Charlie's Cafe

Had a delicious breakfast at Charlie's Cafe! This was my first time here and so happy we stopped. Amazing breakfast and service. I love the feel and look of this older restaurant. Don't change a thinge!! Thank you!!!

I saw this story in my news feed about Charlie's Cafe had the "best" cinnamon rolls in Minnesota. So, of course, I had to find out on my own OH BOY!!! It was well worth the 2 hour drive up 94 East to Freeport, MN!! Not only were the rolls the most scrumptious ever, we tried both the frosted and the caramel rolls, but the food was just as awesome!!! And served HOT!!! Our waitress, I can't remember her name, was amazing and friendly! I highly recommend Charlie's Cafe as a MUST GO TO spot!!!

Cute and rustic cafe, was a fun quick pitstop during our roadtrip.

My 10yr son said the apple 🍎 turnover was "insanely good." My 8yr son said the burger 🍔 bun was "so squishy" 😋 Great, old fashioned diner fare, service, and feels. Good choice for stop on your next road trip to or from the Cities!

Doing my review based on previous visits where I’ve ordered off the menu and never been disappointed by this cafe’s homemade meals. I choose the breakfast buffet served in the lower level today and will not make that mistake again. Food was ok at best on the buffet.

We stopped in for breakfast on our way up north. It was the best decision ever. We will be repeat customers. My hubby had the everything omelet with a side order of their big cinnamon roll. I asked if they could take an omlet/ breakfast sandwich and create a breakfast burrito. They said absolutely they would love to try doing that, and our waitress stated she had never heard of it. Just eggs, hashbrowns, cheese, and your meat choice. They all were extremely pleased that I had said was amazing. My husband joked and said, "You should put that on the menu. All in all, a great place to stop for a bite to eat has the old diner atmosphere, homemade pies, rolls, and big portions. $$ was right on par.

We both had the Walleye, mine fried - way over done. My wife had the grilled - terrible. Had breakfast a few days earlier - great no complaints. Also the Friday fish fry doesn't included Walleye but the two signs inside the cafe make it appear that Pollock and Walleye are part of the Friday fish fry at two separate prices. Mentioned it to the staff but all they did was apologize, I suggested they correct the signs.

We stopped at Cafe Charlie’s on a whim. The morning after our wedding driving through rural Minnesota we googled breakfast near me and this popped up. I am SO impressed. The omelettes were delicious, toast was perfect, hash browns were perfect, and of course the Carmel roll was on point. This place was CLEAN which for small town cafes was impressive. The ceiling, floors, everything was dust and grime free. The waitress was kind and did her job well. This place is a hidden gem.

This seat yourself typical "greasy spoon" restaurant was a decent place to grab breakfast on a Sunday morning. We had a large group and we're able to grab tables for everyone. The caramel roll was the best thing I ordered. The hashbrowns were cooked to perfection, but the scrambled eggs were the fake/eggs from a bag. One person in our group ordered chicken strips and fries and didn't get their food until after everyone ate. Lots of parking available, no handicap parking.

Ordered burger baskets. I had sweet potato fries with my mushroom and Swiss. Hubby had crinkle fries with deluxe burger. His fries were ok but he had a side of hot gravy which made them much better. Burgers were ok. Nothing to write home about. Busy place with people buying homemade cinnamon rolls and pie.

A must stop traveling north or south! Great small town atmosphere cafe with reasonable prices, friendly staff and a very large breakfast, lunch and dinner menu! New owners making Charlie's special. Welcome to Charlie's Cafe Come in and experience what a small town café feels like; tasty homemade food just the way you like it. Our friendly staff will ensure that you are taken care of from start to finish. From great food to excellent service, Charlie's Café will make sure that you leave full and satisfied.

Charlie's Cafe is the perfect spot to stop in for lunch or breakfast. I was passing thru town on my way to grand forks and was elated to find Charlie's Cafe right off of I-94 W. I had the Cabin Burger with onion rings, absolutely delicious. If I lived in Freeport, I would be a regular diner and try many more options on the menu. We also ordered the chicken cheddar and broccoli soup, it was creamy and the bowl was the perfect amount for lunch. The service was great, the waitstaff was friendly and frequently checked on the table. The atmosphere is great. The bathrooms were clean as well. I will definitely come back next time I pass thru.

Stopped there two times in 24 hours on a trip from the cities to Fargo. Cute little cafe with friendly staff, good food, prices, and service. Will be a regular stop for us when we make that trip!

I have been going since a kid when they had a giant container of suckers to pick out. When they changed owners, I guess that disappeared. Regardless, I love every single thing I order. But the Caramel Rolls beat everything else

I was charged GT (gratuity tip) on my bill at not 10%, not 20% but 25%. I thought that was a lot for a small town cafe.

