Exchange Food & Drink

I truly love this place.
Every dish tasted homemade-​ish, that makes me relieved.
I recommend soup of the day for this cold weather. It tasted very good whenever I take.
And meat&potato is also good. When we had one the other day, it was fillet mignon rolled by bacon (it might be not exactly right name of the dish), and it was awesome.
For drinks, if you are not a big fan of bloody mary, I tell you not to take it. It’s huge. Massive size of glass and accessories… finishing it may become your burden.

I never would have ventured here if I weren’t meeting some friends who were staying nearby from out of town. I’m glad I did though, it’s in a nice location with a great parking lot, though I imagine when the nearby businesses are still open during the day it can get a little packed. For a table of four we didn’t have to wait too long to get seated (though the host seemed a bit distracted and rushed). I really liked the ambiance inside, kind of like an upscale sports bar, with a couple of TVs behind the bar.
Our server was great, she was really attentive and friendly. Even though she accidentally brought a straw despite my requesting not to get one in order to cut back on waste, she was very apologetic and was super supportive of the no-​straw pledge. That was great to see!
Our food was good too and everyone enjoyed their meals! Fries were delicious too. I had the veggie sandwich which had great flavor and even though it was smaller than I hoped, was still pretty filling. Overall, this is a place to try out, a little off the beaten path maybe, but well worth it!

Food was absolutely delicious. Had a sausage pizza and the fried chicken sandwich, so good. No complaints. All of the food was fresh. Kind of a weird atmosphere but otherwise stellar. Will go back for the food alone.

Best place right in my neighborhood with good beer selection. Try the umami bomb pizza. The best!

So, a few of us were looking for something close to our hotel, the Exchange came up in a Unilocal search. Atmosphere is sports bar-​ish, a bit loud (but not unbearably so), dress is casual. Menu is mostly burgers and sandwiches, with only five permanent entrees and a few specials on a separate menu.
Ordered the Rueben Loves Rachel, requested sauce on the side. That didn’t happen — that’s one ding. Beyond that, my friends’ meals were adequate but one described theirs as «forgettable».
Just so-​so.

The OMGato burger was tasty as hell and the service was fast too. Good separation between the bar and dining area. If you want a quick burger and beer then I would recommend it.

After about a half dozen times of coming here, I figured I should put up an updated review. The exchange has done a great job of renovating this space and turning it into a great place to have a bite to eat.
The food here has always exceeded my expectation. I won’t get started about the nachos with another one of my nacho breakdowns, I will say they did a fantastic job on making some top notch nachos. It’s good to know I have a nacho spot so close to home when I get the craving.
As a deviation from the shops that have occupied this place in the past, they have a great selection of local craft beers. This is huge to me. They are local and support local!
I’ve never had a problem with service here. (now I want nachos, dang it!)

It’s close to home, so I have been here several times. I was so excited to have a nearby bar! But, after eating here a few times, I can say it is just ok. The food is a let down. An ambitious menu, that doesn’t really deliver on most dishes. I do think the kimchi walleye tacos are great, but nothing else sticks out. It’s «fine» and it isn’t really ever busy, so finding a table on a Friday or Saturday night is never really a problem.

Sports bar. Barfood. Pizza pretty good tho surprisingly greasy when none of the ingredients are fatty. Hamburger ok tho short on cheese, not med rare as requested and a small size for the price; But the fries were NASTY. They need to change the fry oil & check the temp. Service friendly but very slow. Not sure if we will be back.

Everything that I’ve had at Exchange has been great. I would love if we had a place like this in my neighborhood.

We went last night for the first time on our anniversary date. The atmosphere is great! We sat outside. If you’re going to sit inside, bring a sweater, as it’s a little chilly. Everything on the menu looked good. We got the margherita pizza and the parmesan garlic fries. The pizza was delicious! Only downfall was the full cloves of garlic were on it, and it was date night, so we picked them off. The fries were really good. You get a HUGE plate of them, of which we barely made a dent.
Drinks were good– not too weak or too strong. The waitress, Lindsey, was super nice. We absolutely will be going back!

Our family had a birthday dinner for our grandson last night and we had a great dinner that included pizza made with fresh ingredients and craft beer on tap. Service was outstanding!

I decided I was no longer going eat food here and just order drinks… Well, I gave them one last chance and figured I would order dessert. You can’t screw up dessert, right?!? Wrong!
They came out with cookies and milk and I thought I was in good shape. How do you screw up cookies and milk??? They had pepper, yes pepper, on the cookies!!!
I asked the waitress if the cook was trying something new. She came back to the table and said the cook took them straight from the box and put them on the stove. Ha. Wow.

Been here thrice now. Great service, great garlic fries. The Cubano and Smoked Chicken Torta were both delish! The third time I tried the other appetizers– Kimchi Tacos — fried walleye overdone and a bit too much sweet sauce– hence the 4 stars. I will stick with Fries next time. Do need to do something about abundance of mozziesI on their fab deck. Overall great service every time. Plus for having a gluten free beer on the menu.
Will be back to try brunch sometime.

