The Lowry

Yum yum!!! I had the best bison burger of my life when I walked in here last weekend. It was cooked perfectly and was topped with arugula, gorgonzola, candied walnuts, and dried cranberries. It was freaking delicious. The service was also very good!

I love the chicken and waffle! The chicken is so crispy and it’s covered in a layer of delicious gravy. I would definitely order it again. The atmosphere is really nice and cool as well. I recommend and would come back.

I was excited to try this place with our friends. Food was fine, but I won’t be able to return due to server and management. One bill came for the party of six and we were paying by splitting check three ways. We took total, added gratuity and divided by 3. Two put in cash and the third was paying by credit card. Server took check, cash, credit card. Returned with slip to sign for credit card for a third of the bill. (All is good yet.) Our friend signed his credit card receipt and added his share of gratuity as well. He kept his copy.
Next day our friend checks his credit card statement on line. The slip he signed for (¹⁄₃ of the bill) was voided and re-​rung for the total bill of all six people!!! Server must have pocketed the cash. Rung up the credit card for the correct ¹⁄₃ portion of the bill for our friend to sign. Once signed and on our way, server voided slip and re-​rung the credit card for the ENTIRE bill, keeping the cash and gratuity of the ²⁄₃ the rest of us paid.
Our credit card paying friend was passed on to 3 different managers when he tried to call in the next few days. No one ever returned his call. When he spoke to the last person, he never received an apology, credit refund or satisfaction of his complaint. How awful.
A true crime and no resolution. BEWARE OF THE SCAM. Management looks the other way.

I ordered a Caesar salad. What I received was a play on the ingredients. That’s okay with me. But what I actually got was a plate with all the ingredients. I had to make my own salad. I didn’t come in to cut your labor costs. Apparently I was supposed to wash the lettuce too? If you’re going to make me do that at least give me a plate that leaves enough room to actually deal with mixing the ingredients and cutting the lettuce. And FYI, grilling the lettuce went out in the late 90s. I ordered a greyhound. I got a sort of grapefruit soda with vodka. Time to step it up. My husband got overcharged for a beer. He politely pointed it out. Waitress came back with his credit card sans removal of upcharge.
Update. After a Twitter exchange the manager offered to set things right, the bill was rectified.

I’ve been here a bunch. It’s usually pretty good but not necessarily great. The ambience and service are fantastic if a little self-​consciously pretentious. It has mellowed out over the years, which is a bit of a two edged sword. On one hand, it’s much less hoity-​toity than it used to be, which is nice, but the server crew isn’t as unutterably beautiful as they used to be. The prettiness of the staff (of all genders) was a big part of the appeal of going there when they opened! But give me perfect service over eye candy any day.
The food is pretty good, but I think they try to get too creative with the menu sometimes. Case in point: They make «sausage gravy» with, apparently, kielbasa instead of breakfast sausage. I mean that’s their prerogative, and it doesn’t taste bad by itself if you like kielbasa. But it 1) doesn’t taste like what one expects when one orders sausage gravy and 2) overpowers whatever it’s served with because it’s not exactly a mild sausage (not to mention there’s no description of it on the menu for those of us who think kielbasa is best served never. To me comes off as pretty pretentious, which, if the chef is being honest, I’m sure is what he’s going for… it’s one of the more self-​consciously pretentious – there’s that phrase again – menus I’ve come across). Another case in point: Chicken and waffles. I think of a chicken breast and waffles. Simple. The menu here describes it as «boneless chicken». Fine. I’m thinking I’ll get a fried boneless skinless chicken breast. But no. It’s actually little tiny chicken nuggets. Imagine boneless buffalo wings from a sports bar, but tiny, and you’re on the right track. That wouldn’t be horrible (who wants to use a knife when food can be bite sized?), except that the chicken, being as small as it is, is dry and way too bready. Again, if the menu had been more descriptive I’d have known to avoid this dish. Kudos to the server for diplomatically offering the gravy on the side, though.
They have a good selection of raw and cooked oysters if that’s your thing. I’ve had the raw blue points a couple times. I don’t recall whether this was the case the first time, but this most recent time the oyster meat didn’t come separated from the shell, so when I tried to slurp, I got nothing but oyster juice and cocktail sauce and had to kind of gnaw the meat free with my teeth. This resulted in getting lots of grit (Sand? Shell fragments?) in my mouth. No bueno.
That said, try one of their burgers, cheese curds with blueberry ketchup (save that magnificent condiment for your meal, too!), chilaquiles, fish tacos, or eggplant parm and you can’t go wrong. From what I’ve tried, their signature cocktails are pretty good, too. Try the Lane Zamprey first, if only to honor its namesake professional drinker, Zane Lamprey.
I don’t want to poopoo this place. Some of the gripes I had were because I didn’t know what to expect. I wish they’d make the menu more descriptive. I wish they’d lower their prices a bit because they aren’t competitive for what you get. I hope my oyster experience today was a fluke. I want to find their front of house manager and kiss that person because the service is uniformly fantastic.

