Awesome food and service We were driving thru town and needed breakfast. This place popped up on the map so we decided to give it a try. The menu was a mix of breakfast sandwiches, omelette, and platters. Plus French toast and pancake meals. We ordered a gyro omelette, caramel roll, and a French toast meal with eggs and sausage. All of the food was delicious! The bread is even homemade. Parking lot right behind the building. read more

Cornerstone Cafe & Catering - Gyro omelette - Cafes Near Me - Monticello, Minnesota

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First time visiting today!! I was greeted by Santana with great service!! I had the taco salad and wild rice soup, the sinfully delicious pie for dessert ALL super delicious!! This little hometown cafe is a best kept secret which you must visit!! You won't regret it!!! The ambience is warm and welcoming! read more

Nice breakfast. Nice crisp hash browns. Excellent chicken fried steak with nice country gravy. The coffee is classic diner coffee (which is too weak) but it was only 99 cents. The best thing about the experience was the server. I forgot her name but she was a joy. read more

I love the food here; it tastes scratch made rather than reheated frozen food. The homemade pies are worth checking out, too. It's a small establishment, and popular with locals. The service here is slow and inattentive, which is my only criticism (and has been that way on repeated visits). I keep coming here for the food, but am repeatedly disappointed with the service. Food 5 and service 2....for an average of 3.5 rounded to 4. read more

We were passing through on our way home from Minneapolis & held off to get breakfast umtil we were outside of the busier areas. Our mistake. We stopped to fill the tank & turned to the Yelposphere for direction on food. This time, y'all steered me wrong. On approach, the name made perfect sense & the location was nice, with ample outdoor seating. Inside was a different vibe than outside, I'm going to go with a bit shabby. There are games available & I like the idea of what I think this place could be. We took a seat, with one other table occupied. I believe our server was new as she had to check things like soup of the day & whether or not they sell tomato juice (they do & a big ole cup of it too). We were handed menus & my husband pointed out that we needed to calculate an extra 20% above the menu pricing. I'd assumed gratuity was being included but he corrected me & said that they have increased prices 20% and haven't updated the menus yet, gratuity still needed to be added. (I didn't see the notice personally). We ran right at $37/2 - 2 meals & a tomato juice. We ordered and the food was up quickly - too quick... they should have microwaved it another minute or so. The hashbrowns, chicken fried steak & gravy were all luke-warm. The eggs came out as ordered. No seasoning was added to the eggs or hashbrowns, which I'm ok with, as I like to control my salt intake. Simply put, it was edible but it wasn't good. One note, no flavor & not to temp. I'd have been ok comparatively with a drive thru & I'm not a fast food eater. Maybe we should have tried the desserts. I suppose that could be the real star here. Overall, the price wasn't crazy-high, the food was edible & the service was attentive. I didn't see a lot of options in the area & next time we'll keep that in mind with our routing and stop planning. I can't in good conscience recommend eating here based on this experience & I wouldn't come back. read more

Definitely over priced diner food. Cramped space and outdated space and menu. Political views of the establishment is clearly and sadly evident. read more

I went here on Saturday night on my way to Big Lake. It's very fitting with the name as it sits right on the Main Street in Monticello. There is a parking lot that you can park in which is really nice. You walk in and seat yourself. We had a very nice waitress. I was disappointed first that they were out of all the specials and second that there really weren't many vegetarian options on the menu. Really only 3 items, a grilled cheese, veggie sandwich and a salad. I asked them to make me a veggie wrap instead of a sandwich which they did and was nice but veggies don't really fill you up and it needed tofu or tempeh or something. It was just okay and our sweet potato fries were overdone. My friend got the chicken wrap and also said it was okay and thought the same about the fries. They have a few board games you can play while you wait but most of the pieces were missing. Also the dessert case looked okay.. some items looked good. It has a lot of potential I just think it needs some updating both to the restaurant and the menu. read more

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The food took over an hour mine was burnt and my freinds was cold when it came to us the spot we where in during winter! Was frezing the heat was not on both me and my freind where so cold! read more

Went for breakfast on a Sunday morning, sat for 15 minutes and where completely ignored. No drinks no hello. Left and will not go back

Food is above average. The wait to get it though is another matter. Decor could use some updating.

