While it is best known for its long brunch lines and daily breakfast menu, nothing beats a Tuesday night at Victor’s 1959 Cafe. If you grab a table between 4:30 and 6 p.m., the crowds will be thinner and your bill slimmer thanks to South Minneapolis’ most generous happy hour. We’re talking more than cheap beer and mimosas here: This deal includes $4 glasses of (actually decent) wine, plus $14 bottles.
Couple that with the filling Cubano sandwiches and ropa vieja (shredded flank steak simmered in a sherry creole sauce) of chef-owner Niki Stavrou and it’s no surprise that Food Network has filmed several TV segments at this small but mighty establishment.
That includes a triple D endorsement by the enfant terrible of Flavor Town, Guy Fieri. Don’t be a hater, folks. Fieri has devoted a lot of screen time to Twin Cities restaurants over the years, including such Minnevangelist favorites as Holy Land, Northern Waters Smokehaus, and Kramarczuk’s. (We could live without the frosted tips, though.)
Of course, you’ll never go wrong with Victor’s tropical spin on breakfast either. Mrs. Stavrou’s signature mornin’ sandwich has Swiss cheese melted atop two scrambled eggs and pressed between toasted slices of Cuban bread. There’s a three-egg omelette with fried sweet plantains and Creole sauce; Cuban hash made with saucy ground beef simmered with raisins, capers, and green olives; and mango pancakes for all you sweet teeth. We’ll take one of everything, please and thank you.
Victor’s 1959 Café
3756 Grand Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN; 612-827-8948.
