Gorman’s Restaurant

Great milkshakes!!! Food is a 2. However the mozzarella sticks were good. My kids liked their food but they’re 5&6?

When you crave home cooking or a big ol’ country style breakfast any day of the week, this hometown favorite is our first choice. Their menu has something for everyone!

So, my family and I are sitting in Gorman’s waiting for our food as I write this. My wife and daughter actually got their food about 5 minutes ago, my son and I are still waiting.
The milkshakes had ice in them, from freezer burned ice cream I assume. The food is food, not very flavorful but not the worst either. The prices are expensive for the subpar food and slow service.
We’ve tried it, we won’t be back. And I suggest you avoid this spot as well.

I would give them 1 star if I didn’t work right next to them and if their staff was worse.
They have little to no vegetarian options.
Their tuna melt is pretty darn tasty but very greasy and sometimes upsets my stomach. The fries are almost always cold by the time they get to us. Malts and shakes have always been great (except that one time the ice cream tasted freezer burnt. I’ll let it slide) and they come in a wide variety of flavors and combos.
Most of my coworkers love the chicken bacon ranch wrap so I guess I would recommend it though I’ve never actually had it. One of us ordered the pork chop dinner once and it was under cooked and awful so I would definitely not recommend those meats (steak, etc).
I have only tried the clam chowder twice and I really liked it the first time. The second time they must have changed the recipe because there were huge chunks of onion that overpowered the soup. Sadly, I won’t get it again.
If it wasn’t for having a gift card I would not partake in Gorman’s food. I usually eat it for convenience sake. To me their food is below par but locals tend to love it. It’s a family restaurant and is usually very busy. Not a place I would recommend unless you have elderly in company.
This place also loves to express their political views which I find inappropriate. I’m eating at a restaurant why should I know how you feel about abortion? Strange.

Food is pretty bad and I would rather spend my money where there are not Pro Life signs everywhere.

Interesting looking establishment. Tried it without checking reviews. Not a good choice. Chicken was ‘burn your tongue’ hot while green beans were cold on the same plate. Ground sirloin steak was a frozen hamburger patty cooked and plopped on the plate. Fruit was ok and house salad was fine. A bit overpriced in my opinion. As our «Aunt» would say, «it was warm.»
Wait staff was friendly and checked on us frequently.

Thankfully I did not look up this restaurant on Unilocal,it would have been one of the very few times Unilocal would have failed me. Our RV host sent us to Gorman’s and we are SO happy he did. At first glance the place looks very kitchy, but after you have settled in your seat and REALLY look around you realize you are in one of the most awesome private collections of Lake Elmo History.
Every piece is labeled, so you know where the window frame came from that has now been repurposed into a picture frame and each and every picture is labeled of who it is and when it was. I loved being in the middle of Lake Elmo history. There are obituaries of loving customers who have long since passed and yet are made part of the history. LOVE their décor. You can tell that the décor was created with great love for this area and its residents. Lake Elmo residents you are very fortunate to have the Gorman Family retain so much of your history.
Now since this is a restaurant and not a museum (kinda both), you are probably more interested in knowing how I felt about their food. Hubby and I both LOVED it. This is Americana at its best. Good old fashioned, home cooked food. We loved it so much we came back everyday of our stay in Minnesota. We had both lunch and breakfast here and never had a complaint. Plus the service is exceptionally friendly and you feel like you’ve gone to a friends home for a meal.
Lunch we had Chicken Cesar salad and Split Pea Soup with half a Turkey Melt Sandwich. Let me start with the sandwich had a true roasted breast that was sliced perfectly. The turkey was moist and full of flavor. The sandwich was so good I wished I had ordered the full sized sandwich. My split pea soup was FULL of ham, potatoes and carrots. It was very flavorful and I ate the whole thing. (rare for me to do) Hubby loved his salad and even though he hates peas, tried my soup and loved it. I would order this entire meal again. Everything was so fresh and just plain good.
Breakfast we ordered the Biscuits and Gravy with 2 poached eggs, and the Country Breakfast. The first thing I have to tell you is that the sausage they served here is SO FREAKING GOOD. I asked if they made it in house, you can tell it’s not the pre-​formatted processed sh**. They told me they do not make it in house, but it is locally made. You can taste the freshness, and the fact that it is served in a hamburger pattyesque style you know it’s bulk and not overly processed. LOVED the sausage, it has a nice flavor to it, but it is not an over whelming taste, so it blends well with your breakfast. My biscuits and gravy were very good, eggs cooked perfectly (I have been known to send eggs back faster than a chicken can lay them) and my gravy was tasty. I did add pepper to my gravy, but that’s because I have always liked it on the peppery side.
You would think that all this lovely food would cost a pretty penny, but it doesn’t. They are very reasonable and they serve good sized portions. It’s a fun place to walk around and look at all their artifacts, they even have a patio to take advantage of on a nice day. On top of all of this, if you are running on empty and just want to stay in your PJ’s, THEY HAVE A DRIVE THRU. I have been told by several people that their ice cream and shakes are remarkable. I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to try these, but since we will be back here next year, I have plenty of time to try this again.

