Diane's Place — Restaurant in Minneapolis

Location & Space: (PROS) Safe and ample street, residential parking; reservations recommended. Indoor, outdoor dining available, with open bar. Well conditioned. Natural indoor lighting. Indoor dining - Warm, welcoming, and comfortable ambiance. Interior designing is minimalistic and not overwhelmingly done. Love that Diane pays homage to her family heritage and community. (CONS) May be a little tight for wheelchair mobility as walking spaces between tables are more fitting for 1-2 people to walk through at a time. It was only two of us, and we were seated in a small half-booth seating table. I wish we had a larger table as we ordered a lot of food and drinks, so we had to consolidate some of our pastries together to fit all of our orders in one table. Not a big issue though. I should have asked for a larger table knowing I unconventionally tend to order a lot from the menu. Restroom was clean and well stocked.

Hospitality: From entrance to our humble exit, we were warmly greeted, seated, and treated with great care. Zachary is impeccable with his communication, prompt check-ins, and attention to our entire experience. He patiently answered all our questions, made sure we were served in a timely and precise manner, and he never made us feel rushed throughout the dining experience. The host, manager, and Diane even stopped by our table to check in on us and were proactively responsive to our feedback. I can tell that not only is the food a top priority for them, but also their hospitality and ways of connecting to their patrons are well reflected through their services. Although I wasn't expecting a lot, I was deeply impressed by their customer service and interpersonal care for their community.

FOOD: Floored. I mentally danced out of joy with every bite! Presentation, plating, and serving size were satisfactory - and can be devoured alone or shared. I like to eat family-style, so we ordered a few dishes and pastries to share.

Diane's Place got their pastry right! The croissants were equally crispy out and airy soft inside without a lot of the extra mess from each bite. The filled croissants were not overly sweet, and the flavors were subtle--we had thai tea croissant, pandan coconut, raspberry danish. My favorites were the almond croissant and pandan coconut croissant. I equally enjoyed the spam+nori croissant and sausage, egg and cheese croissant.

I cannot say this enough, but I LOVE that the dishes incorporate herbs and ingredients used in an actual Hmong kitchen. For example, the cilantro garnish is not the type you would usually find in a typical grocery store - instead it is found at the Hmong Village organic section or selected Asian stores. IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE TO THE DISH. The pickled greens are exactly the same simple dish that my mom would have made at home--almost had an Anton Ego moment. The pan-fried bean thread noodle was my favorite. Everything from the vegetables, noodles, garnish, sauce all came together in a perfect ensemble. It didn't look like it, but it also packed a surprising savory kick to every bite. It could be a little spicy for folks who are not as tolerable to spice. My friend said it was a little spicy for her, but it did settle in after a couple bites. The sweet pork is slightly sweeter for my personal taste, but it was balanced with perfectly-done white jasmine rice and the pickled mustard green added an additional tangy palate cleanse from the sweet and salty pork. The pork was tender, not chewy, and I loved that the egg was done more like a 'ramen' egg (yolk still has a little softness to it) than the usual hard-boiled egg that we put in sweet pork dishes.

Drinks: I could have asked for less ice for the matcha latte, as it did feel water-down; and the hot flat white had a fine balance between the expresso and steamed milk. Servers were attentive to water refill.

Dessert: The 5-spice chocolate mousse was a delightful finish to our meal. Perfectly paired with our hot/iced espresso! Texture and flavor combo makes this a very unique dessert. Highly...

Finally I have given this place a try twice in a week and I can already conclude this spot as one of my favorite brunch spots in the entire Twin Cities, no cap. The food was tasty. The service was considerate. Everything was economical and not exuberantly expensive. Maximum points.

Knowing Diane's experience in Bellecour, I had to order pastries, and I tried 4 different kinds of pastries over 2 meals, and every one of them was on point. They had both sweet and savory croissants. I found the savory ones to be a good combination of salty and sweet, as the sweetness from the bread wasn't overpowering at all. The sweet croissants contained abundant content inside the croissants so it wasn't just completely bread and nothing else. Surprisingly I have not tried Bellecour yet but I was very satisfied with what I got. It was a great start to a brunch!

