Minneapolis-St. Paul's Best Breakfast Sandwiches
Breakfast sandwiches are an ideal way to start the day — fast, affordable, and delicious! And many restaurants in Minneapolis-St. Paul’s metro area move beyond an Egg McMuffin. Here are some of our favorites.
Alma
Minneapolis
When he was a young chef training in Manhattan in the 1990s, Alma owner Alex Roberts found daily sustenance with bacon-egg-cheese sandwiches at the bodega near his subway stop. The James Beard Award winner pays homage to those New York City breakfast staples by offering five egg sandwiches at this counter-service setup.
A standout is the Häm Jäm, which dresses up an airy scramble with Monterey Jack cheese, sweetly savory caramelized onions, a drizzle of rosemary-infused maple syrup and tender, thinly sliced smoked ham, all served on a toasted bodega-esque roll.
Black Duck
Minneapolis
Black Duck chef/owner Jason Sawicki knows what he’s doing with egg soufflés, and he knows how to dress them up, calling upon gooey American cheese and a souped-up mayonnaise. Similarly noteworthy are the thick strips of chewy bacon — from Peterson Craft Meats, a family-owned western Wisconsin pork powerhouse — and the flavorful focaccia, which hails from Patisserie 46, one of Minnesota’s top-performing bakeries.
Black Walnut Bakery
Minneapolis
Black Walnut is one of the metro area’s shining-star bakeries, so it stands to reason that the bread in its breakfast sandwich plays a starring role. Especially since it’s the menu’s croissant bread, a signature loaf chef/owner Sarah Botcher fashions from her buttery laminated dough.
Eggs are done up as a decadent custard, and there’s a cheese double-whammy via Gruyère and an herb-infused chèvre. Yes, you should add ham.
The Briar
Minneapolis
A brawny, well-seasoned porchetta, thinly sliced and layered over a diner-style folded scramble, is the centerpiece of this tasty — and moderately priced — beauty (a.k.a. the Pork Cutie) from The Briar. Chef/owner Abe Ziaimehr has the smarts to buy naturally leavened whole-grain buns from local purveyor Laune Bread and deftly incorporates white Cheddar, a jolt of hot sauce and a cornichon-flecked aioli into the mix. A real find.
Cafe Racer Kitchen
Minneapolis
This open-faced Colombian spin on the classic egg-and-cheese (aborrajado) begins with a white masa corn cake that’s split and grilled. Cafe Racer Kitchen chef/owner Luis Patiño then adds zesty slices of blackened kielbasa, a fried egg, crunchy onions, sweet peppers, a hearty pepper sauce, and crumbles of salty queso cotija. Its gluten-free status makes it a breakfast sandwich rarity; there’s also a meat-free option with roasted vegetables.
Clancey’s Meats & Fish
Minneapolis
Follow this free advice: If a butcher makes sandwiches, buy them. Clancey's owner Kristin Tombers showcases locally sourced meats; she relies upon bacon and ham from Hidden Stream Farm in Elgin for her breakfast sandwich. The other components are similarly top-notch, including splendid soufflé-style eggs, a tender milk-enriched bun, plenty of white American cheese, and Anaheim peppers sautéed Greek-style with garlic and oregano.
Egg on a Roll
Various Locations
The menu features nine made-to-order standards (try the Tuscany, with roasted tomatoes, Parmesan, spinach, and pesto-infused aioli) plus a build-your-own route with several dozen ingredient options. All of them feature high-rising soufflé-style eggs and buttered and toasted brioche buns. Chef/owner Adam Bresina launched his breakfast sandwich-focused business two years ago, and he’s already ramped up to four busy locations, with more on the way.
Hot Hands Pie & Biscuit
St. Paul
“Biscuit whisperer” could be chef/owner Tara Coleman’s nickname; that’s how good she is at her job. The biscuits, golden brown and tender as all get out, really shine when finished with the ideal combination of bacon, runny yolk fried eggs, and a mayonnaise brightened with roasted serrano peppers. On your way out, be sure to pick up a package of heat-and-serve biscuits.
Lynette
Minneapolis
Go for the toasted, butter-slathered slices of pastry chef Mariah Murphy’s milk bread, then stay for Lynette chef/owner Ben Siers-Rients’ luscious scrambled eggs, lively pesto, and tangy tomato jam. Oh, and the thick, smoky bacon and peppery arugula. Even the smartly composed side salad is a treat.
Marty’s Deli
Minneapolis
This Instagram darling deserves all the online love it has garnered. The foundations of the design-your-own format are salt-flecked focaccia, a fluffed-up egg bake, garlicky aioli and white American cheese. Add-ons include tender braised greens, blue-ribbon worthy bacon, and a punchy breakfast sausage; they’re all highly recommended. A bonus: the plus-sized results are totally shareable.
Mi-Sant Kitchen & Bakery
Various Locations
At this popular Vietnamese destination in Brooklyn Park and Roseville, it’s all about Spam, one of Minnesota’s biggest and most beloved exports. In a delicious example of the less-is-more mindset, grilled slices of everyone’s favorite canned pork product are paired with fried eggs and Cheddar cheese, then stuffed into flaky house-baked croissants.
Razava Bread Co.
St. Paul
Purists may balk at labeling shakshuka — a North African/Middle Eastern standard — as a breakfast sandwich. But follow along; the how-to is easy. Dip slices of baker Omri Zin-Tamir’s excellent sourdough-based pain de mie into a smoky tomato-pepper stew garnished with poached eggs and sour cream. If that formula doesn’t constitute a “sandwich,” it should.
Zin-Tamir also makes airy pitas that house a Jewish-Iraqi-style sabich of roasted potatoes, eggplant, tahini, egg, zhug (Yemeni hot sauce cut with cilantro and parsley), and amba (a mango pickle condiment akin to chutney). Not to mention top-notch bagels — the perfect canvas for crafting your own breakfast sandwich at home.
Scramblin’ Egg
Bloomington
This popular food truck transitioned to a far more convenient brick-and-mortar storefront after winning Bloomington's first $100,000 startup competition. Hurrah!
Chefs/co-owners Grant Veitenheimer and Nick Peterson continue to crank out seriously first-rate breakfast sandwiches. From portion size to the assortment of build-your-own ingredients, the kitchen’s impulse is clearly “overkill,” and it works, because each five-napkin scrambled-egg sandwich is a hefty, difficult-to-wrangle affair, in a glorious way.
Toma Mojo Grill
Various Locations
The place for quick, well-crafted value in Richfield and Minnetonka. This detail-oriented operation gets it right on so many levels: The eggs are expertly fried, the thin-cut bacon is stacked sky-high, the toasted potato buns are the same used at quality-obsessed Shake Shack, and the prices land squarely in “affordable.” Splurge for one of the kitchen’s vibrant sauces, from mellow honey-mustard to a fiery piri-piri. Similarly craveable — and bargain-priced — are the bite-sized hash brown rounds.