Cutting this place some slack because they were slammed with a huge group of marathon runners right before we got there. So they were unexpectedly understaffed. But I see some potential and would try again.
We had issues with our food. It was not hot, and the burger we ordered well done was very rare. They fixed that, and everything tasted good. Interesting menu at okay prices.
Atmosphere is sports bar and grillish. Staff was stressed out so I can’t speak to that. It is unusually loud up in here, so beware if you are sensitive to that.

New Brighton’s finest restaurant! This is a good place for dinner when you are in the area. It is easily accessible from 35W, exit 26 on County Road E2. It opened last Summer and since we live close by, we’ve been here a handful of times. They just started serving brunch and I’ve been spying out their Bloody Mary with the skewer of awesomeness. That’s next up on my list of things to try.
Their burgers are really good and their hand cut fries are tasty. The OMGatos burger is my favorite. It has jalapeño bacon, havarti, guacamole and pico de gallo but you can add lettuce, tomato and onions to suit your tastes. Most recently I tried their bacon cheeseburger with applewood smoked bacon. It is also delicious! I ordered a side of chive aioli to dip my fries in. This proved to be an excellent idea!
Each week the chefs announce a Weekly Specials Menu with appetizers, entrees and their Meat and Potato special. This week they had a 14oz New York Strip steak with garlic red wine mushrooms served with herb fingerling potatoes. We’ve also tried the Pizza for an appetizer. Can’t go wrong with a pizza for a light snack before your meal, I’ve found it’s always good. We got the Margherita with added pepperoni. The crust is a little thicker than Punch’s but not as dense as Luce’s. It’s a good size for about 2 – 3 people for sharing if you all plan on ordering an entrée.
For cocktails I like the Black Swan (Stoli vodka and Chambord) The Kentucky Creamsicle (Bourbon, orange liqueur, bitters and sour) and Sociable Cider Works. They also have this amazing stuff called Not Your Father’s Root Beer. Wow. It’s alcoholic root beer (6%) that is sweet and refreshing. Overall — it’s a lovely place with a nice little fireplace, a good size bar, friendly service and a brand new patio they just opened this summer!

Stopped by on a Friday night for a late dinner. Been here multiple times for lunch and love how home made everything is. The beer selection is pretty okay too. :)
Started with the seasonal tap and a seasonal bottle of brew and the chorizo and clams for an appetizer. It all was delicious and the chorizo had a nice heat to it/​the clams were perfectly prepared.
For the entrée the Cubano with fresh cut fries was shared and no leftovers were available. Would have been nice if the bun was a bit crustier, but it did not take away from the overall meal. I have likewise had the walleye in multiple forms on previous visits. If you like deep fried/​breaded fish, do it!
Service was helpful and attentive as well, even though the Friday night crowd was in.
Will be back many more times I am sure!

Excellent food, good wine, pleasing atmosphere. Had the chorizo and clams starter for a meal, and it was perfect. Wonderful house made chorizo was not too spicy, nothing overcooked. Just wish it had come with more bread:)

Absolute best thing on the menu is their selection of French Fries starters. We started with the Garlic Parmesan ones, and received a massive plateful for only $ 7. Real fries, perfectly seasoned. The fries that came with my burger were plentiful, and the server was amazing. I asked to try some of the cheese sauce that you can get with fries as an appetiser, and she brought me the perfect sized little cup of it.
All in all, fantastic server, fantastic food, and great atmosphere. I’ll be back, especially when you consider this is one of few places in our northern suburbs you can get good food.

Convenient to my hotel, the Exchange Food & Drink in Brooklyn Center, MN (suburban Twin Cities) seemed like a good location to tote a big group, of all different ages and palates. Mostly, it was. The menu features sandwiches, ‘bar food,’ burgers, salads, and a few entrees.
Exchange is ‘mildly spendy’ but fairly large servings.
The food was generally well received by our party of ten, and there were no delays in serving the entire party, which is good.
I had the Cuban sandwich, which followed the traditional recipe (made with ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard), but the kitchen tamps it down with a panini press. It was a little «over-​panini-​ed,» and the bread wasn’t very reminiscent of a traditional «Cuban bread,» usually used for this sandwich.
I have to call the restaurant on a couple things:
1) «Angus burger» is not a designation that means anything, as 80% of the beef cattle in America are angus. If you see «angus» on a menu you can yawn. If you see «certified black angus» you can smile.
2) «House cut fries» — they must have been out of them, as the fries that came with the sandwiches were not house cut or cut anywhere for that matter. They were an extruded fry, made from a mashed potato slurry, pushed through a mold, flash fried and quick frozen before being shipping to the restaurant.
Finally, in a world where everyone has become a foodie (or critic), it’s always disappointing to find a wait staff that isn’t very knowledgeable about a menu or ingredients — nor do they offer to go check with the kitchen, instead punting their way through a non-​answer. Oh well.
Should you go? Sure, why not, especially as it is an oasis in an area that is fairly lacking in restaurants. Should you make a special trip? That’s up to you. I wouldn’t.