French Meadow Bakery & Cafe

Reviews 6

SA

Sarah Hulke

We love this restaurant, but had a poor experience last night on Valentines Day, and I am so sorry to have to write a negative review. Our night was really soured by the experience. To add insult to injury, my attempts to get a response from the restaurant have failed. I see that despite my tagging the restaurant in my review, French Meadow decided updating the cover photo was more important than addressing customer concerns. Weve gone to the restaurant each Valentines Day in the Twin Cities and even hosted my 30th birthday party there. Im really disgusted by the customer service on the day of the visit and the following days. Our order wasnt taken for 15 minutes after we were seated, and then it took another 20 minutes for the appetizer (mussels) to arrive. The server wound up bringing my husband a cup of soup to eat in the interim because we were waiting so long. Literally two minutes after the mussels arrived they brought our main dishes which they then offered to put under heat lamps. I spoke up and then dishes were freshly made for later. Our waters were not refilled in the entire 1.5 hours, and my husband had to ask twice each for a spoon and an extra mussels fork. The server was kind, but the restaurant was obviously understaffed, and there was something going on in the kitchen which resulted in horrible timing. The server was working hard (and it wasnt him who kept forgetting the cutlery, but another runner) and did give us two desserts because of the debacle. He was cheery and did thank us for our patience many times (despite not addressing our beverage needs). The food was good, as usual (the healing plate, a burger, mussels, and the vegan chili). This is usually our favorite restaurant where we often bring friends and family, but we will have to rethink our options after this experience.

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RO

Rochelle Anderson

I am giving this establishment 2 stars ONLY because the staff was awesome and the space was clean & orderly. If this review was based solely on the food, I would find even 1 star to be 1 too many. My husband and I dine out daily & enjoy fresh/organic/vegan/homemade type foods, which is why we decided to try French Meadow. Honestly, I was shocked that of the entire meal, nothing tasted fresh or prepared to order. The fresh squeezed lemonade was without question a fraud, as if one could not tell the difference. The chicken wild rice soup was more of an expanded rice ragout. The crab cakes were no less than two days in a hotel pan on the line/ can crab meat soggy and tasteless. The fish sandwich was greasy and flavorless. The steak & cheese openface was by far the worst, I could literally taste the spoiled meat. Still, having agreed that possibly it was a bad day for the kitchen for whatever reason, we ordered a total of 4 different pastries to take home for our evening treats as the dessert case looked so yummy. WRONG! Pastry cream in the fruit tart was broke, grainy and fruit was going bad, the vegan chocolate fruit tart was old, fruit going bad as well and generally poor flavor. The Coconut cake was dry, whip cream separating from the cake. All in all we spent $54 on our meal & another $27 on desserts. Unbelievably disappointed, why did our experience have to be so poor??? The staff was really nice tho, great guys. If only the food matched the ambiance & hospitality.

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SH

Shawn Zwonar

French Meadow used to be great. I used to love going to French Meadow with my parents and friends. As of late, the food has been awful. Just today, I went with my girlfriend to grab breakfast. Their fresh squeezed lemonade, which is nearly $4, was water and syrup. It was clear, and had slight after tones of lemon, but by no means, was it actually lemonade. I disliked it so much I returned it - something I never do! I also got the classic breakfast which was pleasantly served with soggy clearly microwaved hashbrowns (super salty as well), super thin tasteless pieces of bacon (must have been sitting out for a while) and incorrectly cooked eggs. My girlfriend had her favorite menu item, the cajun hashbrowns. However, just like my meal, the hashbrowns were soggy, and the dish as a whole was not what it used to be. No fresh garlic, dry sausage, and overall a very microwaved taste. Once again, this place used to be amazing. But for the last 3-4 months, every time I have come in has been disappointing. I will not return to French Meadow ever again, and I advise everyone to look elsewhere for breakfast. I wish I returned everything I ordered, its just annoying to complain about food. Anyways, good bye and farewell French Meadow!

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JO

joshana First

it was new years day and every place was closed. me and my friend had been up all night and were looking for breakfast. we finally found this place was open and we had been there for lunch before and it was ok. their breakfast menu however, was kind of limited and i didnt see anything i really wanted, but was verry hungry so i had to eat something. well, the oatmeal actually looked kin of good, and they described it like it was the best oatmeal on earth. "a large portion of steel cut oats topped with a medily of fresh fruit and berries, glazed with brown sugar and fresh creem" or something along those lines. And the price reflected this description, around $10 if i remember. so i thought, what the hell i will pay way too much and get the best oatmeal ive ever had. what came out instead was a small bowl with two ice cream scoops of unflavored oatmeal (yes like at the school lunch counter) with a few pieces of strawberry on top sitting in what looked like a puddle of skim milk. Was the worst breakfast ive ever had and the price added insult to injury, i honestly should have sent it back and demanded a refund, but I was so hungry and there was nothing else on the menue that looked decent. will.never go there again.

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TR

Travis Yano

Ive eaten here many times and I recommend it. Look, Im not a vegan, dont eat health and/or organic food routinely, but I will say it is excellent food. I tend to stick with their breakfast options...Ive learned that organically farmed eggs are the bees knees for taste...I give the French Meadow full credit for that development! Id give them 5 stars but their WiFi (I hold lunch meetings there) is rather "iffy"...in fact, I almost feel like they have network rationing going on down there...it seems like you get connectivity...then dont get any connectivity...then back on again...its clearly set to share it equally among all...I "get it"...still...Ive learned I dont appreciate the socialization of broadband / wifi...but the eggs are just too yummy... 8)

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JO

John Regan

Literally in love with this place. First time here and would highly recommend to everyone. Hella fast service. After choosing a table and grabbing coffee it magically appeared where I was sitting! Tons of vegan options, organic ingredients, and well balanced recipes. Don’t be afraid, they taste AMAZING. I ended up ordering the “healthy” vegan breakfast. Very simple dish, as expected, but the rice was cooked perfectly and the steamed milk was a great touch. The berry chocolate cream dessert was killer. The coffee was organic and fair trade. I appreciate any place that puts their ethics into what they make and serve to customers. Will be returning before I leave! Highly recommend to vegans, gluten free eaters, and even the “mainstream” diners as well.

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