Vegan-friendly
Lacto
Ovo
American
Take-out
Breakfast

Twin Cities vegetarian cafe with an extensive menu. Includes vegan pancake, stir fry with choice tempeh, tofu, or seitan, and greasy spoon style dishes like breakfast eggs, toast, and hash brown. Worker-owned with punk-rock atmosphere. Open for dine-in and takeout (no patio as of 2022). Open Mon-Sun 8:00am-12:00am.


86 Reviews

First Review by condekedar

savsmalls

Points +717

Vegan
12 Aug 2022

amazing food at an amazing price

one experience w a rude worker when they were doing covid takeout but since then the workers have been so kind especially the brunette w two braids. the food is sooooo good. they have oat milk now too!! so not just soy milk. i loved their breakfast sammy bagel, kinda dry doesnt come with a sauce but i still enjoyed it a lot. i think i just missed breaky sammies, wish they had avocado to put on it😒bicuits and gravy was awesome, gravy was absolutely delicious. loved the fresh green onions and tomatoes on top. amazing hasbrowns hand cut in store. really yummy pancakes too but ridiculous for them to charge $3 for real maple.. for one little cup.. c’mon. anyways hubby got the vegan rancheros and he loveddd it, not something up my alley so imm not gonna comment on it but it had a lot of flavor to it

cook at the time (maybe owner?) told me they used to use store bought vegan chz but thought it smelled super strange and not like real food so they started making their own homemade v chz with sunflower seeds from northern MN!!!!!! so amazing and thoughtful!!!

i love this place

Updated from previous review on 2022-08-12

Pros: homemade v chz is amazing!!!!, reasonably priced

Cons: dining open!!, no avocado :(

Phthisis

Points +72

Vegan
03 Jun 2022

Unbeatable value

I've been stopping here every time I'm in the city for years now and it never lets me down. The food is all fresh and inexpensive. I particularly recommend the vegan pancake

Pros: Worker-owned, Unpretentious , Tons of vegan options

Cons: Cash only

Nutmylk

Points +374

Vegan
02 Jun 2022

Delicious, inexpensive, employee owned

We went here for breakfast and I got the vegan biscuit breakfast, a muddy waters coffee, and a carrot cake muffin. I also got a pretty hail seitan sticker 💅🏽 the breakfast was HUGE. the gravy was how I remember a home cooked meal on a cold day. Everything was perfection. No indoor eating and cash only but not a problem as they have an atm and a park nearby. The muddy waters iced coffee was great, but a little on the sweeter side. The person who took our order was a sweetheart and the cook in the back was cool too. Wish I could bring them all back home so I could eat this daily.

Pros: Lots of vegan options, Inexpensive, Employee owned, delicious food

longnoideatime

Points +17

Vegetarian
09 May 2022

Good, but hard

The food is delicious, the prices aren’t bad, and I believe in their principles, but like… it is the biggest pain in the [censored] to eat here. You can’t call ahead and it’s cash only. Probably less of an issue if you like eating out vs take out and carry cash, but I don’t.

Tigra220

Points +10447

Vegan
24 Feb 2022

Do Better

It must have been an off day for the kitchen because I just didn't love it.

Vegan Biscuits and gravy:
The scrambled tofu was good AFTER I added salt, pepper, and hot sauce to it. Before those additions it was a bland mess. The hash browns and biscuits were good. The gravy however, was a very thin dinner gravy. Those biscuits needed a nice thick country gravy or breakfast sausage gravy to make them complete. The sausage patty was decent.

I ordered a pancake because I love a buttery soft pancake. I received something overcooked, partially burnt, and hard. A far cry from what a pancake should be. I couldn't even cut it. And with the $3 they charge for a side of syrup, it was an uncalled for waste of my money. They need to really do better.

The cherry chocolate chip muffin that I had was excellent though.

ThatSurlyVegan

Points +355

Vegan
13 Jan 2022

Mpls Standby

Have you yet to eat here? Stop what you’re doing now and head on over. Baked good are simply amazing, great variety, and rotating baked good options.
Make sure to try their burritos.

SamKiluk

Points +363

Vegan
07 Sep 2021

Quick stop before heading out of town

The staff was nice to us! Heard mixed review on this place but decided to give it a shot anyways. Right now they are only open for take out/patio seatings. We got the vegan helter skelter and the vegan biscuits and gravy. The helter skelter was pretty bland so I would get some salt and pepper or hot sauce. The biscuits and gravy were great! Would definitely recommend. Right now they are only taking cash or Venmo.

