Birchwood Cafe
$$ - average
American
very comfortable neighborhood cafe
The Birchwood Cafe changes its menus daily and almost always includes vegan or vegan-preparable entrees. The Birchwood is renowned for its desserts, many of which are also vegan. The ingredients are organic, the environment is casual, and the company exquisite.
The restaurant is located in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis.
- (Mostly) Organic
- Brunch
- Kid-Friendly
- Large Group-Friendly
- Outdoor Seating
- Wireless (free)
Added by Jason on Mar 21 03 (updated Jun 26 06)
Reviews
Looking at previous reviews, what I notice is that the ratings have improved significantly in the past few years. I don't know if they have a different attitude, chef, or what, but I love this place. The food is fantastic and the ambiance is fun. Wait staff is generally very friendly. They always have some vegetarian options and some good salads--although I don't think their vegan selection is extensive. They serve locally roasted Peace Coffee--which is the best coffee in the universe. Plenty of outdoor seating when the weather is nice. Don't miss this place!
While the Birchwood has changed its menu considerably in the past few years, I truly believe that it is in an attempt to be a more inclusive restaurant in the community. The menu changes weekly and the vegetarian selection of food is wide and tasty. The willingness of the Birchwood kitchen to try new flavor combinations keeps me coming back for more! The recent change in the Veggie Lucy has my taste buds just dancing. Thank you to the Birchwood for your "Good Real Food."
Vegan selection is very poor and what they do have is overpriced. As others have mentioned, the food does seem to made to be artsy/pretentious rather than for flavor. This place is style over substance- not recommended.
I live by the Birchwood, and it's very popular among my friends. It's kind of an overpriced yuppie / former hippie thing.
Their food is good, but even though it looks "alternative" in a very safe way, and there are often vegetarian and vegan options, there seems no committment to such. Like it used to be quite often that one soup was veg and one vegan, now it seems that at least one is ALWAYS meat.
I hadn't heard that there's a new emphasis on meat, but I'm not surprised.
They are also, in my opinion into weird-as-artsy food. The vegetarian pizza is almost always like golden raisins, blue cheese, fennel and pineapple or something - like the more bizarre the combination, the better.
Not my thing, but it is VERY popular
I use to go to the Birchwood a lot, mostly because they had vegan soup (marked with a "V") on the menu. However, the last three times that I've gone there, the vegan options were very limited. I have also noticed a lot more meat on the menu. Whereas they use to have only one meat dish, now almost all of them are. They also seem to have stopped carrying vegan desserts.
I asked one of the employees about this and she said that they have a new "emphasis on meat". This is very disappointing.
I used to go there for lunch with co-workers, but now I suggest other restaurants instead.
After hearing that this shop had a lot of vegan options, I was suprised to see a very limited selection on their menu. The service was also very slow, however I did go on mother's day so maybe they were just exceptionally busy. It is in a nice neighborhood though and if the weather is nice, I recommend sitting outside.
I went here with my mom and sisters, and it wasn't great. They liked it, feeling that they were eating healthy food, but they generally don't eat that much "health food". They didn't have much of anything for vegans and I was disappointed. I had expected more from them. The staff was friendly enough, but that didn't really make up for the lack of variety/choices.
I'm not feeling this one either. I even got friends who work there. But the four times I've sampled their goods, I came away unimpressed and hungry. Good thing there is a Taco Bell close by. Peace Coffee makes a Birchwood Blend of coffee for them however, and it's a king blend in my coffee book.
Birchwood is an interestingly menued place. A favorite hangout for UofM faculty. Good pizzas and the reason it's special? The deserts. Yummy selection of cakes and pies, usually vegan options.
I don't get the hype. To be perfectly blunt, I think that this place is for the most part overpriced and unexceptional.
I ordered a bowl of veggie lentil soup. It was okay, but nothing outstanding. Basic soup. Came with bread. My husband ordered some sort of risotto cakes. They were good, but he was still hungry when he was done, and they were expensive. Definitely not worth the money spent. They had a mango crisp or something but we didn't try it. And that was all that was vegan.
A reasonably nice coffee shop that is not particularly vegan friendly. Breakfast options were fruit or granola, both of which are fine food-items, but I was hoping for something more substantial. All things considered, I'd much rather go down the street and eat at the Seward Cafe.