Amazing Grace Bakery & Cafe

We were looking for a cool, local, small business restaurant to have lunch in… saw Amazing Grace Bakery and all 4 of us said, ‘bingo!’ However, after walking in and being yelled at and chastised by the heavy set boy with black hair, we left. Too bad.

I wanted to like this place. I’ve been here nearly an hour and still don’t have food.
I don’t have an hour this morning to waste. It’s busy but there are many empty tables so I don’t really understand what the problem may be. Can’t recommend it at all.
Update: while the wait was exceedingly long (over an hour), my food, Yukon Scramble, was very enjoyable. Staff was
apologetic, but no discount was offered for my inconvenience. They did say the kitchen had become very backed up and they had a new menu and POS system.
Bottom line: I left with a full tummy, and would consider returning… but would ask about delays before I was seated. I changed my rating from 1 star to 3.

Excellent. Kevin was superb! Thank you for the best part of our weekend get away. Great food!

We’ve eaten here a few times when in Duluth. They are friendly and the food is good. We enjoy the patio and the inside is eclectic. It keeps the little guy happy, too (kid friendly). The huevos rancheros were so tasty. My husband had Joe’s hash browns. Very tasty, too. The portions are not over done, which I really appreciate. We grabbed some gluten free cookies to go. They were delicious.

Just an okay experience. It’s dark in here and quiet. They do have a stage and a piano though. They also have boardgames and toys for kids. And books too.
Italian soda is alright. I had the strawberry one. I also got the cheesecake. It’s good.

Great atmosphere and comfortable for small groups, a date or just by yourself. The beverage and food menu looked pretty good and the harvest cookie I tried was out of this world! I love that they have fresh breads and quiche available.

Live music during Sunday breakfast hours and an aquarium inside the fireplace create a nice and relaxed atmosphere. The bread was really good, which will make me return to this place for sure.
Despite that, there are several reasons for my 3-​star rating.
There were only two waiters for the entire place and as friendly and helpful as they were, both seemed to be quite new and overwhelmed.
As much as I enjoyed the bread, my salmon omelet was a disappointment. The salmon itself was high quality but the huge slice of cheese placed on top of it less so. There was also way too much cheese inside. The hash browns I ordered on the side were as crispy as chips, extremely greasy and cold.
$ 30 for an omelet and 2 coffees is definitely on the pricey side.
Finally, when I give a waiter $ 40 and get a $ 10 bill in change, it makes me feel like they expect me to leave a $ 10 tip. I don’t want to presume that this was their intention, perhaps they just did not think about it. No hard feelings, I know they were inexperienced, and it was so busy that I just let it go and left $ 10 anyway.
I will surely come again to buy sourdough bread to go, which is too expensive but very good.

Horrible service. We were told that we would have a 20 minute wait and it ended up being 45 minutes. Waited an hour for our food which turned out to be overwhelmingly mediocre. Then our server messed up our bill and was unapologetic and refused to correct himself. We ended up paying for the items we didn’t purchase because at the rate they were providing service, we would have been there for at least another 30 minutes and we wanted nothing more than to leave this establishment and never return.

We almost missed this place because it was under a building, tucked away around a corner. The place is extremely cozy, nicely decorated and was fun to be in. The food was good and so was the coffee. The problem was they only had one serve, who was nice and helpful but she was busy handling the entire restaurant. There were two other tables and a couple of counter people. The reason this place did not score higher was our food took almost 40 minutes to arrive. We had to woof down our food and head out because we were going to be late for the conference we were attending. This place is good if you are not in a hurry want to enjoy some coffee with friends or family. Because we had to eat in a hurry I really don’t remember the food that well.

I love this place!
It’s tucked in the basement of a building full of restaurants and shops (a perfect place to relax and explore on a cold Duluth day). There are photographs of musicians who have performed at the venue all around the restaurant and on the rafters. It was fun to look at what has changed (and what hasn’t) over time and see the variety of talent that gets through the locale.
Their take on huevos rancheros was delicious and well fitted to Duluth. The black bean and jalapeño polenta was almost cornbread, and the onions and tomatoes in the dish were so fresh, almost out of place for the freezing January weather. The hash browns here made it for me, though. They are so crunchy! Breaking my over easy eggs into them with all the other flavors started my long day off perfectly.
I was here during the week, fairly early. There were about a half a dozen other diners. Service was done by one wait person. She did a great job and kept my coffee hot — allowing a coffee to go as part of my bottomless cup made my day even better.
Given the layout of the place, and it’s lower ceilings, I would love to visit on an evening when they have live music. I think the ambience would enhance the music and make for an enjoyable night.