Saturday around 13:00.
Parking was a little bit of an issue. But they gave us a $ 5 credit,
Food was good as usual, service friendly.
Will come back !

I have mixed feelings about my visit here. We wanted to check out the legendary brunch we have been hearing so much about. We called ahead and when we arrived and checked in we were told 20 minutes, after 35 minutes I checked to make sure we were properly checked in, because their app still said we were not. The hostess told me we were checked in and that the app must just be acting goofy. Finally at about 55 minutes we went back up and they told us we had not checked in yet?! We were the 2^nd table sat after that.
moving on.
If you are of the proper drinking age and you like to indulge a little, I HIGHLY recommend the bloody mary. Went in thinking mimosas but saw nearly everybody there had a bloody mary in their hands so I went that route and never looked back!
Now to the food. Everybody ordered something different at our table and everything looked amazing. We had the cheese curds to start and that was a great decision! I took the lunch avenue while others chose breakfast. I ordered a burger, but I got creative with my side since it was brunch and had them bring me hash browns instead. Another person in our group had her hash browns substituted with a waffle instead. I thought it was nice that they would make those substitutions possible as I can imagine some places would be strict on not allowing it.
All in all, a good brunch, just a little iffy at the beginning. I’ll be going back to give them another chance because I know I am going to want another bloody mary soon!

One great thing about The Lowry is that there is a FREE parking lot right next the restaurant, which is rare to find in Uptown Minneapolis. So major points there!
I came here on a Sunday afternoon for brunch (along with my boyfriend, his uncle, uncle’s gf & her son) and boy was it BUSY! We walked in and it was incredibly crowded. I took a chance at where the line was and hoped that it led me to the hostess so I could put my name down on the waitlist — luckily it did! They take down your name and phone number so that they can text you to inform you when your table would be ready. I know some other restaurants do this as well and I think it’s a fantastic idea. We were told it was an hour wait but it ended up being only 30 minutes which was great!
As I was waiting, I had time to look around and take in the décor — which I noticed was quite modern and there was a lot of wooden décor which I’m a huge fan of! (So Instagram worthy!)
After being seated, the waiter came by almost immediately to ask us what we wanted to drink. However, after that the service wasn’t as great. Our waiter took awhile to come take our orders and we had to track him down a couple of times.
There were a lot of menu items to choose from and normally I would have gone straight for the egg benedict but the chicken & waffles were just calling my name! (Especially after looking at so many pictures of it on Unilocal).
We ordered:
— Poutine — the flavor was good and the fries were crispy. However, there were carrots on it which was different and unexpected. I thought it added a unique flavor to the poutine
— Chicken & Waffles — waffles were fluffy and the chicken was crispy/​well seasoned. I liked the gravy for the most part but I found myself trying to scrape some of it to the side towards the end of the meal
— Chilaquiles — huge plate of food with a ton of flavor! I really liked this one
— Side of Hash Browns — SO CRISPY! A little salty but otherwise good
— Egg Benedict
— Breakfast Burrito
— Kid’s Pancakes and Bacon
*** I didn’t try these last three items but I didn’t hear any complaints about it!
Overall, I loved the place and the food! The food was flavorful and more than plentiful — we couldn’t finish it all. If only the service was just as amazing. However, other than that the experience was good and I’ll definitely be back!