Brunch items had an abundant amount of food for reasonable prices and I was very appreciative of such. The vegetable egg rolls themselves already had flavor profiles because of the frying and the veggie combinations of carrots, bok choy, and mushrooms, and when dipped in the sweet & sour sauce, it totally gave an extra layer of flavor profile that basically elevated the entire dish. Even if one chooses to not dip anything, one will still enjoy the meal. The pork in the sweet pork bowl was very tender and savory, and the pickled mustard greens actually offered a strong flavor that made all the rice in the bowl worth it. Initially I was skeptical of the amount of rice, but with the pork juice, egg yolk, and mustard greens considered, yeah that rice was spot on with its necessity. The Hmong sausage was very easy to cut, which was a plus, so tasting it was a very smooth experience, and you just can't go wrong with Hmong sausage and sticky rice as it's classic Hmong food. My friend had the thai tea French toast which was gigantic, but I didn't try it. As for the pan fried bean thread noodles, I used to have it very frequently when back home in China, and the way they made it reminded me of home immediately, even if they had different herbs like dill, mint, etc., and I was in love right away. There was an adequate amount of bamboo, carrots, napa cabbage, and mushrooms in there.

All of the dishes were below $20 which was a big plus and what made this experience even more worth it. I am totally recommending this place to everyone I know to at least give it a shot.

In terms of dessert, I tried the five spice chocolate mousse which, as soon as I tasted it, was very obvious it had strong spices, which wasn't a bad thing at all. I enjoyed it thoroughly because I thought the spice (forgot the name) complemented the dessert very well. In addition, since it was close to my birthday, my waitress brought out a small honey glazed ice cream as well with a candle on it, and so far this is the first and only "upscale" place that I have experienced free dessert from, and I was very grateful for such!

Highly recommend! One small detail that I want to additionally mention, in a very positive way, is that when we packed our food to go, our waitress wrote using a marker every single dish's name on the boxes for us to distinguish! That was a very wholesome move and so far the only restaurant that I have been to that have done such for me. I just want readers to know that I really appreciated the small move right there!...

I have had the opportunity to enjoy brunch at Diane's Place on three different occasions and it is solidly one of the best brunches in the Twin Cities. Seriously, everything is working here, hot drinks, coffee beverages, brunch cocktails, pastries, desserts, and excellent food!

The restaurant is warm, light, and inviting space offering another great dining option in a space that previously offered Draft Horse (still grieving the loss of this cozy pub) and Kieran's Kitchen. It feels more spacious and airy than previous iterations. The back hallway is a great dining spot within the restaurant, offering a little less traffic and noise, with cozy booths along the wall.

The French toast is some of the best French toast I have ever had. Three times now, it is absolutely delicious, flaky brioche from croissant dough, soaked in Thai ice tea, with housemade whipped cream, and fresh fruit.

Across three visits, I have had the opportunity to try a number of dishes and pastries with dining companions. The Hmong sausage as a side is really unique, delicious flavors in a crispy, fried shell. The Asian Chicken Noodle Soup is the definition of comfort food, the broth is thick with big chunks of chicken and noodles that melt in your mouth. The beef salad had excellent flavors, with the only critique being that the amount of beef was pretty sparse within the salad. The Sweet Pork Bowl is delicious, just be aware that the pork belly is pretty fatty, which may not be to everyone's preference. The Papaya Noodle Salad and Pan Fried Bean Thread Noodles are excellent. The Spam and Nori Croissant was completely unexpected, with thin sliced Spam, an egg, cheese, caught between two Nori crusted croissants.

The pastries, as would be expected from an award winning pastry chef, are standouts across the meal, with the only challenge being which one to choose and when to eat them in the context of brunch. All of them are excellent, the Calamansi Raspberry Danish, the Coconut Pandan Croissant, the Chocolate Croissant, with my favorite being the Chocolate/Almond Croissant. Be aware that the pastries sell out, so if you arrive later in the brunch period, you may want to order some for takeout when you arrive.

The cocktails here are great and the lattes are wonderful. There is no upcharge for dairy alternatives.

The Tropical Sundae was a perfect finish to brunch on one occasion, offering a light, flavorful palate cleanser with wonderful tropical flavors.

Highly recommend - Diane's Place should be at the top of list for brunch options in the Twin Cities! I am excited for them to add dinner service in the...