French Meadow Bakery & Cafe

This place has a lot of potential, but the service is very poor, and the food is very overpriced. There is a really nice atmosphere, and a great patio for the warmer months. I have been here at least 6 or 7 times, and have been disappointed almost every time, with both the food and the service. They have a few great options, like the tempeh reuben and their spa bowl, but also a few not so great ones. I ordered the tofu scramble for breakfast one day, and had trouble even trying it because the stench was so strong. It was soggy, and was topped with a strange mixture of spices. I also ordered their $ 8 oatmeal bowl, which was also soggy and topped with very little fruit. This place is great for something fresh when you’re at the airport, but there are many other restaurants I would choose from in the St. Paul area.

This is without a doubt the freshest, most delightful food you’ll ever taste. I went to this place with my counsin and a friend and we were all very impressed. If you’re looking for a nice place to have breakfast or lunch you’ll always find it here.

My love and I frequent French Meadow quite a bit. I try something new every time I’m there and have never been disappointed. For breakfast, the Blueberry Corn Pancake is by far my favorite choice and for lunch and dinner, the Green Coconut Curry is my go-​to. If you’re into dessert, the Hemp Brownie is a must! The reason for my three star rating is due to the service. It is not particularly fast or efficient. Even worse, I feel that many of the waiters and waitresses have a holier than thou attitude, which is very off-​putting. This is definitely not true for everyone that works there – some of the employees are fantastic! Others never check up on us at all, so it is definitely hit or miss. This won’t keep us from returning, but it’s unfortunate to be given a standoffish attitude by some. I love the food, but dining out is about the whole experience, and the slow service has unfortunately been consistent with each visit. Perhaps my love and I should try out the French Meadow in Minneapolis to see if the service is any better.

Pretty space with lots of variety. Coffee had lots of milk options, but the coffee itself was weak and underwhelming.

The food is yummy but the service is definitely NOT the best. If you don’t care about excellent service, then this is the place for you. It has good food but the service (waiters/​servers) are trained poorly.

I went here over a year ago and didn’t Unilocal at the time — shameful. Ever since then I have wanted to go back but couldn’t remember the name and my hubby, who can usually remember how to drive back to a place, was equally clueless. Found it! What I loved — menu, quality, staff, ambiance, patio — wait a minute — EVERYTHING.

It’s rare for me to order a salad over such incredible entrée options, but this salad is worth it! An amazing combination of flavors, each bite unique. And the best part-​gluten free!

My girlfriend and I usually go to the St Paul French Meadow about once a month. The service has been deteriorating the last few times we’ve been here. Waitstaff didn’t come back to check on how we liked our food or if we needed a refill on our beverages.
The four star review is because the food here is way more consistent and delicious than the Minneapolis location. St Paul FM has never messed up my usual order of spicy hashbrowns, my chai is always perfect, and the mimosa pours generous. I’ve never been disappointed with the food here, and I can’t say the same for the Uptown location.
This location is more drafty in the wintertime but their booths are more comfortable and it’s a lot more quiet. Check out the back patio during the warmer months.

Great food, great beer selection, great ambiance, great service, everything was excellent. They’re dog friendly which is a major plus and they were very accommodating for my party’s and my various obnoxious requests :)
Oh! Ask to be seated in the back patio. It’s beautiful and tranquil.
We’ll definitely be back soon

We found this little café while stopping through at Macalester. It was absolutely darling! The food was delicious — I had the omelette of the day which had Brussels sprouts, broccoli, bacon, and Asiago cheese. We also had the blueberry muffin — HIGHLY recommend this! The coffee was delicious too. It was reasonably priced and the service was excellent. I would definitely recommend this café to anyone looking for a delicious breakfast!

Food was average. Had eggs Benedict of which I am an aficionado. In order it anytime of the day at a new restaurant if it’s on the menu. I expected a wonderful and flavorfully complex hollandaise being this is a French café. What I got was kettle better than a Perkins sauce. Bland and uninspired. Luke warm as well. And the eggs and ham were just as Luke warm. As if they had been sitting for a bit. The sauce is fine that way because you have to preserve its consistency but the game and egg and muffin should be piping hot. Also, the standard should be a starch to accompany. Not a greens side that tasted as if it was a mixed greens organic valley blend purchased at nearest store. Plus salad should never be served with a French breakfast. I will say the side of hash browns I ordered after were very delicious and would have been excellent as standard side.
Disappointing.
That being said the staff was friendly and polite and the space was charming.