I’ve been here mostly for breakfast and have liked it.
The food is good and service has been good as well. I’ve had the American Breakfast, Eggs Benedict, Spinach Frittata, Cakes Eggs and Links and the Chicken and Waffles. I liked mostly everything, but didn’t care for the gravy poured on the chicken and waffles (should have gotten it on the side). I also like that I can take the rest of my coffee to go… they’ll even give a fresh cup of it.
Quick tip, if you’re craving french toast as well as eggs definitely order the Cakes, Eggs and Links. I almost made the mistake of getting an order of french toast and and of side of eggs and bacon which would have been about $ 15. However, turns out for the Cakes Egg and Links, you get your choice of cakes (pancakes, waffles or french toast) as well as your choice of meat for $ 9.50. Oh, and might I add that it’s 3 pieces of french toast.

I came here with the family on a rainy spring day. We were seated in a comfy booth overlooking the entrance fireplace and had a nice big window. It felt really cozy, warm and protected from the elements. I was surprised that it was packed at 4am on a rainy Saturday but their decent happy hour at this time on a weekend must make it a hot spot. Our kiddo was treated to some coloring materials and a package of goldfish crackers. It was the perfect kit for keeping her entertained while we browsed the menus. I ordered the tomato soup (served with a heaping layer of cheese and crackers covering the top) and bacon bbq sliders off the happy hour menu. Both items were very good. The happy hour sliders are fun because they have a variety of ingredients you can choose two of to top your burgers. I should also note that the kids menu perogies comes with a decent serving of STEAK and man it is good. Luckily the kid was more interested in goldfish crackers so I ate most of it. I’d strongly consider ordering an adult steak.
Service was great too. We had an ordering mishap (received sweet potato fries but didn’t want to pay the upcharge) and a spilled Pallegrino that was replaced. The waiter would have been rightfully annoyed but didn’t appear to be.
I look forward to coming back!

I ate brunch at the Lowry twice and intentionally held off on writing my review until we’d gone back a second time because I suspected that our first visit would not be representative. I was right.
So the first time around we were there at the request of a friend having a birthday brunch. She had made a reservation and picked the venue, but it was 11 a.m. on a weekend and it was tough for the smallish restaurant to accommodate, especially with no side room or back room for a larger party. We wound up being THAT party that was large and loud and fairly disruptive to the people around us. I honestly felt bad for the people near us. Really I think the Lowry ought to not accept parties that large during peak times. No one wins. They were crushed under the demand and people were waiting extra long for a table since we were taking up so much space. We annoyed the people around us. Our table wasn’t ready until 20 minutes after the reservation time, and we didn’t even all get to sit together. A handful of our friends had to sit in a booth near our big table, which was awkward and weird and cut them off from the party. They’d be better off just saying they can’t take a party that big. They tried hard, but it was honestly just difficult to get that many empty tables together in the same place. In addition, service and food-​wise, it turned out that having a table of 20 was pretty problematic. We only had one server, which was kind of ridiculous. She tried. She really did. I felt so bad for her. But we were just too big of a party. Beverages sat empty, refills were at times tough to find and I suspect that the kitchen had trouble serving that many people all at once.
I also got the impression that they were so determined to serve one side of the table first and then the other that they let the food quality suffer for the presentation factor. First, our friends stranded on booth island received their food WAY before the rest of us. I’m assuming they rang them in as a separate table. Second, the one side of our big table received their food all at once. Then our side of the table waited at least 5 minutes for our food, which was just awkward. And when it arrived, it was not good. Not good is an understatement. It was very bad. My husband’s rancheros were stone cold. Clearly his was one of the first plates done and it just sat while the rest of the food was made. My biscuits and gravy was so bad that I honestly would have sent it back if I weren’t afraid of holding up the whole table. I requested poached eggs and they were entirely cooked through. No runny yolk at all and hard as rocks. Each half of the biscuits and gravy was covered in about two tablespoons of gravy. Not the lovely big pool of gravy you’d expect. Literally not enough gravy to get some with each bite. My friend who also got biscuits and gravy had a similar issue. If I had to guess, they were out of gravy and were trying to stretch. Not cool. You should just 86 it and tell the wait staff not to sell it. And given how bad mine was, I would have preferred to order something else and let him have all the gravy that was on our two plates, which might maybe have been about half of the proper amount for one serving. On top of all that, the hashbrowns were SO salty that they made me literally cringe. And I put extra salt on everything, especially potatoes. I left most of them on the plate. Pretty much the only thing that met my expectations on the plate was the biscuit, which was delicious and soft and fluffy. Had I not been there to celebrate my friend’s birthday, the whole meal would have gone back and I would have been talking to the manager.
But, like I said… I recognize that it is super hard to serve a table of 20 in the middle of a weekend brunch service. So I didn’t want to judge based on that one experience alone. Today we went back and I again ordered the biscuits and gravy for a straight comparison. This time around, totally different and much improved dish. The biscuit was again delicious. This time, my eggs were poached perfectly. I could tell they would be great when the server put the plate down. The gravy was much more plentiful this time around and was very good. The hashbrowns were still too salty for my taste, but not quite as salty as last time. Bonus points for a very solid bloody mary (which is apparently $ 3 if you are lucky enough to be eating breakfast there on a weekday). We also ordered a half dozen blue point oysters, which were just kind of OK. The grilled lemon was a nice touch, but the chilled plate was kind of weird — I’m used to oysters on a bed of ice. And the oysters themselves were not shucked well (still attached and bits of shell) and not as fresh as others you can get in town. Also, even though it was clear we wanted to share the oysters, they only brought us one tiny fork. Weird.
So overall, a decent brunch. Do not recommend with a large party. Skip the oysters but get a bloody.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this place. The waiting area had a fireplace to warm you up while you wait to be seated which was a definite plus since it was a chilly night. We got there around 9pm so we only waited about 15 minutes or less. Once we were seated, our server came to grab our drinks. She was such a friendly gal which made our experiene even better.
I ordered the Steak Salad. When I got it, I thought it was going to be plain and too cheesy because of all the queso fresca. NOPE! It was so flavorful, queso fresca was just the right amount to give it that kick of mmmmmmm. and the steak was cooked just the way I asked, medium rare. I kind of wish I ordered one to go for today. It was so refreshing. My friend LOVES mac and cheese so she ordered the mac n cheese entrée. Yup, you heard right, entrée. I am not a fan of mac n cheese and never have been but I took a bite of hers and I liked it. It doesn’t change how I feel about mac n cheese but I could see myself ordering it in the future. I feel it was more on the light side. Not super creamy or rich but just enough smoked gouda and swiss to make it really enjoyable. I obviously don’t know my mac n cheese enough, haha. My other friends ordered the Turkey sandwich and Pork Tenderloin. I did not get the chance to taste them because my salad was so good I wanted to finish that first. The one that ordered the pork tenderloin finished every little thing on her plate so she definitely enjoyed it. The turkey burger, my friend stated there was no WOW factor. Overall, I’m a fan of this place.

