Minnesota Nice Cafe — Restaurant in Bemidji

July 11 my partner & I were leaving for a canoe trip from Bemidji and we decided to have a meal before hitting the river. The hostess was awesome, saw us walking up and already had a smile and two menus ready for us. We were seated about 10 ft from the kitchen. Our waitress seemed nice, I'm pretty sure her name was Taylor. I ordered an eggs florentine, my partner ordered the wild rice omelet. She told us they didn't have any hash browns and we'd have to get the breakfast potatoes. I said that was no problem as long as I could get them without bacon (I was raised mostly kosher and have never eaten red meat). Our food came. My partner was happy with theirs, I was less so, but very hungry so I didn't say anything at first. My Eggs Florentine was mostly damp spinach and tomato, tiny bit of egg and hollandaise. That wasn't ideal but fine. However my potatoes were so incredibly salty that I immediately got heartburn and had to take a tums mid-meal. Because I don't have much history with bacon, I second guessed myself multiple times before finally asking my partner, "are these bacon bits?" There were definitely less & smaller bacon bits than in my partners potatoes, but they were there, and there was a lot of them. I tried to eat around them but eventually asked the waitress for help. She was not happy. She rolled her eyes and asked me, "what, you want a pancake or something instead?" I said sure because I was kind of shocked that they couldn't just remake the potatoes without bacon. We heard her in the kitchen laughing at me and staring with the chefs. I told myself it was in my head. When she came with the pancake I asked for a plate to put the rest of my florentine on because I still had the potatoes on my plate and didn't want them near me anymore. When she begrudgingly took the potatoes away, she stopped another waitress about five feet from us and they started laughing about it again. The other waitress said, "what was even wrong with them?" and Taylor said, "someone doesn't know what potato skins look like." I almost started crying. Taylor wordlessly dropped off the bill. I paid, tipped 18% instead of 20%, got the heck out of there. I told myself I'd just misheard things. But once on the water, my partner turned to me and said, "I'm really sorry they were saying those things about you." I was shocked. I couldn't deny it had happened. I sat on it for the last couple weeks and finally decided to write a review. I think the cafe was cute overall and my partner liked their meal, but I had a really bad experience and still feel ashamed and sad. I don't think Taylor is a good waitress and if she's going to make fun of customers, I hope she does it further...

Updated for the response: When I first moved here this place was nice, and they still have really good food and with so few selections in Bemidji that feels like a family establishment, it makes this review all the more harder but even the best food doesn't make up for horrible customer service. Took the troop out for lunch day before Easter, my wife couldn't be there because she was working (bless her heart), I wanted to treat her as well, so I ordered a sandwich to go and I asked for the cook to put the wet stuff on a sandwich separate from the bread. They wouldn't do it, when I asked to speak to whoever was in charge, a gentleman proceeded to come out and act rude and told me something like, I sell sandwiches not "components" of sandwiches, wouldn't let me talk, and talked over me at a rather high decibel (even though I went to the furthest part of the restaurant so as not to disturb other guest). I asked to remove it from the order, he was still not very pleasant, by the time I got to my table, I just asked them to cancel the whole order. When the waitress told him I could hear him ask, "he canceled the $90 ticket over a sandwich? "At which point he laughed at me. Yes I am going to cancel after the awkward moment created by an unwillingness to help a customer right next to the kitchen (no need to put myself into further trouble). Needless to say I'll never go again, and I'd highly suggest that anybody that wants to be served food the way they want it when they're paying for it, you don't go there either. Still paid for drinks and tipped the waitress as it was not her fault, I asked, and was told by a staff member that this was the new owner. Flabbergasted, honestly, this is the first time in my life I have cancelled an order at a restaurant. So, in summary, I ordered an entire sandwich, just separated. I DID not walk out on a bill, I cancelled an order after its entirety would not be fulfilled and my family time had been compromised. I took out asinine and any other personal jabs, strictly review. Poor customer service over something that doesn't make...

I was in charge of planning a Family Reunion this year. I tried numerous times reaching the caterers that have provided the food in the years past with no success. One month before our Family Reunion I went to Google and researched Catering for Bemidji, MN. It lead me to the Minnesota Cafe website and after reading the reviews, I contacted Danielle. She respond immediately and agreed to cater our Reunion which was only a month away. Not living in the Bemidji area, I knew nothing about this cafe nor did I have any first hand knowledge of their food and service, but I trusted the reviews and contracted them to cater our event. She arrived exactly when she said she would, set up the buffet table with the exact menu I had chosen. The food was fantastic. I had many comments on how great the food was. I am in charge of the Reunion in 2020 and will definitely be contacting Danielle to do the catering again. We also had the opportunity to patronize the restaurant for lunch on one of the days we were in Bemidji. They were 7 of us and we each had something different from the menu and everything was delicious. We only wish we had been able to go there again to try other things. Not only was the food AMAZING, but the decor was over the top. Very down to earth and homey feeling, right down to the women's bathroom with the antique potty training chair. LOVE, LOVE,...