Colossal Cafe

I love Colossal Cafe! I so very much miss its tiny spot in south Minneapolis. When I get the occasional chance to make it over to the grand Ave location in St Paul I take it. You can't go wrong with the Brie pancake stack. The flappers here are where it's at for sure. Though I have never had a bad breakfast here. Well worth a stop.

Colossal Cafe is my breakfast happy place - they make the classics perfectly and have fun seasonal options if you're feeling more adventurous. Staff are friendly and make sure you have everything you need, and the restaurant tends to be lively and buzzing with happy St Paulites on weekend mornings.

Had a great breakfast here! I am always amazed at how much food you get for the price. I struggled choosing something off the menu as everything sounded so good. Usually I would get the colosal breakfast because their sausage is one of the best. I ended up with a breakfast sandwich with of course the biscuit! This time I opted for a side salad and was very happy with my choice. Service was great and we found easy parking. This is definitely one of our go to breakfast spots.

This one was a tough one for me to hash out. We got on the waitlist before leaving the hotel. I love when the option is available as it beats walk-ins & reservations. On arrival, we were told maybe 2 minutes to get a table cleaned, which was very accurate. We both offered exactly the same things, with the exception of my eggs being poached and his over-easy. Service was good but slooow.We started with the salted honey latte which started off quite tasty before rapidly turning too sweet to drink. Next, the biscuits and wild mushroom gravy. We both really liked our gravy, though the biscuits were dense, dry and heavy. In a do-over, I'd likely order eggs, hashbrowns and a side of gravy, skipping the biscuits all together. My eggs were cooked perfectly and his had 1 overcooked, which was fine with him. I'm a sucker for a savory scone & immediately bit when offered a blue cheese scone to-go. This beast was huge, which is probably why it was cooked so dark outside, in order to get the inside done. Sadly, this made only about 2/3 of it edible. The inside was tender and tasty, so, that's a plus.Pricing was lower than some comparable spots and on par with others. Overall, fair pricing. Some components were great while others fell short - making the average rather, well, average.

Great spot for a large brunch dish! The prices are very decent for the portions and quality. We all had the Scandinavian frittata - so yummy! You must get a biscuit , these were incredible! I really want to come back and get one of the colossal cinnamon rolls!

Before heading down to the Twin Cities, I searched for places to have Christmas meals catered. A couple of years ago, I had an excellent experience with Brasa. This year, it had Thanksgiving catering, but maybe decided to take a break doing the same thing a month later.I landed on getting takeout from Colossal Cafe. It has takeout orders twice a week at two different locations. It also featured a special Christmas takeout menu where I needed to pick up my order on December 23. Perfect!I went with this Colossal Cafe on Grand Avenue. It's slightly closer to where I'm staying and would take roughly fifteen minutes to drive over here.I got the following items from its Christmas catering menu:- Orange-glazed ham, with roasted carrots, mashed potatoes with gravy, fluffy roll, and candy cane brownie (two meals - one on Christmas Day and another on Boxing Day)- Chicken pot pie- Egg bake (chives, cream cheese, and spinach)- Triple berry french toast bake with crème anglaisThe idea is that you pay online. Credit cards work fine, especially when you aren't an American. You specify the time that you want to pick up on Saturday and head over there.Parking was busy on a Saturday on Grand Avenue. I parked briefly on the street and walked into the cafe.As expected, this cafe was fairly busy. I saw all the paper bags with food to my right. I was excited, but patiently waited in line.I had the nicest woman when I got to the front of the line. I said that I was here for an order and pointed to the paper bag with my name on it on my right. She was pleased that I made her life easier. She picked it up and let me know that it was heavy. It was in double paper bags that were extremely sturdy. I thanked her. She wished me a merry Christmas. I did the same and happily lugged my food to my car. I briefly headed back to my hotel room after running a couple of errands. I placed everything in the fridge and then headed to a Wild game.The food lasted a few days, which I appreciated. It was nice to take a break heading downstairs for breakfast and having a comforting bake instead. They all heated up nicely in the microwave oven in my room. I normally do turkey as the main. It was a nice change doing ham with the best orange glaze. The mashed potatoes were fluffy and buttery. The gravy was excellent. I loved the roasted carrots that required little chewing. The fluff roll was so good. The candy cane brownie was fudgy and minty. It was the perfect meal. I'm so glad that I got to relive it the following day!The chicken pot pie was amazing. You got the pie crust all around the pie. There were huge chunks on chicken, potatoes, onions, and peas in every bite. This pie was so filling and comforting as a meal.The egg bake was delicious. I never thought of putting dabs of cream cheese throughout the bake, but it was awesome with the chives and spinach. I'm so glad that I got the triple berry french toast bake. It was everything that I love. Blueberries. Raspberries. Blackberries. French toast. Crème anglaise. Excellent! I looked at this cafe's takeout menu. It has a chocolate chip banana french toast bake that sounds equally as yummy. As tempting as it was to get it, I decided to sit on it. Next time!The food was delicious and comforting. It was everything that I had hoped for and more. It made my Christmas and holidays special while away from home.I looked at the baked goods while I was at the cafe. I want croissants next.It was a fabulous find. I'll be back for more.(2)

