Nord Room

We hosted our cocktail style Wedding Reception here in June and felt it was woefully mismanaged from start to finish. We booked all three rooms back in Fall of '23 and paid our deposit and were excited to get planning come May this year. We got to a month before the event and hadn't heard anything from the Event Coordinator regarding current menu, bar, timing, anything. Three weeks prior to the event we reached out and heard nothing for a week. Two weeks out we followed up and found out the Event Coordinator had changed from the one we booked with and the new one was out for an indeterminate period of time with a family emergency. We worked as best we could with the Event Captain but ended up with incorrect menus and pricing and were finally told the Event Coordinator would be back the Monday of our event week and it would be handled then. We got finalized menus and pricing 36 hours before our event. This was extremely stressful, however, we empathized with the Event Coordinator and were assured the event itself would be great. On the day, we arrived and the staff setting up was unsure how many chairs we wanted. They didn't know which equipment we had paid for to use that needed to be set up. They didn't know what the event was for. They were all very nice and let us know they had extremely limited information about our event which was very concerning for us. The Event Coordinator was present for about 5 mins to ask us about a backup wine if ours ran out and that was it (it did run out because there was only one bottle). There was no Event Captain, and the Coordinator was not on hand and (according to staff) unreachable during the event. We had agreed upon several things including a finite amount to pay for "open bar" and then switching to card after that point and we found out only AFTER we met our minimum that they were never told/weren't prepared to take cards. At that point, our options were no drinks (N/A or otherwise) for the last 3 hours or so of our event or we could just keep paying. So we ended up paying much more than was quoted/agreed upon due to lack of communication/oversight. We were told that guests could visit the attached Blue Stem bar, but it closed two hours before our event ended.We also had guests with dietary preferences/restrictions and had ordered vegan options and gluten free cake. We had asked if these could be explicitly labeled to avoid confusion and were told "yes" and on the day it did not happen so many of our guests were unaware there was anything they could eat at our reception. We were also told we could take our leftovers home and we only got cake when there was a lot of food left when they took it away. The sternos were out for some period of time and we couldn't find someone to help with that. The bar was left unattended. The bartenders were serving and refilling alcohol table to table (which we did not want or ask for), and did not pass appetizers as agreed upon.We reached out to the owner, twice, following our event to discuss our concerns to no avail. We LOVE French Meadow and are just heartbroken to have had this experience with them. Posting this (very lengthy) review in hopes no one else goes through this expensive disappointment.

We held a brunch birthday party at the Nord room this past weekend.I was in touch with Briana to make the selection of the food menu and she was very helpful. We had the following items on the menu for 26 people:- a large beet and pear salad- bacon and egg breakfast croissant sandwich x 30 servings (cut into halves)- cheese plate- hummus and veggie plate- two 9 inch chocolate torteThe beet and pear salad was delicious, so was the bacon and egg breakfast croissant sandwiches which was perfect since they were hot and not cold sandwiches.The cheese plate was excellent, my husband like the hummus and veggie plate - the hummus was rich and spicy and flavorful.I was disappointed with the chocolate tort - it was definitely too sweet for my taste. Retrospectively, I would only have ordered one 9 inch chocolate torte to be shares amongst 26 guest as we had 3/4 of a cake left to bring home.If you want a cake that is chocolatey without being overly sweet, I would go for the chocolate dipped cake. Some of their cakes are made with almond butter and it just tasted too weird for my taste. Definitely skip those. Be aware of the composition of the cake before you order it. I would say I would not come here for their cake in the future if you can help it. I would recommend getting cakes from patisserie 46 instead.Our server Jordan was OK. After having the food out and when guests started to self serve at the buffet area she was nowhere to be found and had to be hunted down for condiments like olive oil. She could have been more "present" during the event. The venue is excellent. There is a minimum food and beverage $500 spending to rent the room for free.Room was spacious enough for 26 people, will be tight if you have 30 or more. I would advise to keep the guest list to be approximately 25 people max.

We were married and hosted a reception for twenty two guests in the Nord Room/French Meadow Bakery & Cafe. It was so fabulous and we cannot say enough positive things about our experience!All of French Meadow's staff were so lovely to work with. Briana and the entire catering group were so helpful from Day 1. As most wedding couples do, we had a lot of questions about logistics and planning. They answered every one of our questions in a timely manner and were thorough in coordinating all of the details of our special day. The day of our wedding, everyone there was immensely helpful and went out of their way to make us feel comfortable. We truly owe them the world for making our wedding day so special!The room is perfect. We added floral centerpieces, but the room itself was setup exactly how we wanted, the chairs outside were moved once for our ceremony and then again for our first dance. The lighting both inside and out was more than we could have imagined. We were able to play our own music (a friend just had to manage the playlist), which was super easy!The FOOD, OH MY GOSH THE FOOD! So superb, we got so many compliments from our friends and family about how wonderful the food was. We got to choose 4 food options for our guests and only heard wonderful things about each entree. The cake was also super wonderful and delicious.We would recommend the Nord Room to anyone looking for an intimate wedding location. It was such an easy day (seriously, nothing went wrong!) and we couldn't have asked for a better staff or location. We had a beautiful day and we owe much of that to the wonderful folks at French Meadow!

French Meadow Bakery and Cafe's Minneapolis location on Lyndale features a wonderful ~30-person event space called the Nord Room. The Nord Room was perfect for our small wedding ceremony and reception. We were thoroughly impressed by how communicative and accommodating the event staff were leading up to the event. We were able to establish a menu and get a precise quote in short order. Their attention to detail ensured that our guests' food restrictions were accommodated. The Nord Room is truly beautiful. The room was clean, and well-lit by artisan light fixtures. The space maintained a comfortable temperature in spite of the cold winter day and the large windows. We had our event during the day and the brick walls and natural light made for great pictures. The buffet food tasted excellent. The beverage service at the tables was appropriately frequent and courteous.We recommend the Nord Room for small events. If we plan an anniversary lunch or dinner a few years from now, we will definitely check availability at the Nord Room.

We had our daughter's coed bridal shower in the Nord room. It was lovely! This is an elegant room, for small events. Service and food was wonderful!!

We held our small, intimate wedding (25 people) in the Nord Room at French Meadow in May and have nothing but positive things to say about it! The exposed brick and hanging light fixtures were so beautiful that we didn't have to bring any decorations. We were able to open the glass "garage" doors overlooking the patio so a refreshing breeze came in. Our guests said their dinner was the best food they had ever eaten at a wedding. The staff was easy to communicate with prior to the event and willing to look into all of our questions and requests. The wait staff on the day of the event were friendly and efficient. It was so convenient to do everything in one location, and French Meadow had everything we needed! No need for multiple vendors. We highly recommend considering French Meadow for your private event.

We reserved the Nord Room for a small wedding dinner of about 16 people. The room was lovely, the food delicious, and Briana (and all the rest of the staff) were wonderful to work with! The kitchen staff even shared their aux cord (when we brought the wrong one) so we could have music for our event. I would highly recommend this venue to anyone interested in having a small, lovely, easily-planned event!