The Uptowner Cafe on Grand

This classic diner is an easy 5-star establishment. The service was impeccable; there is no chance that my drink was going to be empty for even a millisecond. They were always on top of topping it off no matter how fast I tried to drink. The atmosphere is charming; there are hundreds of pieces of art from previous customers and children hanging on their wall, truly feeling local and warm. The early bird special is impossible to beat — not because of the price but the fact that they said, “Enjoy, you early birds!” when they handed us our food. I will absolutely be returning

It's a smallish American style breakfast, so cramped there's hardly room for wait staff behind. Few booths, tables and a short line of stools where you can belly up to the counter, literally feel the heat from the grill, and have a front row seat to the action as the two chefs expertly coordinate and speed through their orders. Breakfast is fresh, hot and tad spicier, done to perfection, generous portions, looks good, tastes great!

Food 9.5/10 Service 8/10 Atmosphere 7/10 Definitely coming back!

Pretty average. Good service and coffee. The food was just OK. I had been here like 10 years ago and liked it quite a bit. Feels like they have lost a step. Toast was dry, hash browns were on the greasy side.

Flew in from out of town for a wedding, would fly in again for brunch at this place Bathrooms were a bit of an adventure but the food was worth it

Today was my first time visiting the Uptowner. Great food, character and staff! I’m always looking for great “hole in the wall” places for breakfast. This is exactly what I’m looking for. I had the Denver omelette. It was delicious. The hash browns were cooked well. Staff were incredibly friendly. I will be visiting this cafe more often.

Quirky understates the decor. Food and service were great! Not just a breakfast place. Plenty of lunch items.

Great old forgotten place I have reconnected with in my beloved St. Paul. Been going regularly with friends and the food is very good! Eggs Benedict is my favorite and the hash browns are excellent. Service is fabulous. The place is old and shows it but the atmosphere is great for those of us that love an older place with character.

First time here. Small diner, love the decor. Great server!! She was very friendly and professional. Food was prepared quickly and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meal. Mother's Day breakfast. Meals were eggs, hash browns, meats, and biscuits and gravy. I had the Cajun hollandaise with andouille sausage. Fantastic!! Good coffee. A little noisy but not too much. We will be back to try more of the menu.

Great service, fast and friendly. But you come here for the monster size portions and the cinnamon pancakes! Pancakes were perfect, lite and fluffy, no greasy and crisp on the outside. Get them with the fresh strawberries! Mmmm The lumberjack breakfast was more than Big Dave could eat.... Enough to fill up a teenage boy! Tables were clean and spaced far enough apart to be pleasant. Yellow and orange decide is cheerful and modern for this staple. Will be here again.

Stopped by out of the blue for breakfast. It was phenomenal, service was great, very friendly. I would highly recommend this place for breakfast!! A true gem.

Hey Travoodies Hey I ventured to a new spot this weekend and I can't wait to share. If you know me then you know I love me some Waffle House. There is nothing like cover hashbrowns with a patty melt. Well that's what I thought I found when I stepped into The Uptowner. Located in St. Paul this cozy little spot on the corner was busier than ever. Grabbed bar seating and was greeted by our waitress. She was nice. The setup reminded me of Waffle House but the food not as much. Don't get me wrong it was bad food just didn't taste like what I know. O went with the patty melt and hash browns. I prefer my meet chopped on my melt but that's a personal preference. The hash browns were pretty decent and the pancake (because you can get either a waffle or pancake) was huge. Overall I would give it a 3 out of 5!

The harvey sandwich was great and it came with a malt! Bonus! The hash browns were perfect too. Cute little place!

The service was excellent. But the fool was not the best. My hash Browns were mushy, French toast was mushy. They did offer to cook it again, but I didn't want to wait. The one thing that was good was the omelette and the apple juice, i will not be returning

Service: perfect. Ambiance: 60's retro. Food: Comfort. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. I had the breakfast combo - two eggs, crispy, hashbrowns, andouille sausage two cinnamon pancakes with blueberries. The cinnamon in the pancakes did bring out the flavor of the blueberries. The andouille sausage was tasty, a little hot, and a little overcooked. The hashbrowns were crispy and light. The coffee was good, but nothing special. disposable servings of plain creamer. No vanilla. All in all, a solid local cafeteria. One note: the meal wound up costing me $30. That's about five bucks more than average for a breakfast these days.

Favorite breakfast hole in the wall restaurant near MSP. Great brewed coffee, flat top cooked foods, hash browns are done to perfection.