I really wish I would’ve read reviews before coming here.
We walk in, it was pretty slow. There were two staff behind the bar with their backs to us before one finally turned around to see us waiting to be seated. Before we even sit down our waitress asks us what we want to drink.
I am not vegan, but I ordered the vegan breakfast. Tofu scramble was flavored with that terrible pre-​packaged tofu scrambler seasoning packet from fantastic foods. So lazy and not tasty. Hash browns were soggy and under cooked, toast was dry. There were also some gross, rubbery «sausage» pucks.
Our waitress checked on us once at the very start of our meal and never came back. When she came to bring us our check she asked,” did you not like your food or something?” I said no, it was not good. She looked at me like, «well???» and walked away.
They did nothing to try and fix the situation, except give me a vegan bar that melted on the 7 minute drive home.
I’ve worked in the service industry, I know it’s hard and sucks. But if a business cares nothing of its patrons OR the food that’s being served, they should not be in business.

Having at best a mediocre experience at the uptown French Meadow, I was very hesitant to even step foot in the St Paul Grand Ave location.
The only positive thing I will say is that the ambiance is alright. But that’s it.
Oh what a total disaster from beginning to end. We walk in to a less than quarter full restaurant around 10 am. Yet the hostess pays absolutely no mind to us patiently waiting to be seated, too busy gabbing to her co worker who both actually turned their backs to us. We are finally seated, given menus and immediately rushed to order. I ordered the huevos rancheros. My partner ordered some breakfast plate.
So after a decent amount of time our food arrives. My huevos rancheros are totally overcooked and tortillas burned to a crisp. Like shouldn’t have left the kitchen bad. My partners meal looked awful, seriously have had better looking food in Hennepin County Jail. It seriously was just frozen hash browns undercooked, rubbery overcooked sausage, and dry cold toast. The waitress had attitude when asking if we needed anything. Only later to throw a fit when it came up that our food was awful. She straight up scoffed at us. The service was so bad the garbage that was presented to me as food was nearly forgotten. Will never return. Will steer anyone I know or talk to away from this hellhole. Dennys or Perkins would be better choice by far.

I first visited French Meadow in December for my dad’s birthday 2015. We were actually going to Shish, but didn’t realize it wasn’t big group friendly. We walked around a bit to see where else we could fit our whole family and stumbled upon French Meadow. We arrived probably after 6pm and were able to get seated right away. We had about 12 total people. The service was great.
The only thing is that my fiancé and I are vegetarians. So I ordered the tempeh tacos and my brother’s gf ordered the fish taco. When the server brought over the dishes, he said tempeh tacos? and I raised my hands and he gave me the plate. I was eating and enjoying it. Then after I finished one, one piece of something fell out of my taco. I looked at it, and realized it was not tempeh at all! I got the fish tacos and my brother’s gf got my tempeh tacos! I was not happy, but what could I do at this point. I’ve already consumed it. We traded plates, but I lost my appetite at that time. I just kindly informed our waitress that the server gave us the wrong dishes, and she removed one of the dishes from our tab. Other than that, the experience was fine.
The Fiancé vowed never to go back again. He was more upset than me, even though I ate the fish. It was such a huge mistake and how could someone even make a mistake like that. Good thing I did not have a food allergy.
Anyways. fast forward to 2016, it’s our new favorite breakfast spot. LOL We went there two weekends in a row and two days back to back. They have so many vegetarian friendly dishes on the menu. I’ve tried the eggs benedict with vegan sausge, the quesadilla, and the Class Vegan Breakfast. I loved the eggs benedict and the quesadilla, but didn’t really enjoy the tofu scramble of the Classic Vegan Breakfast. It was a bit powdery, not quite sure how to explain. Just wasn’t my thing. I’m excited to go back and try some other vegetarian/​vegan dishes. I’m hoping to go back for dinner at some point.

Me and my family stopped I eat here last weekend and it was a lovely experience. There was a little bit of a wait as the restaurant was pretty busy and we didn’t have any reservations but no in longer than 10 minutes we were seated in a nice booth. I have dined here before and love the ambience and cool style of the restaurant. I also love that they grow a lot of food around the area in urban gardens. There are options for everyone wether you are gluten free, vegetarian, or just love a nice juicy cheeseburger. We started with the pomme frites as an appetizer and I had the blackened fish tacos followed by a fruit tart. It was delicious and the service was amazing. Our server was very knowledgable and made great recommendations. I’m definitely looking forward to coming back in the future and I would definitely recommend this restaurant to friends.