Pros: Vegan biscuits and gravy

Cons: Vegan helter skelter

NicoleSouza

Points +72

Vegan
16 Jul 2021

So Many Vegan Options

The people were lovely and the food was good! We got a strawberry banana muffin that was really yummy. The biscuits and gravy was out of this world delicious. I found myself scraping the container to get every last bit of the tasty gravy. The vegan breakfast bagel was not that special. The sausage had a nice flavor but the tofu didn't taste like much. Their cheese was impressive though. Bonus points that they had a compost bin outside the restaurant next to trash and recycling.

Pros: Biscuits and Gravy, Baked goods, Compostable utensils

Cons: Tofu on the breakfast bagel

veggies_4_life

Points +514

Vegan
19 Jun 2021

A classic

Great food, grungy atmosphere. Love that they have baked vegan goods. I usually have to add a bit more seasoning to my food, but there are so many options and it is so reasonably priced for the portions that you get.

Updated from previous review on 2021-06-19


Updated from previous review on 2021-06-19

Cons: Cash only kinda inconvenient

ChuckSearer

Points +26

Vegan
14 Jun 2021

Great food.

Had the falafel sandwich. Perfectly seasoned. Blackberry tea. Table outside. No credit card but Venmo works😀

chris528735

Points +98

Vegan
28 May 2021

Loved It

I arrived at the airport on a visit to St. Paul and had a craving for some vegan food. I opened ip HappyCow and the reviews for this restaurant were great. I hailed an Uber and headed over to give it a try. All I can say is that i will be back for more to check out some more of their menu. I had the Vegan Helter Skelter which was very good.

Mermansgrotto

Points +28

Vegan
10 Mar 2021

The best

I love this place. Great options and they give you a lot for your money! Amazing bakery items, too.

GlutenousMaximus

Points +32

Vegan
17 Oct 2020

Best vegan dinner

Super tasty nosh. Love the tempeh.

schel112

Points +692

Vegan
05 Mar 2020

Good, greasy food!

I’ve always had good experiences here. Yes it’s dirty, yes the workers are often rude, yes the music is often super loud, and yes there’s homeless people that might try and grab your plate before you dump it in the bin, but that’s what makes this place great! It’s open almost 24 hours, so it’s a great late night option, and there’s a paid parking lot right next door. The bahn mi is always good, and way overloaded with good things, baked goods are awesome, and everything is super cheap. It’s self service and cash only, which is kind of inconvenient, but there’s an atm on site.

Pros: Lots of options , Good atmosphere

Cons: Cash only

plantingseeds

Points +478

Vegan
02 Jan 2020

Hankering for Hard Times

I like this oftentimes grouchy, always grungy place. It has this funny way of cheering me up if I’m feeling blue. It has a personality all its own. I’m a fan of the breakfasts and the baked goods. I enjoyed the food more before I went vegan (it seems pretty dairy reliant for flavor) but it’s still good. I give it 5 stars for always being there for me. It’s like an old friend who’s door is basically always open and ready to make me something I can eat!

MegganAnderson

Points +314

Vegan
07 Nov 2019

Breakfast ALL DAY!

Enough said! A TON of vegan options!

Pros: Good people!, Great atmosphere!, Best bathroom graffiti this side of the MS!

Cons: Cash only.

Jackhiggins

Points +13

Vegetarian
24 Oct 2019

The worst service and food

We went as a group from the hospital because many of the people in the group are Vegan. We asked for a table and were standing there for 15 minutes and the restaurant was pretty much empty which isn't a good sign on a Saturday night. We were seated and one of my co workers was finishing her water from work from her water bottle and the server grabbed the water bottle off the table and said NO outside beverages allowed! I am not sure if she thought it was empty but nevertheless. We ordered and our food took forever. The servers keep going in and out of the restaurant... Maybe they were taking smoking breaks because nobody was to be found when I wanted to add something to our order! When the food came two of the dishes were not right and the food looked like it was just slopped on the plate in a pile of oil. This restaurant by far has the worst service and food I have ever been too. I advise people to stay away. Not to mention when I asked for a manager the server told me there is no manager! The food and service is despicable!

Pros: Parking

Cons: Cold food, Terrible service, The resturant smells of smoke

ryleighjane

21 Feb 2020

you have very obviously never been to hard times. it is a punk cafe in which there are no servers and it is a sit yourself. as for if you liked the food or not that is a personal preference, but the staff are very friendly.

Toryk1999

Points +47

Vegan
18 Oct 2019

So vegan friendly

Vegetarian restaurant with lots of vegan options. Great for breakfast at any hour. Open till like 4am but the kitchen closes at 3am. Soo cheap and sooo yummy and greasy lol

Pros: Lots of vegan options, Inexpensive

Cons: Cash only , Ambiance isn’t very nice




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