The Uptowner is a great breakfast spot on grand! The pancakes are so good. The batter is made with cinnamon, you can add bananas, strawberries or chocolate chips! I've gotten the Uptowner eggs Benedict and thought it was flavorful and with a subtle spice. The vibe is diner. Very family friendly If you're going mid morning on the weekends expect a 10-20 min wait since it gets pretty busy.

Hands down my favorite breakfast I drive 25 min one way just for the lumberjack - I got 3 Groupons so far and it's so worth it - delicious and huge portions I will be trying French toasts soon

Went here to the Uptown for the first time in about 15 years this afternoon. Carlie was our server, she was fantastic. I ordered the Cajun breakfast and my freind ordered the Tex Mex veggie style. Both were absolutely delicious. I had wondered if they are still grinding thier hash brown potatoes in house. As I was leaving I saw the cook put the big pot of potatoes on the stove! Thats why they have the best hash, nothing more fresh than that! Portions are huge and tasty. The service is unmatched with it's greatness!!!

The food was so great and affordable. I don't know what the secret is but the pancakes were so fluffy it was remarkable

Classic no frills breakfast place that makes you feel right at home. Added plus. It's delicious.

Fantastic! The service and food are excellent! Best hash browns in the Twin Cities! A welcoming spot servicing large portions at great value. The service is wonderful.

Service was excellent. The price was good, especially for the huge portions you get. Honestly one meal will feed about 2-3 people. The place wasn't super crowded for a Sunday morning. I would highly recommend liking cinnamon. It seems to be in everything. I got the pancakes and I could definitely taste it in them. I don't think I've had pancakes with cinnamon before. So that was my only remark on the food. It just wasn't for me. Otherwise the rest of the food was good.

Adorable little hole in the wall with kids crayon. Pictures posted on the walls. Diner concept with Little Circle, Barstools where the kitchen staff work at an exposed flat top grill. I'm pretty sure they soak their hashbrowns before they fry them to get some of the extra starch out because they are some of the best I've had! The BLT was a little underwhelming, but the portions are huge so you will not go hungry!

The Cajun breakfast is popular for a reason! It is so filling and flavorful. I got it with scrambled eggs with rye bread. Love the hot sauce variety and jams and jellys. Awesome, no frills, hole-in-the wall diner.

NO AMERICAN CHEESE? This place is great really good food very friendly staff. My wife got French toast and I had pancakes. They were tasty and delicious. My wife was going to get an omelet with American cheese, only to be told, "We don't have American cheese." Not in the entire place. Cheese options Cheddar and Swiss. That's all folks! The place is small, I guess only room enough for two cheeses. We were baffled, only two? OK. Not much else to say.

This place makes one heck of a breakfast! The staff were incredibly friendly and the food came out fast and was cooked to perfection! I ordered the Uptowner Eggs Benedict and they were sooo delicious. The andouille sausage and cajun seasoning are great additions to one of my favorite dishes. Also the cinnamon pancakes were scrumptious and had just the right balance of moistness and crispiness. The place has a classic diner feel, which I miss. It's nice to see a restaurant like this still around. Do yourself a favor and stop in.

Great service, meal, and I just love the vibes of a good diner. They were incredibly accommodating to two adults and six kiddos! Will go back a million more times.

Bomb breakfast spot! Always great service and the food is on point. You won't be disappointed

Had this place on my list of places to try for a while. Small inside. About 10 counter seats, 6-7 booths and a couple tables. All the action happens at the counter. Impressive skills to watch on the cook top. Food was good. Classic, basic breakfast options. It was good but not amazing. I'm glad I went but don't think I'll go back for breakfast. For sure want to try lunch.

Great eatery but IMO even better for breakfast & other times is the Downtowner on W. 7th St. In St Paul.

Egg white only veggie omelet with hash browns and no toast. Big portions and the omelet was decent. It is a cute small diner that has a local feel. However, I would not pay $18+ for just the omelet again. I ordered this for takeout on the phone and asked if the omelet could be prepared with egg whites only, which they said they could do so I was happy about that! However, I was not told if "egg whites only" meant there would be an up charge so maybe there was and that is why it was over $18 for just this. The price and the total were not listed on the receipt. The prices are not listed on the website, so that was not helpful either.

Our favorite spot for breakfast in St. Paul! Tiny little diner - GIANT breakfast burrito!

