Key's Bar & Grill at the Foshay

821 Marquette Ave. S
Minneapolis, MN
612-339-6399
http://www.keyscafe.com

Other locations in St. Paul, Woodbury, White Bear Lake, and Spring Lake Park

Category: American, Breakfast

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 8
Service: 5
Ambience: 7

Recommendation: Very good. A family café offering generous portions of home-cooked food, Key’s is one of our favorite breakfast places in the Twin Cities.

Original Post (Aug 12, 2007) - The original Key’s opened up in 1973 in St. Paul and since then, Barbara Hunn and her family have opened up 6 more locations in the Twin Cities. Key’s is a Twin Cities institution where breakfast is concerned and has made many local and national “Best Breakfast” lists. We used to love going to the location on Nicollet Mall downtown but that has now moved to the Foshay Tower on Marquette Avenue. The Foshay location is much bigger, offers breakfast all day and also serves desserts, lunch, and dinner. Most of Key’s locations have a small town diner feel to them but the Foshay location, with its yellow lighting and chandeliers is very charming. It also offers outdoor seating. They offer a Happy hour from 3pm-7pm and have free delivery until 9pm. Happy Hour is from 3-7pm and 9-10pm (includes 2 for 1s on liquor and mixed drinks, $1 off select beer and wine, and $2 off appetizers).

We’ve tried various different things from their breakfast menu and have never been disappointed. Their Two Eggs, Sausage with Toast costs $6.75 and it always very good. The Specialty Pancakes are also good and come in flavors such as Blueberry Bran, Raisin Walnut, Banana Pecan, and Granola. The Banana Pecan is delicious and has chunks of mashed banana. The Eggs Benedict is another favorite. The Hollandaise sauce is very nice and creamy. The last time we were there the English Muffin was slightly undercooked. The Hashbrowns are great - nice and crispy on the outside. The Cajun Skillet, which is Scrambled Eggs with Andouille Sausage, Mushrooms, Tomato, Onions, and Hollandaise sauce is a winner. The Sausage is incredibly flavorful and the dish comes with crispy potato chunks on the side. We’ve never tried their burgers but they seem very popular and the portions look huge. Desserts also seem to be popular here with their Pies, Rolls, Cakes, Brownies, etc. For dinner, they serve comfort foods such as Meatloaf, Roast Beef, Turkey dinners, etc.

Key’s is always crowded for weekend brunch so don’t expect stellar and attentive service. Despite our low expectations on service, we were really disappointed by our server the last time we were there. The service was really slow and the server was nonchalant.

$. Breakfast dishes are under $10.

Update (Sep 23, 2007) – We tried the location on 500 N. Robert St in St. Paul today. The Mexican Omelet was a hodge podge of ingredients including chilies, salsa, sour cream, beans, cheese…it tasted ok but didn’t resemble an omelet, if that’s what you are looking for. The Ham and Cheese Sandwich was good and came with crispy fries that were delicious.

Update (Aug 3, 2008) – Our visiting family was in the mood for a hearty American breakfast and Keys was our top choice. At 11.30am on a Sunday morning, this place was swarming (we didn’t realize that there was a Twins game on and that it would cause such a rush). The 30-minute wait made our stomachs growl (even more as we watched multitudes of food pass us and get served to the masses). The saving grace is that after the long wait, the server takes your order quickly and the food doesn’t take too long. Nick started with the Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice, which he didn’t care for. If it was fresh squeezed, it didn’t taste so and we were hard pressed to tell the difference between this and the stuff out of a carton. We wanted to try the Caramel Rolls, but they were out of them (both the Caramel and Cinnamon Rolls are in hot demand so get there early if you want a piece). The simple 2 Eggs with Bacon and Hash ($9) was done well. Hash was nice and crispy as was the bacon, just as we had ordered. The toast was limp though – it should have stayed in the toaster a little longer. Our family enjoyed the pancakes – both the Banana Walnut and Raisin Walnut are hearty and highly recommended.