Cafe & Bar Lurcat

What a Joke!!. Hate to rate a "1" but what a rude staff!!! I'll never return and don't even think about going here...there are too many places in town where the restaurant really cares and doesn't just want you money. F-…

Great place for a large party. My boyfriend and I hosted a going away gathering here on a Sunday evening. We didn't notify anyone at Lurcat that we would be there, and about 30 people ended up showing up for drinks and appetizers. Our one waitress served us all and did so like it was the most natural thing to do. She kept track of everyone's individual orders and didn't make any mix-ups. We were so impressed! She was awesome, the food was awesome and so were the free flowing drinks.

If you want to host a large party, Lurcat is the place. Loungy, comfortable, spacious and you will be taken care of well.…

For the level its trying for, this restaurant is average. I've been a foodie in the Twin Cities for years now, and I opted to give Cafe Lurcat another try (I've visited several times over the years). I honestly don't get it, this restaurant (by the D'Amico company) tries to be an upscale restaurant, but it isn't particularly good at anything.

The food is above average for a restaurant of this type (as an experienced local, there are much better in Minneapolis, but you can look them up).

The service was lackluster. I've been to various Michelin starred restaurants elsewhere, and you can tell when you have a server that (1) knows the menu well, (2) cares about your experience, and (3) orchestrates the meal well. Our server only showed competence in (1), the other two categories were markedly inferior. Now, perhaps it wouldn't be fair to compare to the best restaurants in the world, but I've seen servers at various restaurants in the Twin Cities that also score well in all three categories. The best word for our server (and her associated help) was plastic: The attitude towards our well-dressed group of professionals was "Would you just order now?" and there was very, very little follow up (and she kept forgetting things). Just unacceptable for a restaurant at this level.

The real kicker is their valet, who crashed my car. Yes, you're reading right --that's thousands in damage. I then got hassled by the parking manager who tried to con me into using a different estimate than my own after I did what he asked and got me one. Thank god I know my rights. Normally I wouldn't fault the restaurant too much for this ruining experience, but that changed when the restaurant called me a week later assuming things had been resolved --which it hadn't yet. That's what we call poor homework and a restaurant that is trying to connect the dots without any genuine thought.

With the closure of D'Amico Cucina and the so-so brunch they have at their hotel restaurant (D'Amico Kitchen), I thought Cafe Lurcat would the D'Amico companies' jewel. I was wrong. Go elsewhere --there are plenty of good options if you look around on this site or elsewhere.…