Keys Cafe
Coffee shop, american · St Paul
About Keys Cafe
Bienvenidos a Keys Cafe, un rincón con solera en Harrison Avenue donde disfrutar de auténticos desayunos y la mejor cocina americana de siempre. Llevamos años endulzando vuestros días con nuestras tartas, galletas y pasteles caseros, elaborados con cariño y los mejores ingredientes. ¡Acércate y desc...
Bienvenidos a Keys Cafe, un rincón con solera en Harrison Avenue donde disfrutar de auténticos desayunos y la mejor cocina americana de siempre. Llevamos años endulzando vuestros días con nuestras tartas, galletas y pasteles caseros, elaborados con cariño y los mejores ingredientes. ¡Acércate y descubre el sabor de lo genuino en un ambiente cálido y acogedor!
What Customers Say About Keys Cafe
Keys Cafe is a beloved breakfast spot known for its large portions, friendly service, and classic diner atmosphere. Customers rave about the delicious food, especially the cinnamon rolls and skillets. Some find it pricey, and the original location can be crowded.
Popular Dishes
Best For
Tip: Be hungry, as the breakfasts are big! Consider visiting the original location for its retro charm, but be prepared for it to be busy.
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What to see nearby
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Explore the area around Keys Cafe
Keys Cafe is located in St Paul, surrounded by cultural and historical points of interest. Here are some of the most notable places nearby.
Historical Heritage
- Superior Packing Company (A 989m) — historic building in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States Lugar inscrito en el Registro Nacional de Lugares Históricos
Parks & Gardens
- Hampden Park (A 607m) — park in Saint Paul, Ramsey County, United States of America
- Desnoyer Park (A 933m) — park in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
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Frequently asked questions about Keys Cafe
Keys Cafe St Paul Reviews
The chef, Jay came out briefly and spoke to the patrons. I am a traveling superintendent and I wanted him to know, that I’ve been all over the country and I seek out the best breakfast nooks anywhere and everywhere that I go. Jay ultimately has made in my opinion the best omelette I have ever eaten in my 51 year life. If you haven’t tried Jay’s, everything omelette, try it you’ll love it! Worth mentioning, the ladies running the show here are incredibly awesome! Happy wonderful, very nice people working this restaurant.
Been coming here since 1991. Food is always fantastic and the staff is as nice as it gets. The coffee is awesome too.
Lunch with a friend took me to Keys – the Original, on Raymond. We both had BLT sandwiches. Here’s the lowdown on all the components. The bread was perfectly grilled, tender and crisp and tasty. Lettuce was crispy and just the right amount. One thin tomato slice on each half seemed a bit sparse. The meaty bacon was cooked well, but the rind edge was like eating rock shards it was so hard. That’s more to do with the meat than the cooking. The assembly was odd – all the ingredients were bunched in a single heap in the middle of the sandwich halves. An easy fix as we simply redistributed the foods to even out the sandwich. I ordered a caramel shake and it was divine – extremely thick and rich but almost impossible to suck through the miniscule diameter straw. I ate it with a spoon instead. All in all certainly a good value for the price.
No parking in the back. Street parking with pay machines. Just good, plain food. Big breakfasts so be hungry! Nice staff. Have lunch and then it's a hop skip and a jump to Willie's American Guitars. Total hipster experience.
It's an old hole in the wall cafe that won't appeal to everyone but ignore the setting (which is nice but not fancy) and love the food and service. Food is breakfast through dinner favorites and the service is friendly and fast. And the bakery is added points.
first time to Key's and it was great. Service, atmosphere and most important, the food (breakfast) was fantastic. Lisa the server was friendly and managed to serve the entire restaurant herself. Portions are huge and coffee was excellent. I would recommend and will definitely be back for breakfast.
Stillwater is awesome! Great consistent food, wonderful service explains why they are always busy. Too bad some people have to be so incredibly rude when restaurants are busy. Watched a crazy rude guy plop at the bar tonight thinking he should be waited on ahead of other diners that were already seated, causing a scene. Felt bad for the bartender when he acted like a 4 yr old and snapped at her and another. Almost embarrassing but they took it in stride and handled it so well! Now go try their chicken salad sandwich on cranberry wheat bread, and be kind!
This location is the original Keys Cafe, and it still has its retro-70s charm with countertop seating, wood paneling, and a small, cozy atmosphere. We go for the comfort food, like a wild rice omelette or blueberry pancakes. The service is generally quick with friendly staff to get you whatever you might need.
Key Cafe is the perfect spot for a cozy breakfast experience! The homestyle food and coffee are absolutely delightful, and the staff are incredibly friendly and welcoming. They truly make you feel at home, refilling your coffee with care and serving up delicious sourdough toast paired with homemade jam. Every visit feels like a warm hug, and the atmosphere is just as inviting as the food. I absolutely love this charming cafe and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxing and satisfying breakfast!
