinach, ham, potato, and parm. Each serving also comes with a delicious side of field greens topped with a lovely lemon vinaigrette. Minus one star for spotty service. This can happen from time to time here. To their credit on this day it was shift change time and one server had to cover the whole place.

I love this small intimate cafe. They have a wonderful menu and great hot and cold drinks and a nice variety of wines! I enjoy watching their concerts which is such a great setting!! I have never received bad service or food. The staff is so great also!!

SOooooOo Good! Yummy food, super friendly service. The gals that were working there let us stay a little past close and we're very friendly about reminding us. Perfect place to meet a friend.

I've visited 318 numerous times for various performances. They host open mikes, and tons of other performances. It is a quaint little place with good drinks and a nice variety of food. At my most recent visit I got a cider, salad and popcorn while watching my friend perform. It's a very comfortable setting to hang out at and the service is wonderful as well.

Basic breakfast in Excelsior. A nice place to sit inside or outside. The menu is sparse, but what they do make they well. Old favorites such as waffles no longer on the menus. The service is slow due to understaffing. So don't be in a hurry.

I have always loved 318, so last night was surprising to me. We were there for a comedy show, and the place was packed, but there were only two servers. We got there at 630, and our dinners were served as they dimmed the lights at 8 pm. I am sure it's hard to find help, but then you need to make accommodations.

Tonight this was a great oasis on a busy Friday night. We caught them before they got crushed for their dinner and live music scene. Solid bunch of tap beers, tasty vino and friendly peeps. Meatballs w slightly spicy BBQ sauce and chips and guac are not remarkable, but serviceable.

This place was very cute and very busy on the day after Christmas. I don't think they are very used to take-out orders and the coffee drinks aren't listed on a chalkboard behind the bar like I was hoping (but the beer was), but we found a menu and made our order. They also don't have the full coffee drink menu on their website, so I'll try to remember what I ordered. I got this really yummy cinnamon latte drink that tasted just like a snickerdoodle cookie! It was very good and they could make it decaf - much appreciated for an afternoon drink. My sister got a caramel mocha drink (decaf as well) and she really liked it. The space is darling. We were shopping around for the day, so we didn't want to stop, but it was very cute if you needed a cute, cozy place to get some work done or have a date planned or hope to catch up with one or two friends. The space is small and has a cozy cabin-like feel to it. It was pretty crowded on the day after Christmas though, so I'm glad we got our coffees to go! Very cute though!

So found this small cafe to try in Excelsior since the weather is nice. A bit hard to find where to enter as it's part of a complex but was able to grab a table quickly. Wait staff was nice and attentive. Started with chips and guacamole, while the chips were standard rounds, the guacamole was flavorful. My daughter had chicken tacos (not pictured). Wife and I shared pork sliders and the turkey flatbread. The pork sliders were moist with a nice tang in the slaw. The turkey flatbread had a good combination of thurkey, bacon, and veggies on naan. The sandwhich options come with chips or greens, both opted for chips. Overall a nice small cafe that is hopping with customers. Appears they have live music sometimes as well as there are speakers and a stage so something to keep in mind.

My review is old so I thought I'd give an update. I really loved the quiche. In fact I'd say it's the best I ever had. Their tacos are good and they have some good sandwiches. But the last time I went here the quiche was overly salty and my coffee was luke warm. Actually luke warm coffee has always been a problem. However this time service was really bad. Before they closed for covid it was great. They must be struggling. Makes me sad.

Wonderful evening at 318. Michael Monroe concert. Great small venue. Service and food/beverage was excellent.

Go for the turkey sandwich. I nearly forgot about this until I was back in Excelsior the other day. If you're in a hurry grab it to go. If it's nice out have it on the patio. Enjoy!