Great atmosphere, good food. Best dish was the wild rice soup. Other food was good, but the soup was out of this world.

We (my stepdad and I) stopped here on our way to Fargo from the Cities. My stepdad has Celiac, so we were excited to see a gluten free menu sitting with the rest of the menus! It wasn't too busy (although we came at 3pm on a Sunday), and the service was quick and friendly. The food was great. It's not fancy, but fancy isn't what you come for at a small town cafe. It's simple. They give you enough, but not huge plates of food that most never finish anyway. We felt like this broke up our trip to Fargo nicely. It was great to get out of the car, sit down and just chat for a half hour instead of just hitting a McDonalds and rushing straight through.

Stopped by while driving through & we were thrilled to find this little gem. We all ordered breakfast & we were all thrilled with our choices. I had the breakfast skillet which was perfectly sized & perfectly cooked. If you're in this area I'd definitely recommend it. I wish we had time to taste all the sweets they had available- each one of them looked incredible.

Great halfway stopping point point between the cities and Ottertail Lake. Food like mama used to make. So much to choose from. Never a bad meal. I always make sure to get a slice of pie.

Me and my fiancé just had a new baby, if you have kids you know how hard it is to cook good meals aswell as try to eat them with a newborn. We order pickup orders about once a week for something easy and good, super short wait time it's usually always 15mins or less. very good food and love the pickup orders

We loved Charlie's! It was a welcome relief from all the Subways and Mcdonalds off the highway. The staff was very nice, and as we came in at 3pm in the middle of the week the place was nearly empty. You seat yourselves here and menus are on the table, along with (unexpectedly) a gluten-free menu. We were promptly given water. We ordered the 21 shrimp basket (which came with a lot more than 21 pieces of shrimp, fries, and toast), french toast (3 slices of french toast and 2 eggs), a grilled chicken sandwich, and a kid's mini corndog basket. The shrimp and fries were crispy and hot, french toast was thick and not too greasy, eggs were perfect, and the sandwich and mini-corndogs were great too. Bathrooms were clean, portions were good, and prices were reasonable. We will definitely stop in again the next time we're on a road trip on 94. The town looked really cute as well.

Saw the sign on the freeway thought we would give it a try. What a treat!! Incredibly fast, friendly service. Impeccably clean. It was a treat to watch the staff-they all hustled ! Refreshing in today's world. Down home cooking. We will be a stopping again when passing through.

I'll start with the staff were very friendly, courteous and helpful. Felt very homey. I saw the reviews and decided to stop by since they were pretty good and favorable. This place was packed which also gave me hopes it would be pretty good. Unfortunately this wasn't the case. I love small town diners and cafes but this one fell short. Everywhere I go I have to try the soups and chili lol. They had both my favs which are chili and chicken wild rice. The chicken wild rice should be called wild rice with maybe some chicken in your cup. The rice also didn't look or taste like the wild rice usually in this type of soup. Not to be mean but the one piece I found was very small. The soup also tasted like cans of cream of chicken. There wasn't any flavor or fresh ingredients that I could find. The chili reminded me of cafeteria taco meat and had very few beans, no flavor other than the pool of oil it's swimming in. Not good at all. Told the waitress the truth as she asked if anything was wrong. She apologized but that was it. The omelette I also had high hopes for. But even that fell flat. The meat inside the meat omelette was cold and uneven. The ham also tasted old and as if it was slightly spoiled. I hope this isn't the norm as it seems many many many people enjoy it. Maybe another day that isn't so busy would be better. Love the ambiance and home town hospitality though. Not all bad but the food wouldn't bring me back unfortunately.

We stopped in on a Sunday morning while driving from Fargo to Minneapolis. We were surprised to find they had a Sunday buffet set up in their basement. Every item on the buffet was delicious ...fried shrimp,chicken, egg bake, cheesey hash browns, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, salad bar and even desert !!! The sticky caramel buns were amazing...highly recommend this local cafe.

Great atmosphere and delicious food tucked away on small town Freeport. Always worth the drive for all day breakfast!

The story goes that this is where Garrison Keillor hung out listening to the conversations that led to his best-selling book "Lake Wobegon Days." Regardless of whether you're a Keillor fan or not, this very typical small-town diner/cafe is what you'd expect. It's almost like it's frozen in time. You'll find tables spaced closely together, fresh, hot cafe-style food in good portions, and delicious desserts. I can't believe that someone wrote to avoid the pie. The pies I've tasted have been excellent, as have the caramel rolls, the breakfasts, and the sandwiches. If you love German food, you have to go on Wednesday night for all your German favorites. Don't expect Charlie's to be a romantic spot to eat. Like I said, it's close-quarters, where you'll be able to hear the conversation at the next table. But you won't go home hungry. Everyone has to try Charlie's at some point.