Keys Cafe is, in my view, a very Iconic breakfast joint. It has stood the test of time for a reason....absolutely amazing food. It's a casual cafe that has an old town classic feel. The waiter, Phillip, was what every waiter aspires to be. He was attentive but gave us our room to converse and enjoy the great grub. He was energetic but not overbearing, and he made perfect recommendations. We both got the number 4 with Italian sausage. I got 2 pancakes, and my wife got 2 french toast thanks to Phillip. Our food was brought out in a very timely manner. The american fries were delicious. Perfectly fried, so every bite was crispy. The eggs were cooked as we expected and were great to dip the potatoes in. The Italian sausage is and continues to be the GREATEST in Minnesota. Juicy, full of spicy flavor and large patties. The pancakes are fluffy and monsters in size. The French toast was sweet, paired nicely with butter and syrup. If you haven't eaten breakfast at this Minnesota legend, then what are you waiting for.
Old town diner with some fabulous food. I love diners like many of you, and Keys Cafe is one of the best. Everything was perfect to order. I had the Italian sausage with eggs and fluffy crisped French Toast with a cream cheese buttered whipped spread. Let me tell you, ask for it this way. This is the way the family eats it. Of course, our server was the grandson of the founder. I think the other grandson was in the kitchen cooking it up. As simple as the breakfast was, it came with love. I'm happy I asked what their favorite was. My wife ended up getting the blackened salmon sandwich. It was the first time I've seen her smile all day. She was in heaven. She had the salmon between sourdough bread with a lime creme fresh dressing. She was so amused singing while eating. Keys Cafe makes up for quality service, awesome flavor, and great cooking makes up for presentation. If you ranked home cooked a meal a 10, this would be a 12. If you want a home cooked meal like mom or grandma, go to see the grandsons at Keys Cafe.
Visited for Sunday brunch and began with a neat mimosa that hit the spot. I've always loved Keys for the large portions and this was certainly true again. The Cajun Skillet I had was exactly to order and tasty! I love ordering with my eggs over easy rather than scrambled. The serving staff was attentive and kind but also a bit brisk by nature and there were minor language barriers. Would definitely eat here again!
Hey y'all so this was my 1st time at this Restaurant. Didn't even know about this little Gem.. but they have these Cinnamon/ Carmel rolls that gotta be home made 💯 because when I took that first bite I instantly stopped my movement because the taste was so dangerously good I was actually upset about something that happened right before that but totally forgot why I was upset when I tasted that Roll . Amazing! Hands down!!!! Go get one for sure! 😉
Since I was only here to work for a week. I asked some of the people I was working with what dishes were popular in the area. Minnesota wild rice soup was the most mentioned. I ended up here because of that dish. This place is definitely an old school diner. I ended up getting the wild rice soup. Despite it looking like blah 😂 it was very good. The rice was cooked well which can be a challenge when it comes to wild rice.
The Cajun skillet was really great! Tasty Good Philly cheesesteak too. The pancakes were fluffy good texture but I think some of the batter had a little bit too much vanilla. Good service, vibe though it can be a little bit tight and squishy when its busy (since it’s an older restaurant) and yeah. Martha Krista was just fine no complaints
The food is great and you'll have enough for leftovers but some dishes can be kind of pricey. Overall, it's a great place to enjoy a sit-down meal at your own pace.
Excellent food! The waitress needed to be reminded about a few things. Every few minutes, a cold, rather forceful air was blowing right at us - sitting at the wooden booth tables by the window. I wish I'd brought long sleeves.
The waitress was very polite and helpful with a charming smile. The ambiance was cozy and cute - with enough noise to make you feel you are in a social setting but not too much noise. As for the food, we were split: there were 6 of us, four people gave their food a 4 and 2 people gave it a 5. The Ranch breakfast was very good, the steak in it was super - delicious. The hash browns were under cooked.
Well i am very sad that I am giving a formal college fave a low rating but I'm trying to be as unbiased as possible despite all great memories we had here back in the day. Well although our server was nice she legit admitted that she forgot we were there hence we had to hunt someone down after sitting for over 20min looking at the menu. 😳 Now the food... The people who i with said their omelets were good but my breakfast sandwich that is picture was a whole other story. It was extremely dry, it lacked flavor and it was just not good. Very disappointed overall.
We’ve been to other Keys Café locations around town, so we decided to check out the original. We seated ourselves in the narrow bar area, which put us in pretty close quarters with the waitress. Naturally, breakfast wouldn’t be complete without pancakes, so I ordered some with blueberries and banana. While they arrived piping hot, the pancakes were denser than expected—not as fluffy as I hoped. I also tried the Benny with ham, which came recommended by our waitress. Unfortunately, the hollandaise sauce wasn’t to my taste—it leaned more on the sour side. The bacon was a bit tough, and the coffee was just okay—not great, but not bad either. One thing I noticed was that our waitress had a habit of handling our coffee cups by the rim instead of the handle, which felt a little too “hands-on” during our visit. Lastly, for those with dietary preferences, they only offer regular milk—no alternative options like oat milk, which I found out when I tried to order a Chai with oat milk. Understandable, but worth noting.
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About Keys Cafe
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767 Raymond Ave, St Paul, MN 55114
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767 Raymond Ave, St Paul, MN 55114
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