Cafe Astoria in St. Paul .. Finally Made It There

Finally! Cafe Astoria in St. Paul

I've tried numerous times over the past year to get into Cafe Astoria....always the same....no parking anywhere in sight and a line out the door.

I made the right turn off W 7th Street this afternoon....and there was a parking spot on the

opposite side of the street...in front of the dumpster!  I'll take it (with a controlled U turn in the middle of the street).

Still a line and almost no tables - but someone just left the table right outside the front door...YES!    Gonna rain?  Can't tell....but we'll risk it.

After all this time, I hope it's not disappointing.......

Cafe Astoria Menu

The menu is crepes, oatmeal bowls, salads, smoothie bowls, granola, pastries...and tons of drink options.  The,  croissants in the case looked fabulous...not the ones out of the box from the food distributor...real baked croissants with that flaky, buttery 'eat me' look.

Coffee at Cafe Astoria: Exotic

We grabbed a Leah's Happy Place.....a signature latte with matcha, lavender, and pistachio.   We would have opted for an oatmeal bowl, but they were out of oatmeal.   No worries....they have both savory and sweet crepes, so the first crepe on the savory menu was the

roasted tomato and cheddar....might as well start at the top (and work our way through on future visits).   Having something fresh and green seemed like a good next choice, so we opted for the spinach salad.

Parking ourselves outside at the little table, we had no idea how long the wait would be.   The 'Happy Place' was delivered to our table within just a couple of minutes.   It was a work of art....green, beautifully completed pattern on top....offset by a giant black serving cup.    Flavor----fantastic!  A little sweet, a little 'healthy', smooth, creamy, delicious.

Cafe Astoria: busy staff and great customer vibe

We thought the food might take a while so we sat back and sipped on our drink.   The staff was working like mad---making drinks, making food, running items out to tables - outside and in 2 rooms inside.   It was kind of a happy hectic vibe.....I appreciated that so many people were coming and going that even being outside was like being inside...with a little less crowding.

The Food Arrives...Cafe Astoria Produces

The food arrived in about ten minutes.....and it was beautiful.   

The salad had fresh spinach (none of that wilted,

stuck-together stuff), the creamiest chevre, salted pistachios, and fresh strawberries that actually had great strawberry flavor--a fairly rare occurrence.   The dressing was balsamic with little bits of onion.   An excellent balance of ingredients (we had a watermelon salad at Delicata last night and it was too heavy on arugula while being short on red onion and cheese)....it was both attractive and tasty.

The crepe was served with a small side of greens (they looked good....someone ate them..so he'll have to report).   The crepe was thin and beautiful with great texture.  There was more than adequate filling...each bite was rich and satisfying...and it was accompanied by some herb sour cream for extra richness if you could handle it.

Overall Review of Cafe Astoria

This meal was fantastic.  

We've hit a few 'well-publicized' places in the last few weeks...none of them were all that great.  

This meal, while simply composed, was created from great-tasting, fresh ingredients and arranged on plates to enhance the experience with a beautiful appearance.   

The latte was creative, beautifully presented, and delicious.

We are so glad we finally made it to Cafe Astoria.....it was worth the wait.  But we'll probably try to figure out ways to get there more often now that we have experienced this kind of quality.   Excellent.

Details for St. Paul's Cafe Astoria

Website    http://cafeastoria-stpaul.com/

Location:  Google Maps