Really good fluffy pancakes. Yummy biscuits and gravy. The mashed potatoes and gravy were good too. Nice staff good prices.

We had stopped by Charlie's on our way to Fargo. Our group got the Reuben, Southwest Salad, Bleu Cheese Burger, and the Roast Beef Commercial. All were enjoyed by our party. The Reuben I had was a little soggy, but that's the hard part about making one. Sadly after a good entree experience, we had to follow it up with some pie. Their strawberry rhubarb was okay, but the lemon meringue was way too gelatinous to be enjoyable. If you're on the road and looking for a place to grab some food, Charlie's is great - just avoid the pie.

Decent, wouldn't go out of the way to go to again. Service was ok, fries were warmish. Nice manager. Cheap eats. Every table is a booth. Didn't love my patty melt, but I ate the whole thing, so wasn't the worst i ever ate. My friend loved the all the food he ordered as you can see in the pic. But he loves everything.

This place is a win! Must stop if your traveling on 94! Very small town, but the place was packed for a Thursday at lunch. Service was super fast and super nice!!! Food was excellent (country fried steak). I will def be coming back to get the Beef Commercial! Everyone around us was ordering it and talking about how amazing it is! Can't wait for the next visit!

Just what you expect when you hear cafe! Busy busy place on a Saturday lunchtime but the food was good and so was the service!

Great Minnesota cafe. I like the extensive menu with all my favorites, including shrimp burgers and pizza burgers. Clean and friendly. They serve breakfast lunch supper and fresh baked pies. Freeport is a cute little town just of Hwy 94

Awesome and charming. Wednesday night is German night and we had the potato pancakes. This is my favorite place to go when traveling between Fargo and the cities.

Great home cooking style with fair prices - just off the interstate so fast in and out - GO! Great eats

I love the food here and have it a lower rating due to the lack of social distancing in the place. The place was kept at 100% capacity and did not even try to social distance. With table being back to back, you can't even be a foot away from each other. Masks were not being worn. I was disappointed as there are state mandates surrounding the Coronavirus and this place ignored them all. With the state mandates, it should make people feel safe, not potentially infect people. Not good business practice for sure!

This place is ALWAYS amazing great staff great food great customer service food is ALWAYS hot and cooked correctly!

This is one of the two restaurants located in this lovely little oasis in the vast wilderness of Minnesota of off I94. We were passing through on a Sunday afternoon and decided to try this place out for lunch. This place is no more that you your typical small town restaurant but it seems to be very popular with the locals. the service was very flighty for lack of a better term. Our waitress forgot Lara's soup and her milk and the manager forgot to bring me my Heinz 57 steak sauce. I really did not need that sauce because the steak was actually a tasty cut of meat. My steak may have even been a local resident of the surrounding area before I ingested it. I am thinking my eggs may have been local at one point too as they seemed very fresh. My only complaint with the food was with my coffee and I can't really hold this against them. I think the water just tastes awful everywhere in southern Minnesota outside of Minneapolis.

If you didn't have a calendar here, you'd never know what year it was. It reminded me of the cafe from In the Heat of the Night. It's just under 2 hours to Fargo. From now on I don't stop anywhere else on the way up or back. I enjoyed the breakfast skillet and a bite of caramel roll. But on the way back we stopped for pie. My choice was chocolate cream. At last, people in MN who know what it is. Not that french silk crap. A huge filled piece and the most tender traditional crust. Since I love German food I gotta get here some Wednesday evening just for that. A part of MN history.

I like this place! Small town feel, good food and great service. Very reasonable prices and lots of American family restaurant menu choices. Only con, probably can't bring a huge group because it's a small place. Ordered a BLT salad, a ham dinner, side of fries, two coffees and a pop all for $18- that's a sweet deal. If I get a chance to go back, I'm ordering some of their pies... looked just like how grandma made them.

It might not be the best food you've ever had, but you won't have bad food here ever. That was clear to me before I even ordered. I've eaten at A LOT of small, main street diners trying to maintain yesteryear, mainly by looking like they haven't been cleaned since yesteryear. Charlie's is spotless. That's an appreciated attention to detail absent in too many establishments. I had the quarter chicken Thursday evening special, dark meat, salad, and baked potato. My son had the country fried steak breakfast (served all day) with hash browns and two eggs. There was plenty o room for greasy, and it just wasn't there. The chicken was nothing special. My son's breakfast though was nearly perfect -- perfectly cooked sunny side eggs, perfectly crisper hash browns. The real highlight was the pie-- pecan for him; coconut creme for me. Let's just say this: I'll stop at Charlie's anytime just for the pie. The coconut creme was high, tall, and firm with a marvelously browned meringue. The pecan wad good too. Don't miss this Minnesota classic stop.