The cafe is smaller than I thought as it looked bigger on a TV show I saw from their open mic night. I visited on a late morning and it was very quiet. It's a little crowded with tables and chairs in a small space. I sat at the bar and used them in their coffee bar mode, as they also serve beer and wine with their menu, however it was still breakfast time and that's too early even for me to sample craft beers. There is a handy menu of beers on a chalkboard showing the alcohol content. The coffee is from Dogwood and I raved about the dark roast. I've had Dogwood at other places and it wasn't as good as this one. An Egg Sandwich for breakfast with a surprise of fresh apple slices-nice touch. The sandwich was soft in a croissant bun, sort of, with pressed ham and cheese. Service was fairly prompt and direct, no small talkin' just thanks here's your order and I have no problem with that. Minus a star as the entrance is not from the sidewalk but from the street, I mean you have to walk directly in the outgoing lane from what is an exit street turned into a partial parking lot. The cafe opens to a gift shop and I would hope someday they could expand into that room. Typically these type of places tend to be low key lighting, but I found it a bit too dark inside.

Food here is so delicious. Staff is kind and attentive. This is a go-to for a get together whether a coffee and pastry or lunch. They have entertainment from time to time. Spot is directly off the bike trail in charming downtown Excelsior.

Stopped in for a quick lunch. Sat outdoors on the deck. Great waitress, fun and personable. I had the caprese salad. It was fantastic! Light and fresh. They serve Gull Dam Raspberry Wheat Beer here. Had a pint, paired perfectly with the salad and sunshine. We will definitely be back!

Super cute, super fun spot in the west metro for dinner. The 318 always has live music on the weekend making it a chill place to hang out for a craft beer or glass of wine of an epic wine list. Super friendly staff add to the charm of this place. Need a food recommendation? Try the scratch made flatbreads - delish!

It's menu is small ..... only 3 sandwiches, 2 Salads, 1 Soup, and 1 Pizza that had potato and chorizo on it. The place tries to be too hip and cool. Just make a freaking Turkey sandwich with cheddar cheese so my kids will eat there. Would have been a great place to stop on our bike ride. Wound up being a place where we couldn't even order anything because the menu is so niche.

We LOVED the 318 Cafe. The staff was friendly and attentive, and the food was spectacular. We had the Belgian Waffles and the Breakfast Burrito. Their portions are relatively small, but it is a cafe, so that is to be expected. My friend had a mimosa, made with fresh-squeezed orange juice. It was wonderful. I had the coffee, which was from Dogwood Coffee and had great flavor. Bottomless coffee for $2. You can't go wrong when it's Dogwood! The breakfast burrito was wonderful. Very fresh ingredients with great flavor. The menu is small, but again, it is a cafe. Not overwhelming, which we liked. We loved the "home-y" feel.

Holidays now in the past, we tried again to experience the 318 Cafe. Glad we did! Service was very attentive without being intrusive. Our server was very congenial and knowledgeable about the menu items. We selected sandwiches: two chose Cubans and I chose the beef with tomatoes and Gorgonzola. Two of us had the field greens as a side, the other chips. Excellent experiences with everyone's dishes, including a cup of Tomato Lentil soup....which was very well seasoned and very tasty! Two enjoyed the house chardonnay at a very reasonable $6 per glass. The fine food, reasonable prices, and--now--attentive and personable staff have made this an experience to revisit. Now...let's check out the live music in the evenings!!! To be continued....

Beet hummus and $4 house wine, good happy hour place. Also music on Friday and Saturday night.

The food at 318 is delicious. Dine in for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner! They've got yummy egg sandwiches, quiche, waffles, tacos, burritos, sandwiches galore, salads, flatbread, and many more great choices! Not to mention they've got a nice happy hour with great beers on tap and a good selection of wine. The live music is also a really nice touch to such a cute little cafe right on Water St. Plus the decor makes it feel warm and cozy and welcoming. The downside of 318 is the service. It just depends on the day you're there I guess, because once I was there with barely any customers and our breakfast took a long time, however, the last time I was there it was pretty packed and we got our food in a fair amount of time. So if you're willing to look past the waiting, then this is a great place to try!

