Keys Cafe

It was the worst experience of breakfast ever. I ordered egg benedic with steak. My eggs are fried eggs not poached like they were supposed to. The steak taste like rubber, not real meat whatsoever. The muffins a were burnt and hash brow were half cooked. If you don’t know how to poach an egg then don’t call it egg benedic. It was 12 $ so expensive worth of junk in my mouth. Come to Fat Nat for great egg benedic and breakfast experience. It’s even cheaper there too. Ugh I’m so mad

So, we recently had a chocolate cake from Keys and boy, was it moist and delicious. It was a chocolate cake with a marbled white and chocolate frosting. Not only was it beautiful, but it was a scrumptious cake. It wasn’t dry. It had a decent amount of frosting. It tasted like homemade. We all loved it. I can’t speak to Keys’ other food items or desserts, but based on the cake alone, I’d return to try other items. It was THAT good!

Horrible! Horrible! Horrible! Not only is the food atrocious but the service as well. Came in with my Grandma today and was told we would have to wait a little bit by the receptionist. That’s fine, she was friendly and apologetic. The problem is when Celine came. The receptionist says to her «table for two.» Celine looks right at us with this annoyed look and says «I’m already trying to seat other people.» Really? No hello or okay one second? Talk about rude woman. As for the food, one of the worst places in town. The cheese is plastic molded like, the eggs are like a webbing of disgust and the sauce tasted repulsive. Not to mention their was something floating in my water. Go be a bitch to somebody else Celine.

A strong four stars. I really like their breakfast food. They know what good bacon is, they have homemade jam, and the wait staff are really nice. I had a really good cod sandwich recently, as well as a bowl of chili which I found almost too good to be true! Get a burger sometime. It is one of those classic American diners that has a small-​towny feel to it. I grew up on this stuff! Keep it up, Guys.

First time coming to Keys because I’ve heard a lot about it. No wonder why! It’s a cute countryside type place with a family like atmosphere. Jackie was our server and she was so sweet! I had the bisquits and sauage gravy and my mom got a couple eggs with potatoes and their homeade sourdough toast. YUM! The best bisquits and gravy I’ve ever had, and believe me when I say that’s my favorite breakfast! Definitely will be back!

The food was delicious, we ordered an omelette and cinnamon French toast. We highly recommend it. Heather was our waitress and she was really sweet and very attentive.

I had a great experience today at the St. Paul Key’s location, food and service was great as always! My only issue was during the process of paying the cashier up front after dining in. The cashier was conversing with her coworkers behind the counter rather than having her complete attention with us, my girlfriend payed with her credit card and I handed the cashier the tip in cash for the server, I just hope the correct server received my tip given the fact that the cashier was not really paying attention

Came in from out of state and stopped here for lunch. Food was great and service/​hospitality was exceptional!

This is the place to go for good comfort food. Portions are huge, great bacon, and pancakes. Dinner options are an assortment of options you might make from home and every bit as good. Do try the roast beef. Broasted chicken is some of the twin cities best. Great spot to grab breakfast or lunch. It is a diner, don’t expect much in the way of classy. This is my hangover spot!

This was my first time at the Keys café. Very homey atmosphere. I ordered the smoked salmon eggs benedict and it was delicious! The hollandaise sauce was good and they weren’t shy with the portions. Our waitress was friendly and made sure our drinks next ran low.

Excellent breakfast! Great after church spot! The omelettes are fantastic. The service is great. The atmosphere is very homey. Love this place.

The service was very fast, which made me wonder if everything is made in advanced and nuked. One of us had their hash and I had a bite. Awesome roast beef in it. I ordered the salmon eggs benedict and it was mediocre at best, although the eggs were done as advertised and the way I like them. The English muffin was rubbery to cut, which made me wonder about the nuking; the hollandaise had *not so much as a hint of lemon flavor* and had me wondering if it was chicken gravy, and the honey-​whatever salmon was uninspiring. Our server was cheerful and patient but next time I want eggs benedict, I’ll go to Al’s in Dinkytown where they make real hollandaise. I know Keys has a wonderful reputation but I was underwhelmed.

