Capital View Cafe & Catering — Restaurant in Saint Paul

An excellent meal - at a restaurant, that should be the prime reason for the rating, and since it was one, it remains the prime reason for my five star review. However, I will get into the details as well.

I am a vegetarian; the menu was extremely varied, even for non-vegetarians, but surprisingly vegetarian friendly with few necessitations for substitutions or removals from menu items, and when substitutions were desired (as I did choose an item which required a substitution) the staff was eager to please and made the process simple and painless - while this should delight my fellow vegetarians, it should also encourage any diners as to experiment with menu items that they otherwise might not order on the basis of an ingredient they do not enjoy, as substitutions do not seem to be found objectionable whatsoever at this establishment.

This takes me to the service. The restaurant is seat-yourself, which is fine, and our server was adequately attentive - it was a busy time of day and they seemed understaffed, but she certainly made enough time for us and was there when we needed her. I wouldn't rank it among the best service experiences I have had among restaurants of this level, but it was also nowhere near the worst; as I said, it was adequate, and our server was pleasant and helpful within the limited time that she had for us.

The menu itself is eclectic, containing a mix of traditional breakfast items, standard American diner fare, and Mexican/Mexican-American food that was both excellent and reasonably ethnically authentic (though I was severely disappointed with the salsa provided with the "chips and salsa" that my dining companion requested. The guacamole was of significantly higher quality, however).

Finally, the prices were extremely reasonable, and my final verdict is that this certainly IS a restaurant that I will be returning to in the future.

Photo posted taken from the men's restroom, I found it humorous... next time I will take pictures of the food, as those are likely a bit more helpful in deciding whether or not to patronize an...

Breakfast food is one of my favorites, and I was stoked to get to try this place. Its high reviews have been reflected well. The service was tip notch. We were seated quickly and served water and beverages quickly. The cups were refilled very quickly when needed. Our waitress came as soon as the rest of our group arrived. I ordered the breakfast combo #6, which comes with 2 eggs, hashbrowns, a choice of meat, and a pancake. I also ordered a side of Hollandaise. The best part was the pancake, homemade, and cooked to perfection. I've wanted to learn how to make these kinds of pancakes but have yet to learn the secret. The hashbrowns are a great portion and were so golden and crisp. The bacon was a bit overcooked, but I don't mind crunchy bacon.

My friend ordered the south of the border omelet and was content. Another friend ordered the traditional eggs Benedict. She was happy except the underside of the English muffins were burnt.

My child ordered off the kid's menu. The waffle was a but overcooked and had burnt marks, and the bacon was a bit charred. So she didn't want to eat much of it. The waffle tasted pretty good.

One disclaimer is that the small business only takes cash. Credit and debit cards are not accepted due to the rates. There's an ATM on site. It would have been appreciated if this was stated at any point of our outing, whether upon being seated, when ordering, or when the check was delivered. Not once was it stated. I later saw a sign post on the wall stating this information. I wanted to cover the entire bill, but don't carry that much cash or ATM card. That was an inconvenience, but I'm glad I had enough cash to cover my portion. Also, it would be nice if they could offer credit card services for those willing to pay a service fee as I've seen at other businesses.

I would return to this fine establishment and great experience overall. Thanks for a...

This is a tough review to write but it needed to be written. I am a small business owner and know how hard it can be but something had to be done. This place was opened originally by the best friends of my parents years and years ago. It was my late dad’s favorite spot where he would meet all his Vietnam friends once a month. His picture is even up in the restaurant. Today, for my sister’s birthday, she wanted to go there. I moved out of the area a while back so I thought it would be fun to go back. It wasn’t! The lady working today, I assume a manager, in a pink and black workout outfit was so unbelievably rude to my mom. My mom is in a wheelchair with oxygen. There was no where to park her while we waited for a table since it is so small, so I tried to move her in a corner. This manager came up and said we needed to move so her waitstaff wouldn’t trip. So she moved us in the middle of the dining area. Then she came over and sighed and said we needed to move again! She looked so annoyed that we were waiting for a table like it was our fault. It felt like everyone was staring at us, instead of trying to make it comfortable. Finally after 30 minutes we got a table, the same lady then ran her leg into my mom’s wheelchair as we sat for another 30 min waiting food. The server was great and took our order right away. But then the food came.. I have eat here a ton in the past but not since it’s been sold to the new owners. The pancake tasted like a bisquick pancake and the refried beans were watery and metallic tasting. The potatoes were ice cold while everything else was hot. I ate about half and left it all on the plate. It was some of the worst food I have ever had. Nick Ramirez would be unbelievably disappointed to see what has happened to his restaurant along with my dad. Like I said, this was hard to write as it is my old community but the lady was so rude that she left...