Patrick's Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Richfield

Ordered fruit tart, a butter cookie, a small coffee, and a large hot chocolate. Appreciate that the server was both friendly and that they asked if we wanted food here and drinks to go.

But I was surprised that the food came on a cafeteria tray and the person who took my order just yelled, "Here you go, ladies!" for me to come get it. Wasn't sure if this is an actual restaurant with wait staff or if you just grab your own? It was unexpected.

Watched a little old lady struggle to not spill her full cup of coffee all over herself, as hers was in a regular coffee mug, not a to-go cup. Seems like bad business practice, and a good chance for injuries to happen.

A little kid just ran though as I wrote this. If he had run into that lady he could well have been burned. An actual server / waitstaff would have had better luck avoiding that scenario, as they are used to dodging people (or at least I was adept at that when I was a server).

The tart was disappointing, with what tastes like a sugar free or low sugar filling? It has a weird aftertaste. Tastes... thin, or less dense than the pudding texture I expected. There are 6 large food menus on the wall, but not descriptions of the pastries. (Though the print on the menus is hard to read.) Some deserts have placards describing them, but the tart did not, so I'm not sure quite what is in it. The cookie was so hard you couldn't cut it with a fork. Also disappointing.

Despite having numerous staff behind the counter talking amongst themselves, nobody ever checked on how things were so I figured I would write a review instead. And we were sitting at the counter right in front of the registers. I noted too that the chairs at the counter were unstable, as well. As though they were missing part of one of the feet. I found this was the case with the one I sat on, so switched to the chair next to it. Which seemed the same. Weird.

Underwhelming, to say the least. I did like the...

Not my cup of tea. We stopped by last week and I said out loud "this is never worth it" when we walked in and saw the madness. I heard a worker say "WHAT?" as we walked out to go to Pizza Luce (to actually be seated and get brunch). This has not been the first time we've attempted to stop by for food and we generally have tried less busy times.

They have about 15-20 tables cramped into a small inside area. It is a free for all to get a table - they have completely pushed the burden to the customer to find seating. You have to literally compete with others walking in for a table.

They also have this setup where they have a high top table right when you walk in. It completely takes over the space and makes it so you can't stand anywhere without being in the way. Then there are up to 3 different lines for different products they own (gift cards, ordering in, order bakery items, or picking up to go, etc)

The biggest downside is the combination of it all. If you want to eat there... you have to order food and find a table to eat at before your food is ready. It's incredibly stressful. If nobody leaves their table or you lost it to other people waiting - you are out of luck.

It's one of those places that people will swear by... and talk about. I don't get it. I don't find it worthwhile and the food does NOT justify the wait/chaos/value. I'd prefer to go somewhere that is run differently.

Pros Decent food Decent location/parking Seem to make quite a bit in-house

Cons Absolute chaos Unassigned seating Very stressful to find seating

Overall, just know what you are getting...

We have been visiting Patrick's since it was the best bakery around the Edina area. My wife stopped by to get me a sandwich for lunch. It was a pulled chicken sandwich with the flavor of tomato and garlic, among others. On the other side of the box was a small, but satisfying green salad with just the right amount of dressing to put on the room temperature greens. Their sandwiches seem to always come with a toasted ciabatta roll, and mine seemed to have a flavor of grain and tomato as well. I was really hungry and so was too busy wolfing it down to take notes. We have stopped by a few times to get a table, but there is usually a line. I note their very interesting wine list, with none of the standard, uninteresting selections from France, Spain, Italy and the usual locations: unfortunately, one can't take out wine. This cafe is definitely worth stopping by, even if it's to take out one of their fantastic cookies and pastries. I forgot that my wife brought me a colorful little fruit tart. This is the kind of treat we used to stop by for more than twenty years ago. Do visit!

We revisited 11/5/2023 for dinner. Dan, our server came by with an "amuse bouche" to welcome us. My wife had the braised short ribs and I had the grilled salmon. Both were great examples of a hearty comfort dish and a classic one. My glass of French Chardonnay reminded me how superior these are to the overoaked California presentations. We had a small table in the corner and wound up chatting with friendly diners at the adjacent table. The whole experience is always wonderful, and we went to the Southdale...