First time visiting, had a business meeting/lunch. Service was fabulous. Our table order multiple items, we loved the guacamole. My Cuban sandwich was delicious!

So much promise, but in the end way too small a menu and another place that has a terrible beer selection. They are actually within steps of a local brewery and don't even stock any of their selections. I asked the waitress if they had a wheat beer, she said "is that like a Porter?". The outdoor patio is nice and the Turkey sandwich I had was decent (although small portions). A nice local Wheat Beer and some fries might have garnered at least another star. As it is, they are lucky to get two. BTW: I ended up selecting a "red ale" that ended up being just another Minnesota style over-hopped no balance beer. Why oh why do Minnesotan's think they know their beer but actually have some of the worst taste in it? Balance, people!

We have a 15 year-old moody vegan daughter, and an impatient, 13 year-old son who resists vegetables. Happy hour, before a school function, was so satisfying! While parents ate soups (delicious, creamy chicken and wild rice) and the pear, walnut, blue cheese spinach salad (filling!), the kids wandered through Something Safari's pop-up shop. Great spot!. I am loving my town!

This cafe is amazing. The people are so friendly, the food and coffee are incredible, and it's dog friendly!

My friend and I have been long time patrons of 318. If you want good coffee, great food and super friendly staff, this is the place you want to visit in Excelsior, MN. It will not disappoint! From the wait staff to the management, they make it feel like home. 5 STARS!!!!

Wow! We got curbside take out today for lunch and the food fantastic! My husband and I can't believe we had not tried this place before. The veggie and chicken tacos were divine and the cubano melded the flavors beautifully! I strongly recommend trying this place and look forward to experimenting with the different menu options myself.

Cute spot to grab breakfast in downtown Excelsior. Breakfast portions are definitely smaller, but that means less calories and less expensive... a win- win. I ordered the quiche last time and it was delicious! The quality mirrored that of a breakfast at a European coffee shop. Service was also great... cue "folks", "hon" etc... gotta love that Minnesota Nice!

We stopped in for lunch today with a restaurant.com gift certificate, and even at half price, I still have to give this restaurant a solid "meh." The ambiance is lovely, as in most of the cute little places in downtown Excelsior. Its very small and cozy, but not crowded. There is a fireplace in one corner that wasn't on (would have been so much better if it was) and a tiny stage in the other corner for the live music they have in the evenings. Like previous reviewers, I really wanted to like this place - I love the small town Main Street feel of this area, and there are so many other great restaurants around (Yumi Sushi and Biella, to name two). But unfortunately, it comes down to the food and it just wasn't anything extraordinary. We started with the truffle and gruyere popcorn, which I would say was the highlight of our meal. It was quite tasty and satisfying, although it did take at least 20 minutes from ordering it to get it on the table. They also serve root beer and cream soda from Spring Grove, MN, and that was also super delicious. After that, it was sorta downhill. I ordered a flatbread pizza with prosciutto, and ended up picking the prosciutto off and leaving the rest. The crust was neither soft nor crispy, it was just.... crust. The cheese mix on the pizza was way too creamy, and kinda sogged (yes, sogged - I am not a professional food critic) into the crust. I had two tiny pieces and brought the rest home for my husband, who will eat essentially anything. My lunch date ordered the beet salad and a half tuna melt. She said the salad was decent, but the tuna melt was really unremarkable. Although, I feel like it would be awfully difficult to make a tuna melt anything more than exactly what it is - so maybe we had unrealistic expectations? Regarding the service, I would agree with others who posted that it was a little on the slow side, and way on the inattentive side. Our waitress did the bare minimum required to wait a table - seated us, took our drink order, took our lunch order, brought our lunches, brought our check. We were never checked on in between, asked for refills on our beverages, asked how the meal tasted, thanked for stopping in, etc - all pretty standard restaurant courtesies. It was basically all business. I wouldn't go so far as to say she was "cold," but she was far from warm and welcoming, which is what I imagine the waitstaff at a cute, cozy Excelsior cafe to be. We also weren't offered a dessert menu, which is too bad because I now see in another review that they apparently have a red velvet cupcake?? Could've added a whole star to my review if I had finished off my meal with that.... Oh, well. Like I mentioned, it was half off. We won't go back.