Was disappointed by my visit to Amazing Grace today. Cheese was put on my sandwich even though I had ask that it be left off. When I pointed out that it was supposed to be without cheese the person making the sandwich became angry and started throwing the bread with the cheese onto the counter. It was very uncomfortable. To top it all off the bread was dry and tasteless!

I love Amazing Grace! The food is about as fresh as it gets, especially their super ripe, giant red tomatoes (they’ll make you rethink what Subways «tomatoes» actually are). I believe most, if not all, the ingredients are locally produced. They also bake all their own breads.
I usually get their half sandwich and half soup. Even at a half size their sandwiches are huge, with really thick, tasty bread. Although I will say the size of the sandwich seemed a little smaller the last time I visited. I’ll have to visit again to see if it was just a fluke or something. Their soups are always amazing. You really can’t go wrong with of the soups. Price-​wise, you get what you pay for. It’s slightly more expensive than a Subway, but again, you get what you pay for in the quality. They’re not trying to rip you off.
Besides the food, the actual atmosphere is unique and fun, and they even have an outside patio you can use in the summer. The staff have always been friendly, so nothing to complain about their, though there’s nothing necessarily unique about them either.
If you were to compare them with Subway on a 1 – 10 scale, Subway would be a 3, Amazing Grace would be an 8.

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day. I love having a warm cup of coffee with either a sweet or savory meal to accompany it. Unfortunately, this location was a bit of a disappointment.
My first issue was with the service. I was only given one cup of my bottomless coffee. Not once was I asked by my server if I wanted a refill. Needless to say, I found the bottom of my cup and I was left wanting more.
The second issue I had was with the French Toast. It was mostly just bread with a very light brushing of egg. I was pretty disappointed with the outcome and no amount of syrup could make up for it.
The restaurant itself is found in the basement level of an older building, and as such, our table just happened to be at this weird sloping junction. It was a bit awkward leaning over to one side for an entire meal. We had already waited 30 minutes for a table, and I didn’t want to wait for another one…
Although the muffins looked tasty, Overall, I don’t think I’d return again.

Amazing Grace has a nice atmosphere. It is a nice place to sit and talk, or study. Often times they have live music which can be quite entertaining.
They have a good selection of breakfast dishes as well as an assortment of large muffins which are quite tasty. The hot chocolate is good and you have the choice to top it off with a large quantity of whipped cream. I would recommend stirring up the hot chocolate though, because otherwise, when you get to the bottom of the mug, you might find a thick coating of chocolate sludge.
During my most recent visit to Amazing Grace, we unfortunately had to wait for an hour after ordering our food before we received it. That was pretty disappointing since we were extremely hungry and excited to eat. I’m not sure why it took quite as long as it did, because there were more than enough seats and tables to accommodate several more diners. I’m just glad the place wasn’t packed, who knows how long we would’ve waited!
Overall the food is good. There are several options including those with and without meat. I really wasn’t impressed with the eggs which seemed to be hardly cooked. I figured they would more likely be overdone rather than raw after an hour of waiting, but that wasn’t the case.
I noticed a black bean and peach muffin in the display that looked intriguing. I might make that selection upon my next visit.

Amazing Grace has a great atmosphere and is a wonderful place to get some pastries and coffee or a hot chocolate to warm up when it is cold by the lake. I found the staff to be very friendly. The play area for children with toys and a fish tank in a fireplace alcove makes this place very kid-​friendly as well.

Ventured in on a Tuesday morning. The hostess said the kitchen was backed up so it would be a while. We weren’t in a hurry and were willing to wait for the delicious food. However, the customers who were seated all looked PISSED — they were NOT happy. Several were complaining. I suspect they had been waiting a long time — I’m sure some of them will Unilocal the details.
We got the hell out of there before there was a mutiny.
I feel sad for this place. I bet the employees are miserable. They’ve got great food (based on my previous experience) — why can’t they figure out how to run a restaurant? Sigh.
We went to Uncle Louis instead (because they serve breakfast all day), which I will review separately.

I live in Duluth and two of my friends were visiting. We were in canal park and thought this looked like the perfect place for brunch. We thought wrong.
We were told that there was a 15 minute wait. It took an hour to get a table. We sat down and did not even have a waiter approach us for 15 more minutes. The staff was super rude and the food took forever. By the time we got our breakfast it was well past 12 and we would have been better just getting lunch. None of our food was anything special, I would have rather had cereal. My visiting friend was also in the military and when the waitress saw her military i. d she scoffed.
It was very embarrassing for me to take my friends to this restaurant because it was a horrible portrayal of the people in Duluth. I would NEVER recommend this place to anyone.

