Erin's Review
Ben and I have occasionally talked about getting breakfast before going to work someday, but sleep usually wins out. The only reason we ended up actually going last week is because I was so excited about using my new camera lens that when my alarm went off Thursday morning I actually wanted to get up to go to Lake Harriet to take photos of the sunrise.
I chose Sunny Side Up Cafe as the place to go off our list because I think it is probably pretty packed on weekends, so it seemed like a weekday morning would be a better time to go there. When we got there at about 7, there were two other people there. By the time we left, I think there were four. So it is apparently not too much of an early morning week day hot spot.
They have Eggs Benedict on the menu, but I've never heard this place mentioned in the list of best Eggs Benedict in the Twin Cities, so I decided to go with something a little simpler - eggs over easy with hash browns, sausage links and toast.
I feel like I was just too tired to give this place a fair try - the food was certainly decent, I had no problems with the coffee, but there was just nothing really special about the food or the atmosphere. I much prefer The Egg & I which is just 2 blocks down Lyndale. Some of the bigger breakfast dishes looked great, so we might have to go back for brunch on a weekend when I'm usually more in the mood for a big meal.
Ben's Review
Erin got a new lens for her camera last week and decided that we should get up and watch the sunrise over Lake Harriet and take pictures. I agreed because she also included going out for breakfast in the itinerary. We decided on Sunny Side Up Cafe (SSUC), since we were going to be in the area and we don't usually make it over to south Minneapolis for breakfast.
We walked in the door a little after 7am on Thursday morning. I had no idea if breakfast places are busy on weekday morning, my breakfast restaurant experience is almost exclusively is on the weekends. I glanced around the place and saw two tables occupied, out of about twenty or so; needless to say there was no waiting for a seat.
The tables at SSUC have clear plastic tablecloths that reminded me of couches that people would wrap with plastic in some decade that I wasn't alive (fifties? sixties? I don't know). I thought these tablecloths were pretty tacky in a funny sort of way. They obviously don't affect the quality of the meal at all, it just makes you feel like you are eating in an old folks home or something.
The menu has a lot of Mexican breakfast dishes that looked big enough to be lunch meals. Not being a big breakfast eater, I decided on the french toast with corn flake and cinnamon breading (I think it was called Santa Fe French toast or something). If I came back for lunch I would definitely go for one of the larger items though, they sounded great.
I was unimpressed with the coffee here. I like the coffee better at work, and even the stuff at work is only "serviceable". I have a hard time describing what I like or dislike about coffee, but this coffee just seemed like it was kind of old. Given that they weren't busy at all, I'm assuming the pot was made awhile before we got there, maybe if we came on a busy day it would be better. I also didn't like the coffee mugs. I like to have a big handle to hold on to, whereas these mugs only had the "one-finger" hole. Once you drink the coffee down a bit (so the mug isn't hot) you can grab the mug with your whole hand which is better.
My french toast was really good, with syrup drizzled all over. There was plenty of butter in the cooking process so they didn't need any extra. I just went with the two pieces and it was a perfect amount.
By the time we finished eating it was about 7:30, right about the time I'm normally rolling out of bed :)
- Service: Service was good, it was slow so there was no problem getting anything.
- Food: The french toast was good and the menu has many other items I'd like to try sometime.
- Drinks: The coffee wasn't good, but it might be too early to reserve judgment.
- Ambiance: Pretty quiet when there's only a handful of customers. I would guess it's a little more boisterous on a weekend morning.
- Price: The prices were on par with other breakfast places. I've mentioned that I feel like breakfast is getting more expensive.
- Convenience: We had no problem parking on Lyndale at 7am, but I bet on the weekend it'd be a little more difficult. There's always the bus too.
Sunny Side Up Cafe
2704 Lyndale Ave S
Minneapolis
Recommended for standard breakfast fare and other specialties