We ended up at The Uptowner after the wait time at Colossal Café was...well...colossal. So glad to have found myself seated right away at this hole in the wall gem. The walls were delightfully covered in hand drawn art and the service was friendly from the start. I ordered the eggs and hashbrowns and pancakes. The pancakes are a cinnamon batter and I couldn't resist trying them. Portion size here is huge! The mountain of hashbrowns was delicious. Eggs were done right, pancakes were flavorful, and the bacon was crispy. I would make a repeat trip here for the pancakes alone. Great diner!

The portions are HUGE and the flavor is even bigger!! For the prices, this is a must Breakfast diner in the Twin Cities

Overall: This place is your typical hungover brunch spot. Greasy food that just hits the spot. FOOD: Huge portions, mediocre taste. Just enough flavor to keep eating and is the perfect hangover cure. ATMOSPHERE: It's small and usually busy on a Sunday so you may have to wait. Not good for groups bigger than 4. Typical diner setting. PRICE: For the food, it's a little overpriced but that may be due to the fact that they offer a groupon for $6 for $16 worth of food.

January 2021: Nothing bad to say. Came in as soon as they opened at 7:30am. We were visiting from California. That "diner" feel. Small place, but nice. The people there were nice. Food was good. They didn't have avocado at the time, so I added spinach instead to my omelette. Tasted kinda weird, but that's on me. LOL. Still pretty good omelette. I used a Groupon & that was helpful. Check this place out if you're in town.

As a party of 4 we came in on a Saturday morning at 11am and we're able to be seated right away. This place is tiny but mighty! The menu has something for everyone. Our waitress, Maddy, was very attentive and pleasant during our visit. The portions are huge! I rarely ever ask for a to-go box from a breakfast meal, but today I did! Their house made salsa is also very good. I would buy a jar of it if I could! Definitely a place to we will be going to again! Thank you!

This place is soooo delicious! Like possibly the best breakfast joint I've ever been too. Great service and prices. And chiiiiile let me tell you, no one ever cooks these hash browns right; but they did it perfectly I'm definitely going back the next time I travel to Minneapolis!

Wow...walking in to this place and taking a look around.I was like no way.I had read a few reviews and thought...let me try the food and then go from there. The cook was making a bunch of hash browns from scratch so I decided to go with whatever had hash browns in it.I got the Cajun breakfast.Homemade hash browns with onions,peppers,2 eggs over easy,smothered with Hollandaise sauce and a Cajun spice.I added andouille sausage to my meal for an extra $4.25 which made this meal complete for me.I was full and had a hard time completing the last bite.Men...the flavors that exploded in my mouth was fantastic.The waitress(Shelby) was great.Excellent service and food! Only got four stars because the place was a little dingy.However the food and service again was on point.Not too sure about parking since I caught a bus.I'll definitely be back to try something else!

Food was ok and a little overpriced. I was surprised to see a "service fee" tacked on to the bill. If you feel the need to tack on a hidden service fee because the cost of doing business is high, maybe it's time to close up shop.

Came here for a Sunday brunch and I had high expectations after reading the reviews. First, it's a small hole in the wall so you'll probably have to wait for a spot, especially if you have a larger party. Their kitchen and dining space is all one so that was different, and it made for a louder environment that I thought. They looked like they had really delicious hash browns so I definitely made sure my order came with those, but they weren't the best honestly. They were pretty flavorless but you do get a huge portion of them. I also had eggs and pancakes with my order. Their cinnamon pancakes are what they're supposedly known for but I would say they're a 3/5 (at best). My friend compared them to the cinnamon Eggo waffles she ate as a kid...Eggs I got were a little disappointing (I had spinach added instead of a meat option), as they seemed a little overcooked... My plate cost me almost $16 (without tip). It's definitely overpriced here for what you get. My friend's biscuits and gravy with eggs (nothing special) was about $17... Overall, probably wouldn't come back here. There are much better brunch spots in the Twin Cities, especially diner style spots like this one.

Definitely should be changed to $$ from the $. Prices must have gone up. I literally got biscuits and gravy with two eggs and no drink just water and my bill was $17.11(without tip). Not worth that price. The gravy just tasted like white gravy no flavor whatsoever just simple and you didn't get much andouille sausage in it. The hash browns were pretty crispy but not much flavor to them either. Needed salt/pepper. The inside is quite small, some tables/booths, and counter seats. Our food came out quite fast. Overall I'd say it is a pretty average breakfast place.

A cute, small diner! Went here for a quick breakfast and it was good! I don't think it's anything special or that someone is missing out on but the place has a lot of character which I really enjoy and appreciate!