Been going to this restaurant for years, my family is good friends with the owners but that wont exactly restrict me of my opinion. The food is good while not outstanding or great by any stretch of the imagination, the atmosphere is top notch with Minnesota memorabilia all over the walls and it’s practically a museum which is pretty neat. It’s located between Lake Elmo and Stillwater, which gives it a nice «farm feel» to it, definitely a cool place to sit in and watch storms roll in with the open fields. The service can be slow sometimes, while them being friendly. I would recommend it to anyone passing by but would let them know of not expecting excellence. If my experiences change at all I will come back to edit this reivew.

This is a local favorite and it has good reason to be loved by all! The breakfast is always really good and the atmosphere isn’t bad. It’s definitely a family restaurant so make sure you expect to see lots of little kids.

This joint is a below par greasy spoon, standard fare made dull. OK for breakfast but go somewhere else for lunch or dinner. What’s even more unappetizing than the food is the thicket of right-​wing political signs out in front. Guess the owner is more committed to making the rich richer than making the food better!

This place is more about the atmosphere than the food. It has a country-​kitsch feel and oldies playing on the speakers, and you can sit in a booth with a view of a farm field and/​or Stillwater Boulevard. The food (I had steak and eggs) isn’t amazing (the steak was about ¼ gristle), but I’d say it’s good enough for eating in the sunshine with a country view. The service was friendly and satisfactory, though not amazing. Worthwhile if you’re in the area and need a meal, but nothing to go out of your way for. I enjoyed spending time here while waiting for my car to be serviced across the street.

Not as good as most bad café places, I got the Cod fish n chips fish was Way over Done and a Stingy Portion with under cooked Fries and Coleslaw that tasted like Grass Clippings and Mayo they brag everything homemade I think the Sysco People could help them out a little with some pre made items, and if the service could of been a little faster and or even friendlier would of been nice, Now I see why I have drive past so many times

Stopped in for pancakes after church on Sunday and was greeted with the wonderful smell of fried onions. This led me to forgo the cakes and order one of the best patty melt sandwiches I have ever tasted. Prices were reasonable and the service friendly. Nice family diner. I will return here, if nothing else but to stop and smell the onions.

Um– not worth a stop unless you are starving and want the basics badly done.
the «last straw» for me was the whole wheat toast that was treated to «the brush” — big glob of margarine brushed on cold toast and sent out on the side of the scrambled eggs and bacon.
the fried potatoes were real potatoes — but served on a cold plate… not so great.
Lipton tea.
My companions’ food was also just so-​so to bad. One friend had 2 fried eggs brought to him on a cold plate and the waitress said — «Your biscuits and gravy will be right out»… 10 min later, when the biscuits arrived — the eggs were ice cold and he asked for new hot ones. …The folks in the kitchen may have gotten away with this in the 1970s — but not now.
Now you gotta CARE a little anyway.
Décor is kitchy kitch –
the bathroom was clean.

Food is available. Omelets were just folded eggs. Sysco ingredients. Coffee was truck-​stop average. Meh!

Went in with extended family. EVERY meal was cold. Were so hungry that some of the people at cold. The other people sent back to be «Nuked» (yumyum). Still came back luke warm. Manager with the last name of Gorman treated my older dad with great disrespect after my dad had very politely told him that this has been an issue for years and that maybe he (the manager) wasn’t aware as my dad did not know how long he had worked there. Very snidely the manager states, will I have been her 33 years, maybe that’s not long enough. I have never been treated so rude. I stated that with a bill that large, my dad should be comp’d. He laughed and stated that it must not have been too bad if it was eaten. I will NEVER return and I will do everything in my power to make his amazing lack of respect known.

We stopped in for lunch after running an errand. The place looked really cute and we were hungry. Hubs and I split a Chocolate Banana shake which was really good, probably the best thing we had.
He had French Onion soup to start which was good but the cheese was all at the bottom instead of on top and broiled. It was odd. I don’t remember what he followed that with, I think a burger which was fine.
I had the french dip which was ok but the au jus was completely lacking in flavor and it was greasy. Fries were fine.
Service was great and the breakfast options looked good. We won’t be going out of our way.

Incredible Chef’s salad! Real turkey– yes! Wonderful soups nad sandwiches too. Comfortable and affordable.

We stopped in here over the holidays for a bite. My husband had a great Reuben here and that is the bulk of the three star rating right there. The service was slow and very unenthusiastic. My burger looked wonderful — but the smell of it turned me off so badly I could barely finish it. When we left the entry way reeked like my burger and I looked at my husband and said it smelled like bad Burger King — so maybe they flame broil there burgers here?
I should probably thank them for turning me off Burger King. I haven’t been able to eat there in months.
I think I would stop in again and get a sandwich since my husband loved his Reuben — but I am not a fan of their burgers at all. I suspect if you think Burger King is awesome you would really like there burgers though.