My husband and I have eaten here twice (since covid hit) with friends and each time we have really enjoyed the delicious food! My husband LOVES the Hot Beef Sandwich so it's not hard to talk him into going here. We like sharing the Onion Rings while we wait for our scrumptious meals. And the desserts are out of this world!! I even bought a painting of a "pickup with Christmas tree in the box" painted by the owner's wife! We will be back!! read more

Cornerstone Cafe & Catering - Truck on top is the painting I bought at Cornerstone Cafe! - Cafes Near Me - Monticello, Minnesota

Everything my family has tried here has been fantastic. Shepard's Pie, burgers, sandwiches, and stir fry are all great. Very traditional Minnesota meals. I've always been prone to finding one meal at a place and just sticking with it, but I've never had anything that wasn't great here so I keep trying a new meal. I'm looking forward to trying the meatloaf next. read more

Went here with my family today for Mother's Day and the owner was just the best! The food was amazing and we got to set our phones down and play many of the games they have. They now have "regulars" read more

I really was looking forward to trying this small cafe, some friends said they really liked it! Our waitress was great, first off! Nice ambiance also. We had two pre-schoolers with us so perused the kids menu. I thought $5.99 for a pancake and sausage was pretty hefty so decided on the $10 for 2 pancakes, 2 eggs and 3 sausages for them to split, at least they'd also get an egg each! The pancakes were huge and the syrup had a little something extra that made it very tasty. I thought that was a fairly high price fir this simple breakfast compared to other places, but it was satisfying! For me and my daughter, first off, I don't love breakfast, but found out their lunch menu starts at noon on Saturdays, so that was an epic fail for me since we were there st 11:15. I opted for the gyro omelet as that was the least breakfasty option I thought, but it really had very minimal gyro meat in it so it was very eggy. The thick cut rye toast was the highlight of my $13 meal! My daughter went for the sirloin steak skillet ($15), not sure why this was a skillet as it basically was deep fried wedge potatoes with a bit of sirloin, mushrooms etc with two eggs on top, on a plate?? I also tried her hollandaise sauce because it was an odd color....I follow the Betty Crocker recipe and it is creamy and bold yellow and lemony, this was kinda like a thinned chicken? gravy? All in all, felt it was overpriced for non-spectacular food. It pains me to give a poor review during this Covid life small businesses are dealing with....there's not a lot of options in Monticello so I can't say I won't try it again later in the day in the future, but based on this one experience, I won't go rushing back. read more

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Hash browns should be fried in butter, not drenched in oil, and well, be a nice toasty brown on the outside and moist inside. Not a slimy pale mess. read more

Cornerstone Cafe & Catering - Take out oil with some hash "browns" - Cafes Near Me - Monticello, Minnesota

Excellent food and service! I would highly recommend this place. We had meatloaf, rueben, garlic parmesan fries and pie. It was all amazing! read more

Cornerstone Cafe & Catering - a piece of cake on a plate - Cafes Near Me - Monticello, Minnesota

Hands down the very best pecan pie I've ever, ever had! Great food too, and a community focused business. But damn... that pie! Gotta come try it all! read more

They have an amazing ham and cheese omelet. It's one of those local businesses you can't get bored of!

