KB
Kyla Burgoyne
2 days ago
My friends and I recently visited Hope Breakfast Bar in Eagan for brunch to celebrate my friend’s birthday. Unfortunately, while the food was good, the service was extremely disappointing and really put a damper on what should have been a special occasion.
Our waitress was rude and unfriendly from the beginning. After our food arrived, we realized we had not been given any silverware or napkins. We waited about five minutes for our server to return so we could ask for them.
Throughout the meal, she repeatedly tried to take our plates while we were still eating. Then, almost immediately after we finished, she brought us the bill. We paid and still left a generous tip despite the poor service.
While we were finishing our drinks and continuing our conversation, our waitress came over and told us that we needed to leave because they had other reservations. We had a reservation as well and had only been there for just a few minutes over an hour. We were not lingering excessively or holding up the table.
What made this even more frustrating was that we could see three open tables in the restaurant. After we left, we finished our conversation outside, and only one other family entered the restaurant during the time we were outside talking.
We left feeling very unwelcome and honestly mistreated. It felt as though our waitress was more interested in turning the table over for another tip than providing a positive experience for the customers already there.
I understand that restaurants need to manage reservations and table turnover, but asking paying customers to leave after only 65 minutes—especially when there were open tables—is extremely rude and unnecessary.
The food was good, but good food doesn't make up for poor customer service. Unfortunately, based on this experience, I would not recommend Hope Breakfast Bar in Eagan to anyone who wants to enjoy a relaxed brunch or celebrate a special occasion without feeling rushed out the door.
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Andrew Daoheuang
2 days ago
Went for brunch with my sister because we were craving Hope after being regulars at the Edina location. Our reservation was at 12pm and when we checked in, the host said that we had been seated 6 minutes ago with an 11:45am reservation. How is that possible when we are just checking in for 12p? Instead of finding a solution, the host kept telling me that my reservation was for 11:45 and that I had already been seated like this was my fault thr system glitched or you checked in the wrong guest. I showed her my confirmation email with my name and table for 2 at 12:00pm for the Eagan location. I’m not going to turn and walk away because you sat the wrong “Andrew” at what was supposed to be my table. After an awkward encounter and moments of confusion from the employees, we were sat at a table that opened up. The server was good but the food took forever. We waited over 40 minutes for our food and my sister’s food end up being cold when she got it. No workflow and no common sense. Never again. Being that I used to work in customer service, retail, and a former server, I never leave negative reviews unless it’s truly a bad experience and this one just takes first place.
Pancakes and biscuits and gravy are yummy but overall very expensive for breakfast. Would not recommend the croissants as they are very dry.
Walking into this place, we honestly thought we were in for a really good brunch. The atmosphere was cozy and comfortable, our server was fantastic, and everything seemed to be starting off on the right foot. The espresso and latte were also excellent.
Then the food arrived…
At first glance, everything looked pretty good. But unfortunately, the more we ate, the more disappointed we became. The meat had a strange taste and texture that made it seem like it had been thawed and sitting for a while. The eggs and hash browns were even harder to explain—they just tasted off. Nothing we could easily put our finger on, but definitely not what we expected.
My wife ordered the waffles, which looked good but, according to her, were extremely sweet and noticeably greasy.
What makes it more disappointing is that there were genuinely some great things about the experience. Our server was excellent, the espresso and latte were very good, and the atmosphere was comfortable and inviting.
But then came the bill.
Over $70 with tip.
At that price, we expected the food to be the highlight of the experience, and unfortunately it wasn’t. The service, coffee, and atmosphere were all great, but the food quality simply didn’t justify the price for us.
Maybe we caught them on an off day, because the place definitely has potential. But after spending over $70, we left feeling like we should have had a much better meal.
I don’t leave bad reviews often, but when it’s bad, it’s bad. To clarify this review is based solely on the breakfast sandwich, and doesn’t reflect the service or the atmosphere, which was good. Also, the coffees were great. Getting that out of the way, the breakfast sandwich was awful and unacceptable. My wife and each got the breakfast sandwich, and we didn’t even eat half of it. They spread an overwhelming amount of pimento cheese on this thing, and the so called “bacon” was just stringy and fatty ham, that was straight up not edible. For the price, you’d think they would at least serve a good breakfast sandwich that you can eat and enjoy. My opinion was the pimento cheese was way overpowering and messy, and the bacon was terrible. I will give them credit for having a GF bun however.