Of all the Keys Café locations we’ve visited, I like this one the best so far. It was much more warm and inviting. It really seemed like a neighborhood hangout and popular breakfast place. I’m sorry to say, but the other Keys locations we’ve tried have not seemed as comfortable, welcoming or popular. The front display case is full of delicious looking baked goods. Maybe next time I will have room to try one!
Food-​wise, it was good. I tentatively ordered the biscuits and gravy and was pleasantly surprised. My plate was loaded with a generous portion — four smallish biscuits covered in sausage gravy, very crunchy hashbrowns and two eggs the way I requested them. The eggs were cooked well. I also got a side of toast, which was really yummy, especially with the house jam. My husband got a grilled bacon and cheese sandwich with a beef barley soup. He said it was good. I think overall, it’s a really solid diner/​café type place. Nothing that will blow your mind but a very good quality meal. Coffee was nice and strong and served in big mugs.
Service-​wise, I have to say things were lacking. Our server was friendly and she took our order correctly. But I would say she was inattentive. It took a long time for her to come greet us, a long time to get our food, we had to flag her down for a coffee refill, she didn’t notice we had no cream left on the table and we had to ask for that too, water refills were scarce, etc. And I was somewhat annoyed when she spotted someone she knew and plopped down in their booth with them for a chat. Sorry, but if you’ve got a slammed restaurant and are already doing a mediocre job of tending to your section, it’s not time for social hour.
In addition, there is a bit of disorganization in the front of the house between new people lining up to be seated and departing guests lining up to pay at the register. We experienced this when we walked in since we were unsure where to go to be seated, and we experienced it on the way out as well, when it took us at least 10 minutes to actually pay and get out the door. The woman paying in front of us was using a gift card, and there was an issue with processing the payment correctly. One little snafu and it brought the entire front of the house to a stand-​still. The girls at the register tried their best, but it was not a great way to end an otherwise decent meal.
So – foodwise, pretty solid. Service and organization wise, not so much. But we would definitely stop back just on the merit of the food.

Back to my favorite Keys (well, toss up with Foshay) this weekend. Ironically, not by choice though. Met up for brunch, late breakfast, lunch — whatever the hell you call it, I eat so much I quit keeping track of meal names, Saturday around noon. Of course, WBL around this hour is a packed place, so parking can be a bit tricky. But, for those that don’t know, this Keys location is about as close to «small town café» as it gets. Blink and you’ll literally drive right by. In any event, I used to come to this one so much not too long ago that my waitress asked «didn’t you used to have a mohawk?» Needless to say, this Keys and I have met.
Enough about that, onto the review. Brief wait for a table, which is expected. I expected service to be a bit slower given the rush, and it was. Were seated for a solid 8 – 10 before the waitress came by (no drink offer in the mean time, just had waters delivered which was fine). Minds were made and everything ordered at that time.
Naturally, I order a colossus of food… short stack with the Keys omelet, which is one of the bigger omelets a human can order in this state. Everything from the cooler gets thrown in pretty much.
As we waited for food, my neighbor table had a 3 – 4 year old little kid who ordered pancakes, and they came out in the shape of Mickey Mouse. Damn that little turd for showing me up to my date with his creative genius. And of course it was too long after I ordered to request this. Can you say jealous?
Food came out and it was everything I knew it would be. Pancakes were incredible, fluffy, soaked up the syrup (not real maple though, which I’ll get into later) and had amazing buttermilk flavor. Alright, to hell with later, what the fuck is with this corn syrup Log Cabin shit they give you? I didn’t realize Keys was too cheap to afford solid, real maple syrup. Don’t start with the «you can’t taste a difference» BS. Get some real stuff from northern Minnesota, Quebec, Vermont or even across the border in Wisconsin, taste it, and then tell me «you can’t taste the difference.» If you can actually utter that to me afterwards, to hell with you, you don’t know good syrup and I won’t bother explaining the meaning of life to you.
Alright, onto the omelet, it’s too early on a Monday to remain that pissed. Fantastic. loaded to the brim, but still able to close it. Good mix of veggies, hash, sausage, and cheese. Went VERY well with the sourdough toast.
Service during and after when it calmed down in the place was exactly how I’d like to be, attentive but not intrusive, waters were refilled a couple times while we sat and chatted.
The only thing holding back the 5 star is the syrup choice. Do everyone a favor and ditch the Log Cabin and buy real syrup from a Minnesota company. Picky, I know.