Recently, we were on our way from the Twin Cities area towards NW Minnesota when my mom and I were looking for a place to get a late morning breakfast. We had gotten off at the exit for Freeport as my mom was also looking for any signs for the area known as Lake Wobegone (which we had seen along the way up on 94). As we were heading into town, we found Charlie' Café and decided to stop in. We were seated quickly and I scanned the menu. I found what I was looking for in one of their skillets (with 3 kinds of meat in it) and my mom settled on a simple egg and sausage kind of breakfast. The food which was served a short time later, was great. My skillet had just the right amount of meats, mushrooms, onion, potatoes, and peppers (and cheese too) and was very tasty. Prices were not bad either. I'll gladly stop at this place again when passing through.

Food is great, very nice staff, most important the place is very clean, highly recommended if you are passing through Freeport and are getting hungry.

Sometimes Freeport can just be a drive thorough town. It's just off the freeway between the Twin Cities and Alexandria. But time after time those big yellow signs just keep beckoning you in. Well, it is worth the stop. We swung in on a quite Thursday evening on the way to Fargo. I was hankering for some fried chicken and guess what the special was? That's right 1/4 chicken dinner for a measly $7.95. Both me and my wife ordered the special. It arrived quickly and was steaming hot. The chicken was deliciously crispy on the outside, while still nice and moist on the inside. I had the side of coleslaw which was just as good with a slightly sweet taste with little to no tang. Yummy! The fries (steak) were good, but nothing to brag about. Overall the service was homey and quaint. The food was delicious and prompt, and the cafe is just a perfect slice of small town america. Loved it!

Very nice and clean. Good was good. Josh, our server was excellent. Good value for the money. I

Amazing breakfast! My steak and eggs were cooked perfectly, Sarah was a great server! Hidden gem!

Breakfast all day! Loads of specials on the board. Home cooking. Friendly service!!! Located on a bike trail.

I'm a big fan of this place. Once you can get past the locals giving you the "you don't look like you're from around here" face (ironically I live in the neighboring town) and find a seat, the wait staff promptly gets to you and grabs your drinks. The food comes out just as fast, and it's about as good as you can expect from a small town cafe. German night gets 5 stars. You always get just the right amount of food.

I go every time I head to the cities. I love the quaint atmosphere, the people and the classic food. One of my favorite places to eat in Minnesota!

The best damn food in Freeport. Think small town diner food. R.I.P. Charlie.

How could they possibly screw up a simple cheeseburger? It was a grayish puck of mystery meat that had absolutely no color and no flavor of any kind. Just plain nasty. I mentioned my visit at my workplace and was not surprised at the number of bad experiences my coworkers have had here.

Great little small diner with truck parking (big deal to me) at the park right across the street. Super friendly staff and amazingly low prices. This is small town food lovin' at it's best. What a great vibe and excellent service.

What a wonderful place this is. Like I was in her for their sunday brunch/lunch special right. And like it was all you can eat chicken and ribs, and stuffing, and mashed potatoes and bread. And like it was freaking delicious. And can you guess how much this feast cost me? it was 6.50, it was like a holiday miracle, but it wasn't a miracle. It was luck. And the ribs were smoked and so tasty. And like apparently it's like super well known, and was in National Geographic a while ago. But it was a pretty sweet stop along the highway.

The Chicken soup was excellent. The steak was tender and service was perfect. Love the accent. You gotta stop by here. The pecan pie was wonderful and my son wolfed down the country fried steak. Great gravy. We will be back.

You might be put off by the garish signage and billboards, but once you're inside, it's a fine diner with good food and great prices.

I sat at the counter (with its original boomerang Formica) and received water and a welcome right away. The egg salad sandwich was better than most; had a little zing to it, almost like there was pickle juice in the dressing (I didn't ask). Chicken and dumpling soup was fine for me but if you don't like things good and salty, this might not be the soup for you. Pumpkin pie was excellent. My waitress rendered lightning-fast, friendly service. I took a caramel roll to go which didn't make it home. I will absolutely stop again anytime I'm passing by Freeport!

If you are ever passing through in the afternoon and want a quick break. - and a piece of pie? Well this is your place. We passed on lunch after flying in from the west coast and were headed to Fargo. So this was a great afternoon snack. The blueberry pie was outstanding. I'm sure they all taste great. Very local. The farmers were everywhere. Go and enjoy.

Charlie's is the place to go if you're looking for classic diner food. The waitstaff is pleasant and attentive and the food is always top notch. Try German night (Weds) or all you can eat fish (Fri) for a little variety or order a hearty breakfast which is served all day.