Longfellow Grill — Restaurant in Minneapolis

We've been going to the Longfellow Grill for years and years now. It is by far the shining star of the Blue Plate restaurant group. They offer their own great beers made just for Blue Plate restaurants, in addition to really nice cocktails. The menu is just awesome, I know whenever I am taking someone out or have a visitor in town that we will always have a great experience here. The staff are top notch at Longfellow. Personal favorites on the menu include the widely praised Walleye Tacos, the best Sweet Potato fries I've ever had (and the peanut aioli compliments them perfectly), the Beet Salad, and their delicious breakfasts. Their steak and seafood are quite good, as well.

We've visited all the Blue Plate restaurant group's places many times, and most have fallen off really hard over the years in every area of quality but the Longfellow Grill remains amazing and has upheld their standards for quality from the first time we visited many years ago to this day. Some of their other restaurants have similar menus - do not think you will be getting the same quality if you order the same item from Highland Grill as you will here at Longfellow Grill (they share a breakfast menu and a few salads/entrees). The difference is extremely noticeable; from the professionalism of the staff, the correctness of the order, the quality of the food, literally every aspect of the experience. I will never again return to the Highland Grill, which is practically across the street from me, as they've gone consistently downhill for years now. They can't even get a basic burger right at Highland and they have "Grill" in their name! I will always go the longer route or pay a higher delivery fee to go to Longfellow instead. Longfellow also excels at their delivery orders, as well, which I cannot say for any other restaurant at Blue Plate. You can tell they really care about this business and keeping their high standards to what they were when it opened. Nothing ever comes cold, the orders are always correct. I might live in Highland Park, but you can call me a Longfellow girl.

My boyfriend enjoys their sandwiches a lot, namely the Grilled Chicken sandwich. He orders it at all kinds of places as a favorite food, but this is the one place he keeps going back to for it. He has stomach issues and can always find something on the menu that is not only healthy and fits his dietary needs but is also...

Longfellow grill was the first restaurant I visited since mid-march. Reservations were required inside and outside which was very reassuring. All of the staff were wearing masks. Also reassuring. However we were seated right next to a large table of 5 people. No social distance ... when that table got up to leave one of the people who had clearly been drinking without a mask leaned into our booth to say something thinking he was being cute or funny or something. The inside seating was way overcrowded. It did not feel safe. Longfellow grill has always had such excellent food. Something has changed. Two specialty meals were ordered and both were awful... The shakshuka was bland, dry, and nothing like a shakshuka I have ever eaten or prepared or seen before. It was just a pile of sliced red peppers in way too little tomatoey unspiced sauce with eggs on top. I don't know where their chef went to school? But they need to go back to school. The chimichanga was ordered. It was topped with a cheese sauce that tasted like salt. That's it- salt. The outside was deep fried and greasy and the grease didn't taste clean. The inside was all rice. I ordered it with chicken I found like three little slivers of chicken and a few black beans. It was basically a deep fried pastry filled with rice and topped with salt. Again I don't know where their chef went to school? But they need to go back to school. To their credit the staff made it right and we tipped our server well. We ordered burgers that couldn't be screwed up and they were good...but that's not what we went out eat for...we can make burgers at home. The food was enough of a turn off that I will think long and hard before I choose Longfellow grill again, even after social...

Staff is nice but seems to be overwhelmed easily by groups/rushes; management needs to communicate with staff. Came here as part of a group bike ride of 50 people in the evening. Our leader called a week in advance to let the restaurant know about the group, and on the day of the ride contacted them again to give them an accurate headcount and reminder of when we would be arriving. When we arrived, the staff seemed unaware, surprised, and confused… The kitchen certainly wasn’t prepared, a bunch of our tables were waiting for their food a very long time, to the point where a bunch of our tables had to leave for home ahead of the group because it took so long for everyone to even get their meals. The wait staff didn’t know whose orders were at what tables, and I saw one poor waitress accidentally fumble a tray of food on the way out to the patio. I’m sure everyone there is nice, but management sure dropped the ball on actually informing and coordinating their own staff; would definitely not recommend this place for parties, company events, or just anything involving a group of more than 5 people. As for my food, I got the wall-eye shrimp patties. The arugula salad on the side was good, but the patties were pretty bland, and the tiny shrimp I’m pretty sure weren’t cooked in their shells with the heads (that’s where 90% of the flavour comes from!). If that’s one of their signature "Blue Plate” dishes, I’m very disappointed. (Maybe it tastes better when their cooks aren’t overwhelmed by groups the restaurant was informed of in advance.) They also forgot the sauce that’s supposed to come with the patties. Wouldn’t order forgettable food here with their current prices. The brown ale was surprisingly...