Overall this was a great experience. Came here for brunch on a Sunday morning. The wait was about 15 – 25 minutes. My party and I had the signature Bloody Mary and a shot of beer. For food we had the Chilaquiles and Spinach Fritatta. The Chilaquiles was chorizo, tortilla, black beans, eggs, peppers, hashbrowns, and pico de gallo. This was delicious. Fresh ingredients, portion size was a decent size and flavor was spicy but not too out of control. The Spinach Fritatta was very fresh, clean, and flavorful.
The Bloody Mary was great as well. A little spicy but good and with the shot beer it was tantalizing. The food and service was great, the only reason I gave it 4 stars was because of the simple but effective menu items. Would definitely come again. Cost was reasonable for brunch between $ 25-​$ 40.

After a little wait, that was made easier/​funner, (download the nowait app) we ate here for the first time. Tried a couple of times in the past (we won’t wait more than 20 min)
Started with deviled egg. Good, creamy. Then muscles. Husband say very good (I’m alergic) Great presentation in a San marzino tomato sauce/​soup with Italian sausage Look great
I had the beet salad. Great beats. Great cheese way way too much dressing. It was swimming in a sweet /​sour vinaigrette separated the greens from the beets to avoid the oil slick of dressing.
Then the fish tacos. Amazing. Grilled fish. Lots of beans guac & some other veggies. The grilled fish was extremely tasty, crunchy, a bit salty. Perfect.
The ball & chain had the strip steak. Says it was ok. Not bad. Not outstanding.

