Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Day by Day Cafe

Visited on Sunday, June 15th with Liz and Jono

Outside of Day by Day Cafe

Erin's Review
Despite Ben feeling pretty crappy on the morning of his birthday, I forced him to go out to breakfast at Day by Day Cafe. It was a beautiful day, and I knew the food would make him feel better. As is usually the case, I was right!

When we got there, we had to wait maybe 5 minutes inside to get escorted to our table on their beautiful patio. This is one of the nicest patios that I've been to. I love patios where you are sheltered from the outside world - there was a privacy fence around the whole thing, which helped to make the patio feel really secluded.

Inside of Day by Day Cafe

I had seen on the specials blackboard in the front that Eggs Benedict was available that day. I wasn't really feeling like trying to find something else, and I knew I could have some of Ben's pancakes so I went with that. When the waitress asked for our order, I wanted to be VERY clear about what I wanted, so as to not repeat my last experience with overdone eggs. So, I asked if the eggs were poached. The waitress replied "Oh, I don't think so, we don't poach eggs on the weekends." Excuse me, WHAT? I think my face showed my dismay, because she said she'd go check. She came back and said that the eggs would be basted. I didn't know what that meant (now I do, thanks to Google) so I just said, as long as the yolks are runny, I don't really care. I just wanted to order. Someone please explain to me why a breakfast place would not poach eggs. I am confused. It isn't like the process takes too long. Is it because they don't want to waste a burner on the stove for the boiling water? Help me understand.

Anyway, after that debacle, I was a bit apprehensive. I got my meal, and the hollandaise looked a little... flat, I guess you could say. Just plain. I'm not 100% positive that it was not from a jar or can of some sort. I don't want to discredit Day by Day, because I know they are a well loved institution, but perhaps this was not the best thing to order. The ham was really good - nice and thick. The eggs were runny, as specified. The hollandaise tasted very bland, but it wasn't gross or anything. The hash browns were good, but not as crispy as I prefer. I LOVED Ben's pancakes though. He says they weren't very hot when they came out, but I ate them after I was done with my own meal so I wasn't expecting them to be scorching. They tasted great.

Eggs Benedict

I really enjoyed Day by Day - the patio is beautiful, the inside is well decorated, and the staff is very nice and accommodating. It was a busy Sunday morning, and we were well taken care of with water refills. I would definitely go back, but probably would not order the same meal because it was pretty mediocre.

Patio at Day by Day Cafe

Ben's Review
I had a pretty rough night on Saturday as we had some friends over for my birthday. I made plans to get breakfast the next morning, but by the time I rolled out of bed I was feeling that I would rather just sleep more instead of doing ANYTHING. I'm actually getting tired just recalling that now.

Erin, Liz, and Jono all still wanted to go out though, so we headed over to Day by Day Cafe on West 7th Street in Saint Paul. We wanted to go someplace that had outdoor dining and heard that Day by Day had cool patio seating, and it didn't disappoint. Being that it was gorgeous Fathers Day I called ahead to see what the wait was like and was told the line was out the door. We wanted to go anyways and we didn't have anything else to do, so we figured we'd deal with it.

We only ended up waiting about five to ten minutes to get seated as there wasn't much of a line by the time we got there. I think we could have even sat down sooner if we weren't holding out for an outdoor spot. The backyard deck at Day by Day is a huge deck nestled amongst the restaurant and the three story apartments that surround it. There are many trees and bushes that isolate you from the outside world remarkably well, making for a quiet, peaceful atmosphere. It was fantastic.

Patio at Day by Day Cafe

My stomach wasn't feeling up to coffee that morning so I went with sprite instead. Perusing the menu, there was a lot that looked tempting, but again with my stomach in a weak state I had to keep it simple. I went for a short stack of pancakes with a spontaneous side of American fries at the last second. I don't know, potatoes sounded good at the moment.

Our food took a little while to arrive, but our server was apologetic about it. By the time the food came out I was ravenous. The pancakes came with whipped butter which is the only kind of butter you ought to use with pancakes as it spreads so easily. I loaded up on the butter and syrup and dug in. The pancakes were good, but a little cold, which is probably inevitable as they take maybe a minute or two to cook, so I'm sure they sat around for several minutes before coming out. The potatoes were good as well and I got a whole plate of them.

Pancakes

American Fries

Day by Day doesn't take credit cards (but they have an ATM) so when the check came, we slapped down our cash and headed out. I left feeling MUCH better than when I arrived :)

No Credit Cards
  • Service: Good service, the servers don't wear uniforms and have a laid back attitude that I liked.
  • Food: Good breakfast menu and it's served all day. Our food was pretty good. The heart-stopper looks........filling.
  • Drinks: Coffee, juice, soda, etc. :)
  • Ambiance: Excellent outdoor seating for a relaxing meal on a nice day.
  • Price: I feel like ALL breakfast places are charging noticeable more lately, and Day by Day was right in line with this feeling, more than I'm willing to spend on breakfast on a regular basis.
  • Convenience: Gotta find a spot on the street, but at this area on W 7th it shouldn't be much of an issue.
Deets

Day by Day Cafe
477 W. 7th St.
St. Paul

Highly recommended for their patio and service