Reverie Cafe + Bar — Restaurant in Minneapolis

Apologies for the long review! TL;DR at the end.

My boyfriend and I just moved to MN. We have been devoted vegans for 6 years, and although there are a few restaurants around us that offer vegan options, we make it a point to support fully vegan establishments.

I had to take the long drive into the city for work, and thought to try this place. Great reviews and an intriguing menu, so no hesitation there. Here’s how the experience went:

Atmosphere (5/5): Gave me vivid flashbacks of the few years I lived in Portland. Very chill and welcoming vibe, and it was bustling with customers who seemed to be having a good time.

Service (4/5): I ordered online so it would be ready by the time I got there. I arrived about ten minutes after the time stated on the receipt when it would be ready, but I didn’t see my order in the designated pickup spot in the vestibule. Asked the cashier about it, and they went out back, then another employee told me that their online system was down, so they didn’t see my order. Everyone was very apologetic and polite about the issue, so I wasn’t too bothered, just a little irked about the extra time. They told me to wait another 10 minutes, so not too long of a wait. Again, everyone was very courteous; I just wish there was some way this could have been avoided or I could have been contacted. I’ve seen other restaurants turn off online ordering completely when they have this issue.

Food (3/5): Since we were very excited about this place and we live far, we ordered A LOT of items.

Mango Lassi (0/5): I grew up with mango lassi, and really missed it since going vegan. Perhaps I had high expectations for this to be like what I remember, but I was really disappointed. I would say bf was even more disappointed, more disgusted than anything. When we both took a sip during the drive home, we questioned if the yogurt was spoiled. It was really bitter and sour and felt like it was sparkly/carbonated(?). But then I remembered it had lime, so I sipped more and made the conclusion that it had lotssss of lime juice. I didn’t touch it after. BF was grossed out and didn’t want to take the risk of sipping again since he was convinced it was a bad batch—immediately thrown away. Both of us definitely did not get the mango taste. Waste of $14.

Potato Wedges (4/5): they were really fresh and yummy! Went great with their aioli. However, we both agreed it was a little too pricey for how much you get.

Korean BBQ Mock Duck Tacos (2/5): I think when the mock duck was made, I think it was cooked a bit too long. By this I mean the marinade caramelized too much to the point of burning, which the burnt taste was too strong to taste anything else in the taco. Didn’t feel satisfied after. :(

Curbside Burger (4/5): this was bf’s order. In his words, “not exceptional, but better than what you get at fast food joints. Worth the price.”

Beignets (5/5): definitely worth the price. They were fluffy and not too sweet. The chocolate filling was a pleasant (and delicious) surprise.

Rainbow Confetti Cookies (3/5): very sweet, maybe a bit too sweet.

Having spent $80 total for all this (together with the service fee and taxes), we were really let down. Would have to agree with a previous review: pricing of the food should reflect the fair wages for the staff. You think you now how much you’re spending when seeing how much it is on the menu until you’re hit with an imposed service fee at the end. I suppose it’s more of a convenience thing.

Tl;dr: wanted to love this place, but food didn’t live up to our expectations, especially the mango lassi and mock duck tacos. Really want to give this place another chance but we live more than an hour away so it will be a while… and after this experience, we might choose another...

FOOD 1-Star because nearly everything was inedible due to being overly salted. This is the first place that I have had a meal that was so unpleasant that everyone (3 of us) at the table agreed was worth sending back, and never returning to and never recommending to anyone, including other vegans or non-vegans.

a. Appetizer -- Brussel Sprouts - quite smoky in flavor, but no flavor other than the smokiness. Overly salted, we struggled to eat these.

b. Appetizer -- Fried Artichoke - this is their version of calamari. These were so salted, we could not manage to keep eating these without scraping off the breading. The remoulade sauce that came w this was really tasty as a dip -- best sauce of all the dishes, but was unfortunate I couldn't enjoy this with anything because all the foods were overly salted and this sauce simply added to the salt.

c. Appetizer -- Kochujang Cauliflower. Has the potential of great base of fusion flavor (I'm Korean), but again, overly-salted and overly-sugared and could not continue eating.

d. Long Haul Burger -- Mushrooms were so overly-salted that I was wiping them on the cloth napkins, yet still too salted to finish eating them. The patty itself had a great texture, not much flavor, but at least it was not overly salted.

e. Organic Potato Wedges -- Nothing special about these, but again overly salted and had to scrape off as much salt as possible on each wedge, and it was still so salty.

f. Rice Blueberry Cookie -- Great texture, but this was also overly salted!!!

g. Blueberry Cheesecake -- Besides the burger patty, this was the only part of the meal that we were able to finish. I would return only for this cashew-cheese based blueberry cheesecake, but it is quite costly at $11. For the size of the slice, I would expect it more reasonably at $9.

SERVICE This was the only reason we didn't send things back. The workers were all very pleasant, attentive, helpful w checking on ingredients in items, and they seemed to be doing their job and not hanging around chatting while customers came in. If it was a slower day (instead of Sunday night before a federal holiday on Monday), it would have been certain we'd send the dishes back.

There is no option to tip because there is no table service, BUT be aware that some restaurants such as Reverie participate in a non-optional service fee of 18% added to your check.

ATMOSPHERE Having Bjork playing endlessly in the restaurant was not a great music choice for promoting a pleasant...

If you are on the way here now just stop off at Matt's Bar and get a Juicy Lucy, you'll thank me later. Three star experience, one additional star given for vegan/environmental effort.

I was visiting Minnesota for a work trip so I Google searched "Best vegan restaurants in Minneapolis" and this restaurant came up in the search, it was also somewhat nearby the airport so made for a convenient meal before heading to my hotel. Passed by Matt's Bar on the way here so I had to really test my will power to stick with the vegan option.

I pulled up to the shop and easily found street parking at 7pm. Might be more difficult during a lunch rush, but I had no issues.

When you enter, you order and pay at the counter then seat yourself to be served. Think of a fancy fast food, but with alcohol, so fast food in Europe.

I ordered the Mojo Smoked Brussel Sprouts and the Rev Burger, based on the high recommendation of the burgers by the girl working behind the counter, and a bottle of root beer. Total cost $31.

I was most excited to try the smoked brussel sprouts appetizer, being that my wife is from the Midwest we frequently indulge in smoke ribs, bacon, and brisket whenever we visit. This however was a solid one star experience, the brussel sprouts weren't smoked they were just burned on the outside. Integrated into this dish is supposed to be a sweet corn horseradish crema along with oyster mushroom bacon, but all I tasted was burned brussel sprouts leaves.

The burger was served alongside an arugula side salad. When I make burgers, vegan or with meat, I always use arugula instead of lettuce. I find that the pepperiness of the arugula really works well with an impossible burger or traditional burger. In this case, the burger itself was a bit slimy and the caramelized onions completely covered the flavor of the arugula on top with a sticky sweet taste. I was not impressed with the burger at all. The arugula side salad was underwhelming at best, it was a dressing on arugula which was already the garnish for the burger, the whole dish just seemed lazy, uninspiring, and lacking in any particularly good flavor.

All in all a solid one to two star experience, extra star awarded for effort towards preservation of the earth, so two to three stars. I won't be coming back around any time soon, but I hope they are able to come up with more inspiring dishes that taste great.

If you are on the way here now just stop off at Matt's Bar and get a Juicy Lucy, you'll...