Keith Harris and Andy Sturdevant have been meeting for brunch on Saturday mornings for over a decade. The tradition began when they pledged to work out at the Midtown YWCA every weekend, and decided they deserved a reward after that. Somehow, the workout portion of this arrangement fell by the wayside. But they kept eating, and have probably hit about 30 new restaurants a year since then. And yet, despite each man’s savvy business sense, they have never turned their friendship ritual into salable content. Until now. Welcome to Brunch Buds.
Brunch Date 2.8.25: Brothers Cafe
For our latest outing, the Brunch Buds decided to go casual. We’d been to Brothers Cafe (3450 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis) once before, and it seemed like a good spot to return to on a sloppy, snowy Saturday. (Yes, we realize it’s only a few blocks down from our last brunching spot. We’ll get more adventurous when the weather improves, promise.)
Andy: We sat in a booth to eat this meal, a booth which the Minneapolis Tribune described in 1985 as having three stars worth of “very good ambiance.” Very romantic, in other words.
Keith: Oh? Tell me more?
Andy: Well, I know Brothers, the current iteration, as the former home of Vo's Vietnamese. But as you pointed out, clearly the decor was Latin American, and indeed, old southsiders would recognize the restaurant as the former location of El Meson, which was at that spot from the very early 1980s until a few years ago.
It's what you might call "Pizza Hut Syndrome," where the old physical structure of a space survives into a new iteration.
Keith: Aha, I knew those arches were not designed for a Vietnamese restaurant.
Andy: But I love that they kept the interior pretty undisturbed. The booths are romantic. One of my favorite things to whine about, as you know, is the fact that restaurants aren't really cozy anymore. Everything is like polished metal and concrete and hardwood and deafeningly loud.
I'm sure it's easier to clean that sort of nonporous material. But a little nook like the ones at Brothers are such a nice throwback.
Keith: Brothers is definitely cozy. Not really in a romantic way, but in a last-minute, get a bunch of friends together, no rush to get the check way.
Andy: Right, "romantic" as in The Romance of American Brunchism.
Keith: Coming from Verso this fall.
Andy: That was definitely the feeling when we were there. I am trying to avoid the word "vibe," but, yeah, I guess it was the vibe of the place. There were a few groups of 22 year olds, which is a good gauge of the cultural health of a dining establishment.
Keith: Yeah it's casual in a way lots of "casual" places try too hard to get right.
Andy: Redacto [Andy’s pseudonymous three-year-old son] was definitely adding to the "casual" quality. He was kind of off the wall. The booth only partially contained his casual spirit.
Keith: So I had the pulled pork hash (we can't eat biscuits and gravy every time out) and it did the job. Not a "you've got to try this!" dish, but that's not what you're at Brothers for. It tasted good and I was full at the end.
Andy: I think you had a bite of the pancakes, maybe? I read an online review by a fellow New Jerseyan that said the pancakes really scratched an itch for them, as far as being reminiscent of what you'd find in a Jersey diner.
Keith: Interesting! Yes, they were nice and fluffy. You had the chilaquiles, right?
Andy: I did. They were good, but I think the last time we were there, I had the country hash, which is mostly hash browns covered with other breakfast meats and gravy. They do hash browns really well, and the servings are huge.
Keith: Yeah. Let's point out that the chilaquiles came with a stack of pancakes on the side.
Andy: They sure did! The table was just covered with plates of pancakes and hash browns. It was out of control.
Keith: Again, if you go with a big group you could probably split a few entrees.
I feel like we're underselling Brothers a bit—it's obviously not a destination brunch spot—but we've been there before and went back because it's just a comfortable hang. Very happy to have it in my neighborhood.
Andy: Exactly. Just spread those entrees out over the table. That's why the booth behind us looked like a university recruiting photo. "Here's some of your future peers enjoying their college lifestyle eating nine pounds of hash browns and gossiping about…” Uh, whatever college kids gossip about these days. I can’t even pretend to know.
Keith: Totally. I feel like this place would clean up if it was close to campus.
But also, a good unfussy place to bring the kids.
Andy: Multigenerational! Again, that's always a good sign.
Keith: Yes, very much not the 24-32 brunchy crowd. Also, all-day breakfast, like a diner should have.
And if you have a child who is fascinated by Roku City, that was on at least two of the TVs.
Andy: Yeah, extra points for all the Roku City on the screens. I think Redacto jumped up and yelled "WE'RE GETTING A BUS...TO ROKU CITY!!!!!" and ran to the front door.
Keith: As he told us once, "Cats have lived in Roku City for thousands of years."
Also, the floor was wet, so he got to see his favorite yellow sign and say, "You gotta be cautious!" While running around on the wet floor.
Andy: That's the only thing that can break the spell of Roku City, a yellow caution sign.
I think this sort of neighborhood breakfast place is unfairly associated more with St. Paul than south Minneapolis, like, there’s an idea that everything in south Minneapolis is strictly high-end. Which is partially true. But there are a few places like Brothers in the mix, diners that are actual diners and not an upscale, set-dressed simulation of a diner.
Keith: I feel like there were more of these spots back in the day in Whittier/Uptown, but they got upscaled away.
That said, the food here is above the greasy spoon average of The Egg and I (RIP) or wherever.
Andy: Never replace the adobe booths with stainless steel!
Keith: Only Brothers has the courage to reject modernity.
I think there's a long piece to be written about how south Minneapolis—restaurants, coffee shops, stores even—used to be cozier in general, but that is not our job here today.
Andy: No, we can only live our values in eating at restaurants that embody that spirit of coziness.