Came back here this past weekend and it just does not disappoint! We were able to sit in a cute cove near a window that was surrounded by plants. It was adorable!
Came for a late lunch and decided to split the Lakewalk Special with a side salad. Seriously, I have never had a sandwich so good! It had turkey breast with lettuce, cucumber, tomato, alfalfa sprouts, swiss cheese and a very yummy cranberry mayo. At first I was a little turned off by the cranberry mayo since I thought it would be sweet but it ended up being my favorite part about the sandwich cause it added a good kick of flavor. It was a big sandwich but was so tasty and filling! For my small salad, you can choose two vegetables so I got tomatoes and green peppers. It came with a brown dressing that made the simple salad quite good!
Their sandwiches are the best! Very filling and everything is made from scratch so it is super fresh!

This is my favorite breakfast place in Duluth. Dont subject yourself to the hotel «continental» and miss this place. Great underground/​terrace level atmosphere. Food is from scratch, pancakes are housemade batter. Usually dont eat my toast, but if you do its baked locally. Good, strong coffee to kickstart your day and they have all the coffee drinks/​latte/​mocha you could ask for as well. My only small gripe would be for them to up their game with a REAL maple syrup.

Sigh. So much potential here, but somewhat unfulfilled.
We happened to eat here twice in a 24-​hour period, and here’s what I can say:
Location: Can’t beat it really. Parking in Canal Park can be a bit of a chore but we generally have luck in one of the nearby lots, which are free during the off-​peak season. Yay for free parking. You can enter Amazing Grace from inside the building by going downstairs or from outside by walking through the patio and down the little stairway (Cheers style) to the exterior door.
Food: Overall really high marks on the food.
–The coffee is deeelicious. Strong, not bitter, not burnt and roughly $ 3 for a bottomless cup. Yay.
–Pastries are impressive and also delicious. Clearly hand-​made. We ordered a cinnamon roll in the morning and I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed that it wasn’t warmed at all. I do see why it’s a popular place to stop for a cup and a treat.
–On our first visit I got the quiche, which was delicious. I was somewhat concerned when the girl helping me took a slice out of the fridge and basically nuked it for three minutes in the microwave. But it came out perfectly delightful. Fluffy moist egg, delicious sausage with enough cheese to taste but not be gooey. Light delicious crust. I also added on the fruit cup, which was fairly disappointing. Over-​ripe on the verge of rotting strawberries and a bunch of under-​ripe melon chunks.
–Hubby got half a pastrami sandwich, which he said was very good except for not having enough pastrami. Half a sandwich is definitely plenty for most people.
–Next day we were there for breakfast instead of lunch and I got the smoked salmon omelette, which is made with salmon from the Smokehaus right upstairs. I had high hopes. The omelette itself was good — but not worth the $ 13+ price. I really felt like they jam packed it full of veggies and pesto to avoid having to be generous with the salmon. If you go to the Duluth Grill and get the omelette made with the same exact fish, it is $ 15 and it is absolutely packed with salmon. I prefer that version, I have to say.
–And hubby got the hash thing, which got pretty good reviews from many people in our party.
Service: Well, not the speediest place. The restaurant itself is pretty small, so big parties, big crowds and anything seemed to throw a wrench in the operation. The first day, we ordered half a sandwich and an item that apparently is just microwaved and it seemed to absolutely bring the line to a grinding halt. In all, it took a good 10 minutes for our food to appear (the nuked piece of quiche and a half sandwich), and there were several people waiting behind us by the time we were done. Then the girl didn’t really know how to use the register, adding more delay. The following morning, it was busy weekend brunch time and we had a party of seven. So we had to wait a good amount of time for there to even be a table large enough to accommodate us. Once they called us to say our table was ready, we found that it was actually not ready. They still had to wipe it down. Seemed pretty disorganized as an operation. Once seated our waiter actually demonstrated good menu knowledge and was friendly enough, but he was taking care of half the restaurant. Net result: our service really suffered. Things were slow, it was impossible to flag him down to the point where we started getting up to get our own coffee refills, and he even just flat-​out forgot a few items we requested because he was so harried. I also thought it was odd that he only brought water to people who requested it (why not bring one for everyone?) and likewise only brought tiny ramekins of jam/​ketchup to the table, again only for people who specifically requested it. Seemed a bit stingy. So service really not great either for a quick bite or a full sit-​down meal with six of my friends. Unfortunate because the service, slowness and general disorganization really takes away from what otherwise is really good food.
Other notes: The live music guitarist playing during Sunday brunch was really a delightful treat. We tipped him well.