My Mom and I visited recently on a Saturday around lunch time. It was almost completely full, but we were promptly seated. The waitress was awkward; I asked for water and then she just walked away without asking what my Mom wanted to drink.
As for food, I had the turkey burger. It was honestly one of the best burgers I have ever had! The last bite made me sad. I really liked their ketchup and fries as well.
The atmosphere was nice, but it was really noisy. If you are going with someone who has hearing problems or is sensitive to noise, it would be better to go during a slow time.

I was very excited when French Meadow bakery first opened its doors on Grand Ave in Saint Paul. However with great regret I must add that its just a shadow of its glorious twin in Minneapolis. I have been their couple times and it was just fine, the poor quality service was one of the biggest issues I had during my numerous visits especially with one of the seating host being quite rude to people.
I hope they improve their service and menu a bit in future. I would love to rewrite this review and give them higher marks.

This has been one of my go-​to joints for drinks with my former adviser for a few years (we both live nearby, so it’s convenient).
Pros:
— The patio is BEAUTIFUL. Strung with lights, cool, airy, lovely in the summer and spring and early fall. Love it.
— I like the food, particularly (and this may sound silly) the french fries (which I think they call «frites» and are hand-​cut and fresh and perfect).
— The atmosphere is really pretty inside. Dark woods, pretty candles and lights, all open and spacious and welcoming and lovely.
Cons:
— Extremely spotty service. It’s been decent, most times, but a few times it’s been inexcusably horrible. I worked in the service industry for half my life, and I’d never get away with some of this behavior. Forgetting orders, sloppy cleaning, odd hostility. Not cool.
— Because of the location, their liquor license only allows them to serve wine and beer. This is okay, I guess, but the selection is really limited. I’m not a big beer person. For those of us who prefer liquor/​cocktails, this is a bummer.

After reading a lot of reviews for this place, and being really hesitating. I bit the bullet and went for it anyway.
We decided since it was going to probably be the last really warm day of fall, we would sit on the patio… that did not last long at all! It was all direct sun and heat! A couple umbrellas would work miracles out there. It is a beautiful patio and I wish we could have enjoyed it, instead we moved inside.
Our waitress was super friendly and sweet, the hostess and the rest of the staff we encountered were quite snippy and rude. We sat down and she took our drink order right away, and was back quite quickly. I decided to order the Nicosia salad, which was really great. The perfect portion… but they did forget the egg. ⁴⁄₅
Husband ordered the Asian salad with Mahi Mahi which they forgot and brought out after the salad. It was a very small portion which was extremely dried out and over done. Salad 4/​5, Mahi Mahi ⁰⁄₅
Our 9 year old ordered the omelet of the day which he enjoyed very much, I was horrified that they brought it out with no silver ware at our table… he decided to dig in with his fingers. I blame the restaurant… he is a hungry boy! Between him and his 9 month old brother, the omelette was devoured.
Mother in law ordered the tuna melt and said it was fantastic.
We would most definitely go back again. I think the staff is a little stuck up and pretentious, but the food is pretty good, and we are always looking for a good place for salads.

No change — continue to rate at 1.5 star. Watch out for dirt/​food laying on the table top and seating, and also clinging to your dishes. Also watch out for a deep puddle of water at the bottom of the steps leading into the restaurant from the patio if it has been, or is, raining (or, I presume, if snow has been melting).
Last evening, our service was pleasant and generous. When shown to our table, I noticed many bits of leftover food laying strewn around on top and I took many swipes to brush it all away (and, hopefully, not hard enough to launch it onto our neighbor’s table…)
After we placed our order for appetizers, a large white bowl with special utensils was brought to our table. Right away, I noticed there was a piece of dirt/​food stuck on the rim of the bowl and I promptly removed it.
A short time later, our food arrived. The steamed mussels were unusual — spicy and tasty, and the french fries were good — hot (not «piping hot», and certainly not worth $ 8) — and the accompanying sauces, a spiced ketchup and a horseradish cream were both pretty good. A server returned to bring us each a small plate on which to place our selections and the one set in front of me had a piece of dirt/​food stuck to it; I promptly removed it (removing dirt/​food from surfaces where it should not have been sort of felt like a «game» I was being summoned to play).
Since we parked in back and walked through their lovely patio area, we descended the few steps going down to the back entry door and stepped into a rather deep puddle of water. It turned out their floor drain was plugged (my companion had used his pocket knife to attempt inserting the blade to see whether it was, in fact, a clogged floor drain — he was right).
I think this place has a very long way to go to achieve the quality already met by other restaurants around town that charge similar prices for much better quality food and service.