Stopped for lunch before hiking at Lake Maria. This is a great place to grab a meal before or after spending some time at a state park. The cashew chicken stir fry comes on a bed of rice and a bottle of soy sauce on the side. At first I was a little confused but I actually did appreciate adding my own sauce so that it was just right for me. There were a lot of peppers, too many for my liking but the chicken was cooked wonderfully. Overall, it was a great entree! If you are craving pasta, I would suggest the Chicken and Broccoli Cavatappi. It is a not a very heavy dish but still filling. Don't leave without pie! They have got a few to pick from and can be shared between two people. Be warned that you will probably end up in a fork war over the last couple of bites! Parking lot available. Otherwise, street parking was easy to find. read more

Always have to get homemade soups and pies. Had the chicken wild rice and chili. Neither would be ones I'd order again. The chicken wild rice was milky and barely had any chicken. Could only find 2 pieces. The chili tasted too much like tomato paste and sauce. Both were disappointing. The staff wasn't very attentive or friendly or professional. Not sure why this was the case I'd they're a catering business. Had the burger with an egg on it. It was ok. But charred too much on the bottom. The rosemary parmesan fries were too heavily coated in parm and rosemary. It was too over powering. I wouldn't order this again. What I would order is an amazing pie there. It was a rich chocolate one that had layers. It tasted like a hot cocoa if you had a fork full of all the layers. The carrot cake was also really good. The desserts were the winners and the reason for the 3 stars. Everything else would have been a 2 rating. Found a new stop for pie now for sure. read more

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Awesome service & food. Owner greeted us. We decided to sit/dine outside. We had the Cornerstone Stacker, Heuvos Rancheros, Minnesota Omelette, and Biscuits & Gravy for breakfast. And decided to have Strawberry-Rhubarb pie & Banana Cream pie for dessert- why not?! Everything was excellent and our server was top notch. We highly recommend! read more

This is one of my favorite spots to go in the north metro for a good breakfast! It is a smaller spot so good for a cozy get together with a close friend. Coffee is bottomless which is a blessing and at night they have a bar and delicious entrees. That said, I used to come here a lot years ago when it was under different ownership. Mostly everything is really good but standards seem to have slipped yet prices have also gone up. This is frustrating because I always relied on this place to have quality food for an affordable price. The item that I feel got the biggest hike but seems to have gone down in quality is the pie! I always crave that pie! Now it's $8 a slice and I could barely eat it. I hope they get more feedback like this and maybe improve what used to be a wonderful breakfast spot in the north metro. read more

Amazing food & service. The staff, the flavor and the quality is all there at cornerstone cafe. Highly recommend the Reuben sandwich and chicken wild rice soup. Portion size is massive and very flavorful and just like homemade. We've also used Cornerstone Cafe for catering services and they performed superbly. 5 stars read more

Cornerstone Cafe & Catering - REUBEN!! - Cafes Near Me - Monticello, Minnesota

My wife & I stopped here on our way up north. The place is a corner cafe that like the owners are great stewards. It's cute and well maintained. The place was packed and it took a while to be served. I ordered a cheeseburger with fries. The burger came on what appeared to be a home-made roll that was toasted. Nice touch! The burger patty appeared to be a frozen patty that was cooked well done. Not a fan, I like my burgers medium. My wife ordered the Caraway Reuben. It came with an artichoke sauce and it was fabulous! She also had the parmesan fries and they were delish. Coffee was good. They also serve beer and wine so it looks a good evening place too. I'd recommend it. read more

The Mexican skillet is to die for. Omg small town feel but big time taste. I love it, so will you.

My husband and I met at cornerstone café. It was a caramel roll that did it. The food is great the help is wonderful and the coffee is also good and hot. We were married three months later can't say enough about this restaurant. read more

Since changing ownership this place is flopping. Portions are smaller, it's not as clean and staff isn't as good...granted there was A LOT to live up to, but still. I was in on a Saturday and it was dead, lots of open tables, but still no one acknowledged us. After 5-10 mins my group decided to go somewhere else but we were going to grab a slice of pie because it's always amazing, but there was absolutely zero bakery items available. What the? I wish the new owners would value what they bought and just keep things status quo. Such a bummer. read more

The biggest and best Everything Omelette I've ever had!! Super friendly and easy on the eyes waitress!