Their yeast-based plain pancake is so hard to chew (like rubber...). It doesn't melt in your mouth at all. If you prefer a traditional simple breakfast like pancake, probably not a good idea to come here and wait for 40 min. But their coffee specialties are not bad.

Great for breakfast we really enjoyed the bowls of oatmeal with fresh berries then shared the pork and bison biscuits gravy.

Colossal Cafe, 10-11-2024We dined at Colossal Cafe several years ago, but this was our first time back since then. Both of us believe the cafe was in a different location during our previous visit. Now, the cafe occupies the front part of the building, with what appears to be a Green Mill pizza restaurant in the back.For breakfast, I had a bacon, green onion, and cream cheese omelet, while Dick ordered the pumpkin pancakes. The omelet was flavorful, offering a refreshing change of taste. It was priced at $15.25. Dick enjoyed his pumpkin pancakes (2), which were packed with flavor and served in generous portions--two large pancakes that could have easily been a meal with just one ($9.00).We also ordered plain black coffee ($5.00), though the cafe offers a variety of specialty coffees geared toward a younger crowd. The restaurant was very clean, with large windows at the front letting in plenty of natural light. It was quite busy during our visit. Seating options included a bar, tables, and about six to eight booths.

The short of it: this is a Minnesota grandparents' bland flavors repackaged in more contemporary dishes made in a scratch kitchen. Is it fresh? Yes. Are the portions big? Yes. Is it good? Meh. I ordered a Poutine Eggs Benedict. Poutine lives and dies on rich, thick gravy. This was watery and bland. The preparation of each item was competent: the poached eggs were done correctly (unlike my recent disaster at Maison Margaux) -- but nothing stuck out. It was bland. Forgettable. Disappointing. They had smoked trout on several dishes so I got a side. It was okay. I don't doubt they're preparing everything fresh. My friend's "Colossal Breakfast" was big, hearty... and bland. Lack of salt, lack of seasoning, and oily -- the lack of flavor is fulfilling the cliche Minnesota food of the past. Their lemonade is refreshing. The cold brew is served in a portion of a large cola (but not bad). The service was mixed. The hostess looked and sounded burned out. She didn't want to be there (I can imagine it's not a fun job there) but sat us quickly. Some servers were talky, others functional, mine was nothing memorable but competent. The atmosphere is not bad, they paid for a good-looking place.This is not a restaurant for people who actually know good food. This is for people who don't want to be shaken by flavors--if you have an elderly aunt who is in that category, she will welcome the pleasant atmosphere, big portions, and brunch favorites. I'm vacillating between 2- and 3- stars, but I'll give it a bump up for putting in the effort to make things scratch is appreciated and the service and atmosphere were right in the middle. There's some irony in this location being attached to Green Mill... both are equally not *awful* but also not really worth it.