Fiddlehead Fern Cafe — Restaurant in St. Louis

Ms. Heine Our entire family took exception to you referring to us as "freeloaders" on Social media, after our visit to your restaurant yesterday. I would not have wrote a review, had you not done that... While you "went low", I'm going to try to "go high"....

We arrived at your restaurant at 12:15. The band had already stared playing. And yes there was a line out the door. We decided to find a seat, and then order, which is what my wife and sister in law did. It took them more than 15 minutes to order. At no time while we all waited, or even after they were finally served, were all the tables full. There was a nice flow of customers, who if they wanted a seat, most certainly found one. In fact one lady asked to sit with my Aunt and Uncle, to which they cheerfully replied "Sure"...."Nice place", I thought.

Myself, my cousin, my elderly aunt, uncle and mother were the only family members who did not order. Not to say that we would not have ordered given time (waiting for the line to die down, so the elderly wouldn't have to stand and wait), or being asked directly/politely to order something. Instead you went to my wife and asked her to let everyone know they had to order or leave. After the ones who ordered finished their meal, we all left. We weren't there for more than hour. As opposed to the 2 hours you mention.

Your business in no way suffered due to us. If anything it suffered because you couldn't serve everyone fast enough. And "no avocados"???'

Yet, you decided to dock the band. These kids do this for a living. A deal is a deal. You did not fulfill your end of the bargain, due to what appears to be "your misconceptions"..

This is not the first first time my wife and I had been to your restaurant, and we ordered something every previous time.

My wife, and the other 2 who ordered yesterday (2 cups of coffee, a bloody mary and 3 pieces of toast) paid more than 50 dollars???? We all might have purchased more if allowed to stay.

Freeloaders, I would say not. And take offense.....

However, I do wish you luck and no bad...

I really wanted to give more stars because the food was good, albeit pricey. Maybe it's because of the pandemic, but the service let us down.

We went on a Sunday for the first time. My husband and I each had an iced horchata chai latté, a crossaint, and we shared double orders of toasts. The croissants were delicious. The toasts were very good, even though they weren't as described in the menu. The Smashed Chickpea was missing the radish and microgreens. It could have used a little bit of red onion, but overall it had a good mix of flavors and textures. The Queen Beet was missing the vegan chipotle, and it had microgeens instead of salad greens, but it still was our favorite of the two. The thin slices of pickled beets had a good bite, not at all mushy like beets can be sometimes. The capers gave an occasional pop of brightness.

Orders and payments were done at the door to ensure social distancing. The woman taking our order knew the menu and answered all of our questions. When she asked if I wanted to add a tip to the balance, I added a 20% tip. She boxed up the croissants and handed them to me. We sat down at a table on the sidewalk, very close the back door. After a few minutes, someone stepped around the corner and called my name, saying my drinks were on the table near the door. She could have handed them to us, she was standing right in front of us. The same thing happened with our food. I realize this place has counter service and not table service, but is it too much to ask for someone to hand me my order if they're standing right in front of me? When I brought the food back to our table and opened the boxes, there no napkins or flatware inside. We left because at that point it would have been easier to walk a couple blocks back home to eat, rather than expect any more from them. I tipped 20% for that?

This place needs to figure out if it's a dine-in or takeout restaurant because it's inappropriate for employees to solicit gratuities for minimal service. A tip jar would be more...

After waking up before dawn on my day off I was scrolling Facebook and luxuriating in the knowledge I could snuggle in my blankets a little longer - it’s the WEEKEND! Saw a friend’s post about this cafe and had Pavlov’s dog reaction over their photo. Checked the menu and was reaching out to a friend I knew would also be up to see if they wanted to grab breakfast.

The menu offers a wide variety of coffee, latte, non-coffee, juice options. I went with the mint latte. They step fresh ment leaves to make their own syrup to be used. Has the shuttle hint of mint, as the latte is sipped. Not over powering or fake, shuttle like if you were chewing a mint leaf from the garden. My friend opted for the horchata latte, strong cinnamon but smooth. We ended up switching latte’s due to the cinnamon level, it was strong for her to do a full one. I was good with both.

We opted for the Peaches and Ricotta toast. It was covered in fresh peaches, whipped ricotta, housemade jam, candied pecans, local raw honey, lemon zest, and fresh thyme served on Union Loafers rustic sourdough.

Second choice was the cashew butter and jam toast. It was built with housemade cashew butter, seasonal jam, pumpkin seeds, thinly sliced almonds, local raw honey, bee pollen served on Union Loafers rustic sourdough.

Very fresh, refreshing, and flavorful ingredients. Farm to table with ingredients from local farms around our area. When the crowd picked up and the sun was causing the temp to raise, they opened a window making the vibe for open air cafe. They sit on the corner, so there was a cross breeze that was nice.

Great friendly staff. Great food. They open at 7:00 and have ample table space to place books out for study time - which I saw a couple of individuals doing and was glad I was able to just enjoy the space without...