The food was overall pretty good. If this review was only about the food the rating would be a solid 4 stars. But sadly the first staff member we encountered was the owner Greg. The restaurant was mostly full (several tables were marked as not to be used but most of the available tables were full) Greg was talking to a customer and his gator was not over any part of his face. He came over to us and said he'd clean a table for us. He cleaned the table and went about his business cleaning other tables and talking to customers without ever covering his face. The rest of the staff we had contact with did have face coverings. As I said the food was pretty good. I wish the owner cared as much about his customers as he does the food quality. read more

Very little fresh foods, no fresh mushrooms, etc., even cheap lemon packets, still... instead of fresh lemons. The simple/fresh things matter. read more

The food is ok the pies are great but unfortunately they are making no attempt to follow health and safety guidelines. Multiple staff in the kitchen and talking with customers without masks. I ignored it as a one off but when it happened multiple times it was time to move on. If they can't take the health and safety of employees and customers seriously than I won't be back. I hate to see what other health and safety corners they cut. read more

The perfect picture of a small café in a "Small" town. Everything on the menu is great!

We chose this place over Perkins to try something new. Our waitress was kind and everything going great. This was on a Sunday and breakfast was the only menu as they close at 2pm. So we order, i see other meals coming out. And they smell and look delicious. We asked for our eggs scrambled. We get our plates, and scrammbled eggs come from a liquid box. Something you would at a breakfast fundraiser, no taste to them at all. Its not at fault of the waitress. When going to pay the bill and communicating my disappointment with the eggs, i received an "Oh yah, the liquid eggs" yes, it didnt say in your menu...a blank stare. No apolgogy, no discount. I now feel like i need to ask if my scramble eggs are going to be REAL eggs. read more

I give this place the best possible rating based on two items we ordered alone: the Chicken Wild Rice Soup, which our waitress called the "Best in Minnesota" and the Carmel Apple Pie, which was shockingly good! It was loaded with cinnamon, not too sweet, and large enough to share. The Wild Rice Soup blew our minds! The salads we got were light on healthy greens but nicely seasoned and refreshing. My husband's chicken strip plate only had two chicken strips but it was a lunch special so probably meant to be smaller portion. I almost forgot to mention how good the Bloody Mary was! Have you ever been to a small town Cafe that also served alcohol and let alone hard liquor? The mix was delicious. We'll be back for sure! read more

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Got the salad and fries. By far one of the best salad I have ever had. Portion size is very big for one person. I also got the fries with this lemon and garlic aioli. Which was very good. It's a seat yourself place. The service is pretty good. The food does take some time to cook. So definitely go with someone you can talk to for a while. I think we waited almost 45 minutes for our food. I haven't had their desserts so I can't tell you how that is. Only downfall is they didn't refill my water. So I was pretty thirsty. Definitely will go back. read more

A must if you live in the area! Excellent food! We love the Hog Pile Skillet, French Toast, and the pancakes!

You will never be disappointed when you choose to eat at Cornerstone! The food is always delicious whether you eat breakfast , lunch, or dinner! We frequent cornerstone cafe very often and staff is always welcoming and helpful! read more

Chicken wild rice anything is fantastic! Small and cozy, perfect small town staff, alcohol menu to chose from. The fact that it's always busy has a lot to say for its level of service and satisfaction! read more

I have only ordered for pickup since COVID, so I won't comment on the dining experience. Their food remains delicious though. Hands down, best food in Monticello, far surpasses the small town mediocrity. Get the Jamaican jerk chicken or the gyro (weird that a small American cafe has good gyro, but they do) and the fruit and nut salad is my favorite. read more

We like to find off the beaten path places to eat when traveling and this one was perfect! Just two blocks from the Mississippi River on a quiet corner...they offer a great breakfast!! Amazing cinnamon French toast and the best bacon! The omelets were huge and full of flavor. They even had mimosas to go with it! Highly recommend. Friendly fast service and just the place to hit when your hungry. read more

Cornerstone Cafe & Catering - Cafes Near Me - Monticello, Minnesota

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