I’ve eaten at Keys once before and remembered it being a really good breakfast. I swear You can smell the freshly baked bread from miles away, so I decided to order take out for lunch yesterday. I called to ask about the daily selection of soups but they didn’t sound super appealing to me, so I decided to get a salad. I ordered the blue cheese and sugared pecan salad, but the person I was speaking to on the phone didn’t seem like she knew what I was talking about at first which confused me. She wasn’t very professional over the phone so I’m just assuming she’s new! No big deal. They told me it would be ready in about ten minutes so I waited 15 and headed over there. It was all ready and packed up in a to go container and bag for me!!! I was so excited to eat it as I was starving.
Unfortunately my work got really busy once I was back so I had to delay eating my salad for about 30 more minutes. Once I finally had the chance to indulge, I opened the container and something about the salad looked entirely boring and basic. It was so simple and didn’t look extremely appetizing but I went ahead and started eating it. Then all of a sudden I came to a sad, appetite crushing realization — they had forgotten my blue cheese … How does one forget to put an ingredient on a salad that’s in the name of the menu item!!! Ugh. By then it was too late and since I had ordered it to go, I wasn’t about to head back over there to ask for a side of blue cheese or a new meal. I fully believe that take out orders deserve attention to detail because most people don’t think to double check that they’re getting what they’re paying for at the counter! Had I been eating in the café, it would have been easy to correct the mistake but that was not the case.
I’m very discouraged now and am not sure if I’ll ever order lunch from this Keys location again.

Great little diner/​restaurant! Street parking is available and I have never had to search. The portions in this place are fantastic. For the most part, you can’t go wrong. I loooooove their breakfast and their bakery items are dynamite. You won’t break the bank eating here either. Staff has always been friendly and even the people have been friendly (other patrons). It’s a nice little place to come eat and they have never disappointed me.

We were visiting the cities from out of state and found Keys Café online. Four of us had breakfast there and it was wonderful. Great menu and great food. Service even better. Friendly atmosphere and great food and service. Loved it.

My second visit for breakfast was as great as my first. Four of us ate here twice and there were no complaints and not much conversation as we wolfed down our food. The food is excellent and the service top notch: friendly and fast. There can be a line to get in for breakfast, but the wait is generally under 15 minutes and the food is worth it. This is midwestern family food at its best.

My daughter talked me into going here for lunch against my wishes because the other key’s locations I have been in just reminded me of perkins or bakers square. This one had more class and a warm and inviting interior. We wanted breakfast for lunch so we split a huge omlet with onions, cheese, peppers and hashbrowns and a side of pancakes. The pancakes are huge and really yummy. The daughter said I think they put sugar in the batter. I am guessing vanilla and malt… but delicious yes they are and the onions and peppers are huge chunks and al dente’. Everything was awesome and they even have their own homemade jam that comes with the homemade bread. Great Job Keys Café White Bear…

Came here one night for dinner — who doesn’t like some good old breakfast for dinner right? — and left feeling good about the place as I would expect from this Key’s. Had the biscuits and gravy with hash browns and eggs and overall was pleased. However they did overcook the eggs and tried to serve them to me. When I made a comment, then it dawned on them to cook two new eggs really quick and replace them — only causing me to become a bit annoyed. The hash browns were nice and crispy so went really well with ketchup and the sausage gravy was flavorful and went very well with the biscuits. The portions (of course) were huge too!
New thing I learned about this place though, you get a free cupcake on your birthday! Really nice that they didn’t make my group go up to the cash register to pay either and have the awkward conversation of how much we wanted to tip right there at the counter.