Two times in two days? Yeah, I’m a fan of this place.
My very first visit to The Lowry was before Christmas. The Lowry was running a promotion where you get a free breakfast when you bring in a Holiday Mug. It seemed too good to be true, but no crap, both my brother and I got our meals for free! They really know how to keep the basics tasty, eggs benedict, hashbrowns, bacon, YUM!
The next thing I tried was the chicken sandwich. Sounds basic, but it was very very good! My favorite touches were the basil mayonnaise and the cheddar cheese.
The morning after, we went back and I tried the chicken and waffles. GAHHHHH… I wish I would have tried it sooner! It was so good! Waffles covered in crispy fried chicken (boneless) smothered in gravy with syrup on the side. Everyone I knew that had tried this combo before had said it was good, but I finally got to try it for myself and I’m hooked!
(My friend ordered the turkey burger at both back to back visits if that’s saying anything, which CLEARLY it is!) She also got sweet potato fries which I pretty much hogged myself. They came with some kind of dipping sauce, no clue what it was but I would definitely order a side of those for myself next time.
So many tasty things, guess I’ll have to keep going back to try them!
Cool tip– When you check in at the hostess stand, they can take your cellphone number and text you when your table is ready. That way you can leave and not be stuck in the tiny front entrance with everybody else waiting.

I’ve been here a couple times now and it’s always had reliable service, reliable food, but nothing that blows anything out of the water. This past weekend we got the biscuits & gravy, BBQ oyster scramble, and they were both okay. The hash browns were really tasty — perfectly fried, not greasy, just right. The biscuits and gravy had great, rich-​tasting biscuits and the gravy did help with the moisture level. The oyster scramble though was a disappointment. I’m usually a HUGE fan of oysters, and the scramble was just so overdone that all the flavors melded together and I couldn’t taste anything special. Good value though, good prices.
Décor, space, all of that stuff is still great. Perfect for anything besides a romantic date. There’s almost always a 15−30m wait on the weekends for brunch, but they’ll text you once they have your seat ready so you can walk around the Hennepin area or go to one of the neighboring cafes for some coffee/​tea.

Great food, excellent service, beautiful décor!
3 of us had lunch yesterday. It was the first time my wife and I had ever been here. We had a very pleasant experience and will definitely be back.
The Lowry is a nice change from the crap I’ve been subjected to lately in the far NW suburbs. It makes me wish I lived closer to Uptown.
–Daddy Maxx Retro

I’ve eaten here a few times over the years for both brunch and dinner, and each time all I remember was that it was good, but not in any way memorable. It’s one of those places I go to, have food I’m not unhappy with, and then promptly forget about once I walk out the door.
A few friends consider this place a staple, and I can understand why: it’s reliable and happy hour is until 7PM. I’ve yet to encounter bad food here, and I never feel like I don’t get my money’s worth.
The one thing I’ve encountered that has been memorable is the sweet potato fries. Man, those were good. I remember those. If you like sweet potato fries, this is a good joint for ‘em. Order up a plate or six.
This is a good place for when you don’t know what you want except you want it to be good.

Breakfast happy hour 8am-​11am! We were looking for a breakfast place and went to two that were letdowns. This was our third try. We were quickly seated in a booth and given the menus.
We got a bloody for the drinks. I ordered the chilaquiles, my friends got peanut butter waffles, and Bbq oyster platter.
The chilaquiles were/​was amazing!!! I can’t recommend them more. Layers of hashbrown, meat, egg, cheese, sour cream, and I don’t even remember what else! Friend #1 got peanut butter pancakes, eggs, and hash browns. OMG if you love peanut butter, which I DO, these were absolutely sinful! Friend #2 got the Bbq oyster platter but she didn’t rave about it. I’m not a seafood fanatic so I couldn’t taste it.
I absolutely recommend it for the Bloody Mary, peanut butter pancakes, and chilaquiles!!! So much deliciousness. I’m going to be returning very soon.

The Lowry’s happy hour is what got me here — especially since it goes until 7pm! I went with two friends so we could split the happy hour snacks and it ended up being very affordable.
I had only tried the Freehouse beers once before and saw that they were $ 3 on HH so I went with the Freehouse No.5, which is a Single Hop IPA. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t very hoppy but for the price it was fine. For food we ordered the BBQ boneless buffalo wings, blue point oysters, fried artichokes, and chicken pot stickers. The fried artichokes and the sauce that came with were so delicious — they definitely stood out from the rest. The oysters had a really good sauce as well. The pot stickers were good as usual but the BBQ sauce on the wings was a little funky. It tasted more like ketchup than BBQ.
We got seated immediately and I liked the simple décor. Our drinks and food came out very quickly and our server was friendly. Not sure about the entrees but it is a good spot for happy hour!