This is a crowded little greasy-spoon breakfast counter, like Al's Breakfast but with room for a few tables. I like that ambiance, and I actually like the contrast it adds to this neighborhood (what with the look-at-me-I'm-so-fancy Lexington right across the street). I got a ham and cheddar omelet, which came with hash browns and English muffins. The omelet was good. The hash browns were very crispy; I think that was on purpose, but to me they seemed overcooked. They have some sandwiches on the menu as well. It looks like almost every entree on the menu is between twelve and thirteen bucks, and most of them include sides like mine did. You can get fare like this for cheaper, but there's an odd comfort in that predictable price range and level of quality. Again, that omelet was on point. There's a parking lot in the back, but it's poorly signposted. There are no signs indicating that it is the Uptowner parking lot, but there are signs that say it's the Lexington parking lot, plus also something about "pay us $6". But my server confirmed that you can park in the back. I used a Groupon for this visit, and I think I'll look for another offer so I can come back and try one of their sandwiches.

Really good, solid, big portion sandwiches! I really liked how hashbrown was not so salty. Fries were a little over fried and a bit salty. I wished it wasn't salted like the hashbrowns. Really good coffee as well!:)

Excellent service and food. We had coffee, the Tex Mex and the #3. The coffee was good and the meals were yummy. You can't beat their hash browns!

Classic, local gem of a breakfast place. Old world appeal with the favorites: heaping hash-browns, piled omelets and stacked pancakes. Friendly servers eager to please with diner like hospitality

I love this place so much. Every time I've gone I've had amazing/fast service, and delicious food!! From the Cajun breakfast to the tuna melt sandwich, everything's always great. The chef really knows what he's doing. Periodt

This is a small greasy spoon diner that satisfied our hearty appetites! The portions were large, very large, and our waitress was friendly. It's a busy place but we got a table right away. This is your standard, all-American food quickly fried up by a short order cook, not too bad coffee and and I'd be impressed if you could polish off your plate. The flavor is kind of bland, don't even know if our meals had salt and pepper but our expectations weren't high when we walked in, as we were looking for shelter from the rain.

Hole in the wall kind of feel. Massive portions. I like it! Descent service as well. No Complaints. Thumb up !

I stopped into here after moving into my new place. I got the Cajun Breakfast and loved it. The service was good. My only real complaint would be how early they close makes a late lunch not really practical.

I had the Northwoods Omelette. Great combo of sausage wild rice and mushrooms. The staff is Minnesota nice. Overall great bfast place.

Very disappointed! I have been to the Uptowner several times over the past decade and have always raved to my friends about the quality of the hash browns. Today, I had a spinach, tomato, cheese omelet with the hashbrowns. Both items were a disappointment: hashbrowns were burned in spots, omelet was cold on the inside, too much wet spinach and tomatoes, cheese was not even melted. The only thing more disappointing than the food was the service: server kept asking us if we were ready to order every two minutes, did not respond to my complaints about the food. Was surly and passive-aggressive. This place has lost me as a loyal customer. I won't return until I can be assured my food is prepared properly and service is friendly. Also, why charge 3.99 for a cup of coffee?

Every time I visit my dad I make it a point to go to this diner. We split the #5 special because it's so much food, and it's always so good. It's a little pricey at $16 but like I said, it's two meals in one basically. The staff is really nice and you can see the cooks make the food from your table. They have both tables and booths. Hash browns are great as always! This is a staple for my trips to the Twin Cities.

I enjoy diner type places, so I had high hopes for this place, but it turned out to just be okay. The menu is not too large, it has a variety of items, but I also think it's a little overpriced. The staff is nice and the service fine. I will say that the portions are fairly large. If you get hash browns, it's probably double what you would get somewhere else. The omelette is alright, I feel it was a little overcooked to my liking. The toast was alright too. Overall, it's just an okay place to grab a bite to eat.

If you're in at 6:30 on Saturday morning, you've got a good shot at meeting me and my best friend. This is part of our weekly tradition to catch up and enjoy good company and a great breakfast. Other than a good coffee shop, there is no other spot in town that visit with any more regularity. I've mentioned that "the food" is usually less important to me than the "company" and the Uptowner is definitely well stocked for both department. Breakfast is fast, entertaining, prepped, and served by an awesome team. You'll eat well and be hosted by super people. The workers here are staples. You won't find many people here that have worked here less than 6 months because the consistency on the team reflects The consistency of the neighborhood who regularly patrons the establishment. The Cajun is one of the top two or three in the city and the coffee is clean and hot. The man behind the grill knows his stuff and resembles a karate master with his disciplined consistency and rhythm to his form. He is a pleasure to walk and to share in conversation so sit at the bar, watch, and enjoy.