Cafe Latte — Restaurant in Saint Paul

Tucked into the heart of St. Paul’s Grand Avenue scene, Café Latte isn’t just a café—it’s an institution. A fusion of gourmet bakery, modern cafeteria, wine bar, and local art gallery, Café Latte delivers a one-of-a-kind experience that’s both upscale and unpretentious.

⸻

Atmosphere:

Café Latte has that rare blend of spaciousness and intimacy. The two level layout creates different zones: the bright and casual first-floor cafeteria line, the cozy second-floor dining with warm lighting and booths. Whether you’re on a casual coffee date, a solo study session, or catching up with friends, there’s a nook that fits the mood.

⸻

Food:

This is where Café Latte truly shines. • Soups & Salads: Their chicken wild rice soup is legendary—creamy, hearty, and the kind of comfort food Minnesotans write poems about. The salad bar is fresh, flavorful, and loaded with variety—don’t skip the chicken salsa chili salad or Asian noodle salad. • Pizza: The smoked salmon pizza and chicken pesto flatbread are cult favorites for a reason: perfectly crisp crusts, gourmet toppings, and no grease bomb aftermath. • Desserts: Let’s not pretend—people come here for the cake. The tres leches, German chocolate, and turtle cake have serious fan followings. The dessert case looks like a jewelry display for sugar addicts, and the flavor backs up the hype.

⸻

Drinks:

While Café Latte doesn’t do espresso drinks (a rare move these days), they serve fair-trade, strong-brew coffee, along with a robust tea selection and wine bar that’s surprisingly well-curated. Try the red blend flight if you’re feeling indecisive but classy.

⸻

Service:

Cafeteria-style means you’ll go through a line, grab a tray, and choose your meal, but don’t let that fool you—staff are friendly, quick, and know the menu well. Table turnover is fast, but you never feel rushed. Bussing is self-service, but most patrons treat the space respectfully.

⸻

Vibe:

It’s clean. It’s consistent. It’s got a little flair. You’ll see families, college students, professionals, and grandmas all enjoying their favorite dishes. It’s equal parts community hub and quiet refuge.

⸻

Pricing:

It’s not cheap, but it’s fair. You’re paying for fresh ingredients, portion sizes that won’t leave you hungry, and a beautiful space to enjoy them in. Most full meals run $15–20, desserts around $5–7, and wines by the glass $8–12.

⸻

Final Verdict:

Rating: 4.8/5

Café Latte is one of those rare spots that balances character, quality, and comfort. Whether you’re in it for the cake, the soups, or just the vibe, it delivers every single time. If you’re visiting St. Paul and don’t stop here, you’re doing your trip wrong. And if you live here and haven’t been—well, get in...

I was treated poorly on Thanksgiving Eve! I placed an order for a whole cake on Monday 11/20 and arranged a pick up for 12pm today. It was resold without my permission!!! I am a Nurse and ended up working the whole day and missed my scheduled pick up time. I received a reminder call at 830pm to pick up my cake. I returned the call at 8:40pm and was told by a young lady that my cake was available and ready with my name on it that the bakery counter would be closed at 9pm but if I missed it they could grab it for me when I arrived as they closed at 10pm. When I arrived at the counter at 9pm I was greeted by the manager Neil. He was very nice nasty. He told me that because I missed my reminder call and he was not informed that I had called back resold my cake. Another employee then approached and said there was one slice missing from my cake. I told him that the cake was I purchased was paid for in full at the time I placed the order on 11/20. He said that doesn’t matter and that he has been doing this for years to customers because they want to avoid losing money. (I assume black customers by the way he was looking at me, I felt like he was looking at me as if I was “stock or just another one”) I responded with the loss would have been mine as I purchased the cake already days ago. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY I WAS NOT INFORMED AT THE TIME OF PURCHASING THE CAKE THAT IF I MISSED MY PICKUP TIME MY CAKE WOULD BE SOLD AGAIN!!!!!!!! I ALSO WAS JUST TOLD TO COME PICK UP MY PACKAGED AND LABELED CAKE 10 MINUTES AGO!!!!!! Neil continued to cut me off with any thing I had to say about having a paid for cake. At one point an employee over heard our discussion and asked if I would take a “flat cake” and Neil cut him off and said “will just let the business office handle it.” He was not apologetic, he was short, he did not try to recover my service in any way, he offered me nothing. He was very uninterested in helping me in anyway despite it being Thanksgiving Eve. I will not use this business again and will not recommend it to anyone that I know. I am disappointed and feeling very devalued. I also made a...

I've been going to Cafe Latte for years and years; meeting clients for business, taking a dear senior friend on an outing, going out to eat with fellow dancers before or after a class, or just for my own pleasure. It's a bit like a salad, soup, and sandwich bar, where you make selections and place your order as you go. However, I'd call this gourmet quality menu entrees.

My favorite is to order their three salad combos. The selection is great, with a good variety of flavors and cuisines, and they are unusually tasty. Cafe Latte serves both timeless, favorite comfort food, but also exceptional lattes, coffee, tea, and desserts. Individuals can select from gourmet pizzas to their own award-winning Blueberry Lemon Scones and Turtle Cake.

If you want the European clotted cream / scone experience, this is as close as you can come to it in the United States. I highly recommend going for scones first thing in the morning, when you cannot the "fresh out of the oven" flavor.

Recently, I wanted to thank a helpful neighbor by gifting them with a cheesecake. I checked closer to home, in Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, and Edina - no one else had full cheesecakes ready for pickup-and-go. Not only that, Cafe Latte, has them in three sizes as well as selling cheesecake by the slice. In addition, you have multiple flavors to choose from. For my neighbor, I selected their Classic Vanilla Cheesecake. It's boxed nicely and is a stunning presentation with whipped cream and strawberries on top.

There are three distinct dining areas an upstairs, lower-level tables and booths, as well as the dessert/coffee lounge on the south end. Conveniently, they have two cash register areas. Large men and women restrooms are available directly across the hall. There is street parking and a paid parking lot across the street on the west. To avoid peak hours, I recommend going mid-afternoon.

Excellent service. Top...