J. Selby's

It saddens me to write this review, but we all need a reality check sometimes. J Selby's is an establishment that I have supported for a number of years. As a vegan, I was excited to try out this plant-based eatery nestled in the Rondo neighborhood of Saint Paul.Over the past few years, I have witnessed J Selby's decline in representation within the diversity of the staff, food quality, and overall customer service by much of the staff since they have been bought by Herbivorous Butcher. J Selby's used to feel like it was a PART of the community. Now it just feels like they are apart of the Rondo community.I can understand in this day and time we are living in how inflation pays a role in increased food pricing. I just don't respect how inflated prices including hidden fees and even charging extra if you place a take-out order sits well with already high food prices. Much of the staff seem out of place as if they don't live in Rondo or even Saint Paul, yet very Minnesotan. There is a pretentious and very passive aggressive energy as if many of the staff are doing you a favor in serving you. This place used to have a welcoming vibe about it as if it once had a soul. Now it just seems very "vanilla", with much of food tasting bland like many neighboring Minnesota eateries. In reading other online reviews, I can see that I am not alone in my observations and experiences of J Selby's. I sincerely want to love and be eager in continuing to patronize this establishment as plant-based restaurants are few and far in between here in Minnesota. Yet and still, after thousands of dollars likely having been spent over the years at J Selby's, it just might be the time to say goodbye.

Fast service and good food. Three of us all got good food. The fries were especially good. I had the Solo. It was good but too much bun. I've been told it's officially in our rotation.

Great service, I love the burgers. Nice hipster vibe, no complaints other than the lack of parking

I heard J. Shelby's is usually very crowded, but we hit a storm and it was orderly quiet and pleasant on a Saturday early afternoon, which could be very rare. Anyway, I can always choose a rainy day to come here to avoid crowd as all plant-based choices will always put my mind at ease. Although we went for the party food, the salad and bowls looked very enticing on other tables and will be on the bucket list for next time. We had steak sandwich and gyro, both made with savory soy curls, a bit on greasy side, but delicious. Love the minimalist ambiance. Will come back for more.

The ambiance was pretty nice, lots of seating for smaller and large groups. The menu is pretty intensive from sandwiches to burgers to desserts, love how everything is vegan. I'm not personally vegan and thought the brunch wrap was okay, the fries were the best part. However, the bathroom floors were quite sticky.

We tried the Black Bean BBQ sandwich, the breakfast sandwich, animal fries, and the steak sandwich. The steak sandwich was by far the favorite. The food isn't too adventurous, but was all well made. Their home vinegarette was also very good.

My vegan friend brought me to J. Selby's for a quick bite to eat for lunch after a busy day of errands, and I loved it! This is such a cute gem, very vintage diner feel with revamped food. We definitely came in right after the Saturday lunch rush.I ordered the Harvest Bowl with Tofu and shared a chocolate chip cookie. The cookie was delicious, a little more on the doughy side but I like it that way.The harvest bowl was delicious - I think about it constantly. All the flavors were so balanced and comforting, plus the tempura batter on the tofu was delicious!Service was pretty fast for a lunch rush, I would definitely come back and dine in or carry out!

My husband thought we would try this place because our daughter was going to take him there for his birthday, but they weren't open on Mondays. I'm not whole grain/plant based, they are. So I was like ugh...no flavor. We went in and while we waited, we ordered the lemon lavender spritz and the peach green tea spritz. The lemon was great. Nice fizz, loved the tart and right amount of sweet! The peach was fizz "less". They say it had a touch of fizz, but...we tasted zero. We got our food to go, so he came home and added some Perrier water to his. Didn't help. Anyhoo...The cheese sauce was impressive! The sauce made the smothered burrito delicious. He wanted me to try it first and I didn't read the ingredients. I just knew the more trees and berries, he would get it(eye roll). He said he wanted to share it with me. So I took my bite and I was very surprised! Lots of texture in my mouth which I usually don't like. But it was good. He pointed out the seitan and I told him I thought it was meat. I had no clue! He said that's not meat. I thought when he was reading the menu to me and he was saying burgers and chicken, it was burgers and chicken. I didn't realize it was a vegan restaurant. Fooled me. I would definitely go and eat there again!!!

This time around we dined in. We tried the nachos, steak sandwich, dirty double burger, chili, and the cookies & creme shake.Was expecting the restaurant to be noisier when dining in, but was pleasantly surprised that even during the dinner hour on a Wednesday around 6pm it wasn't bad at all. We could hear each other just fine, despite looking up to see it was a pretty full front of house. Nachos ($14) - 10/10 (maybe 11/10?!?) These were SO SO good. It's what regular, meat eater nachos WISH they were (and so rarely are.) These absolutely hit the spot. Were they a bit of a mess to eat? Yes, but absolutely worth it. They were so delicious we couldn't stop eating them and would definitely go here JUST for nachos. Plus between two people they were very filling (could be an entree unto itself) and we agreed that in future we cannot split nachos and also each get entrees because we were so full! (But it tasted so good along the way lol)Steak sandwich ($14) - 9/10Partner had the steak sandwich and he said the only thing that would have made it better was more of the aioli, because when he got a lot of the horseradish aioli in a bite it was amazing. He said he would absolutely get this again, but ask for extra aioli next time. Dirty double burger ($17) - 10/10Honestly, at this point I had heard about this burger from other people and despite my efforts to resist, my expectations were already set high. That said, the burger knocked it out of the park, even beyond my expectations. The secret sauce, the sweet pickles (which I usually disdain), the melty "cheddar cheese" - it all worked. It was everything you want in a juicy, messy, mouthwatering burger. Incredibly satisfying, every bite. $17 may sound steep compared to a faster burger option, but for a sit down restaurant I find that a beef burger runs between $14-20 anyway and doesn't even include a side sometimes. Chili (side) - 6/10We're Midwesterners, we understand that there's chili competitions for a reason. There's so many options and so many spices, making every chili recipe unique. That said, we both agreed that the chili was a bit too cumin heavy for us. Upon bringing it home, my partner heated it up the next day with some added garlic salt and mango habanero hot sauce to a marked improvement. "Delicious" was the new description of choice. However, we likely won't order it as a side dish again. Cookies and creme milkshake ($8) - 10/10Frankly, it is absurd how great this dairy free milkshake (oat based) is. I kid you not, we always try cookies and creme shakes. Everywhere we can. We try them at burger joints, ice cream stands, and now at a vegan restaurant. Something that My Burger and Shake Shack and all the others haven't mastered yet, has been honed to perfection at this vegan restaurant. A nice thick milkshake with actual cookie chunks in it that won't fit into the straw, the best problem to have. Why do these other places get away with using just cookie dust?! It's a shame they serve it with a (compostable) straw, because it's so thick you need a spoon (unless you want to wait for it to melt.) And it's not even the thickest option on the menu! They have something called frostbites which is supposed to be even thicker. Perhaps we'll try it next time. There will *definitely* be a next time (even if only to get the nachos)

This is our favorite vegan restaurant in the Twin Cites. They don't have decaf all the time. A problem many independent restaurants should remedy. They stopped during the initial outbreak of the pandemic.Also, the last time we where there the breakfast to scramble was very greasy. My digestion was not a fan.