Look, I’m as surprised as you to learn that the convenience store where City Pages staffers once bought snacks and cigarettes now serves up one of the best breakfast sandwiches in town. The world is a funny place!
At 5th Avenue Market, you can still find all the beef jerky, chewing gum, and Red Bull you need to power through a workday (and a surprisingly good selection of gourmet cheeses). You can also find a little counter serving up egg sandwiches unlike any other in the Twin Cities.
Open since last summer, Egg On A Roll comes from Adam Bresina, who was an executive sous chef at The Hewing Hotel and executive chef at the Minneapolis Club before this eggy endeavor. His sandwiches have the cheffy qualities and inventive ingredients you’d expect from someone with that experience—and unlike the egg sandwiches from a certain other area chef, these range in price from $6.99 to $8.99.
We’ll get to those fun toppings in a second here, but first we gotta talk about the titular egg and roll. The former is really a marvel, not prepared over-easy or over-medium but instead served in a towering, one-inch-tall disc of fluffy, gravity-defying egg. It’s soft, it’s decadent, it’s… almost cheesy, or something? Like if an egg was cosplaying southern grits. Bresina has called it a “proprietary style egg soufflé,” and he will be receiving an email from me attempting to reveal his secrets.
Then there’s the roll. Bread can make or break an egg sammy, and this brioche bun is a star: pillowy, sweet, and toasted just so for a bit of texture. Buttery and squishy, it’s the perfect vessel.
The menu makes it tough to choose just one sammy. There’s The Tuscany (spinach, roasted tomato, red onion, parmesan, Italian blend, pesto aioli), and The Cryin Eggy (Cry Baby Craig's spicy egg, bacon, pepperjack, arugula, garlic aioli). We ended up opting for the two that seemed toughest to replicate at home: Breakfast In Bombay and The Forager.
Breakfast in Bombay ($8.99) brings the heat in more ways than one, with chorizo, chili crisp, and banana peppers. It steps up the seasoning with a garam masala spread, and a hefty sprinkling of sprouts top it off.
That could be overwhelming, but the end result is somehow almost delicate: slight heat, warm spice, a snap of red onion keeping things fresh. You almost forget it’s an egg sandwich, and not in a bad way—it’s just that this would satisfy at lunch or dinner as easily as it would during the a.m. hours. (Be sure to scoop up the chili crunch that’s dripped off with your last bites.)
The Forager ($7.99) is a different beast entirely. Where BIB is rich and meaty, this one is fresh and vegetal, with tangy chèvre and a sharp pop of acidity from marinated mushrooms. Garlic aioli adds a creamy kick; arugula cuts in with some peppery flair. Again, you’re kind of like, “Is this an egg sandwich, or just a really great sandwich that also has an egg on it?”
Does it matter? Is there a difference? Egg On A Roll excels in showcasing the versatility of the humble egg. These sandwiches are an incredible value, and they’re hard to put down in more ways than one: You’ll be on umami autopilot, and they’re so piled with toppings that they necessitate having a small arsenal of napkins on hand.
Egg On A Roll
Address: 201 N. Fifth Ave., Minneapolis
Hours: Monday - Saturday, 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