Are you a music lover? Are you a food lover? If you said no to either of those, you might as well get out of America. Otherwise, take your time to visit 318 Cafe. This place will give you the experience that most places in the Twin Cities can't. It's the small town feel with the big name local musicians and great food. Unlike most places that try and turn over their tables, they understand that you might want to stick around for the music. That being said, they take their time and let you have a glass or two of wine before the main course. If you'd rather just eat and get out, this isn't the place for you. Check the music schedule before hand, because they do get some big names coming though there. Since the place is about 25 feet by 25 feet (including a stage) you might need to call ahead or make a reservation (which they are VERY good with). The food is all made from scratch and at times, seems like someone went to go buy your food fresh the second you ordered it. Simply an amazing find in the Twin Cities and highly suggested to the music and food lovers in the area.

We stopped in one afternoon recently for a quick sit on the patio and a bite to eat. To be honest, I wasn't expecting a whole lot and it was better than I expected. Still, it wasn't perfect. I suspected we might be in trouble when our waitress knew pretty much nothing about the beer on tap. The beer list is not extensive -- there are maybe a half dozen tap beers. But she didn't know what the seasonals were, and the menu was printed in such a vague way "Indeed seasonal" that we were forced to ask. She could not answer a single beer question without running into the bar to ask. Foodwise, we got the pork nachos, which were light on the pork and one big glop of melted cheese. They were average I would say. My BLT was also pretty standard, and I was surprised that it was not even an option to order fries. Chips or bust. My husband got the beet salad, which was probably the best thing on the table. A nice generous portion of beets and a very tasty salad. In all, the food quality was better than I thought it would be, and the patio seating is lovely on a nice day. But service was lacking and the food was not memorable or craveable enough to spark a return visit any time soon.

This cafe has an excellent and limited menu. During many evenings it has life musicians of all types and from all walks of life. At first the menu looked like nothing great. The fact that it has a roast beef on ciabatta or a tuna salad sandwich was not impressing me. I felt the more sophisticated outdoor look and the menu did not match. Alas, I was wrong. There are few, if any, items on the menu without some type of unusual "earthy" or organic ingredient. My previous meals in such places left me thinking these were nothing more than gimmicks. 318 changed my view. Everything I have had in this menu is outstanding. They do a great job bringing out the flavors of each ingredient. Their wine and beer selection is good with nothing too "normal" to wreck the ambiance. One unfortunate reality of restaurants this far North is that few have outdoor sitting. (Why pay for the real estate when it is only usable for few months out of the year.) 318 does have four outdoor tables, but they overlook a parking lot. They have tried hard to make them more appealing than it may sound at first glance. I enjoy sitting there, but it is not the main draw for this little cafe. Service at 318 has always been good. They hire personable, pleasant staff, who are talkative without being intrusive. During busy times they have gotten a food or drink order wrong before, but have always been extremely apologetic and have either added what was missing at no additional charge or have prepared a completely new item. I feel any place that has "cafe" in its name should serve good espresso. They do. I am happy to taste it is not as harsh-tasting as in many establishments, but it is also not the water-downed version I have had in others. It is, simply said, a good espresso. Music nights normally have some cover charge after the show starts at 8pm. In addition, space is limited to about 40 persons. Therefore, if you want to have a meal on those nights it is best to make it there before 8pm. 318 Cafe is a nice hidden gem for all those who enjoy a good casual meal. It is also a great stop for persons who enjoy and support life music.

First Victim. This place is the ish. Got the truffle oil cheesy popcorn and Guac. uber tasty and brilliant. Had the chorizo tacos. yum.