Memorable | One of the Best
Lange’s Café
Review by: Michael Stern
As soon as we walked into Lange’s Cafe, the look of the caramel rolls and the crust on the pies told us we had hit paydirt. This is a fine, family-run cafe with a three-meal-a-day menu of hearty, heartland fare.
Beef is the entrée not to miss. Listed as roast beef if it comes on a plate with mashed potatoes, green beans, and gravy, and as hot beef if it is served in a sandwich with mashed potatoes on top and gravy all over, it is pot-roast-tender and deep-flavored. Mashed potatoes are the real thing; dinner rolls that come alongside are freshly baked.
The caramel rolls that so many people eat for breakfast must be sampled any time they are available. They are immense blocks of sweet, yeasty dough – about 3x3x3-inches; and they are bathed in buttery warm caramel syrup that has a burnt smack to its sweetness.
Sour cream raisin pie is a specialty of bakers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa; and Lange’s version is in the top tier of great ones, built upon a custard that is dense, packed with raisins, creamy and sweet with the sour-cream edge that makes its sweetness all the more potent. Its meringue is airlight; the crust flakes when poked by a fork.
Directions & Hours
Information
| Price | $$ |
| Seasons | All |
| Meals Served | Breakfast, Lunch, Dessert, Late Night |
| Credit Cards Accepted | No |
| Alcohol Served | No |
| Outdoor Seating | No |
What To Eat
Lange’s Café Recipes
Discuss
What do you think of Lange’s Café?
One Response to “Lange’s Café”
Bev DeLage
June 8th, 2003
My husband & I made a special effort to go to Lange’s Cafe for the pie after hearing about it on public radio. My husband’s hot beef & his sour cream raisin pie were good. My bean soup was only fair & my apple pie was good. The problem wasn’t the food, but the service. We live in a small town with all smoke free restaurants. At Lange’s Cafe the waitresses are more interested in sitting at the counter smoking, than waiting on customers. We and two ladies at another table tried & tried to get the attention of no less than six waitresses to refill our coffee, ask if everything was alright, or ask if they could get us anything else. We could have just as well have been invisible. One waitress sat at the counter staring right past us out the window, another sat at the counter smoking, 3 or 4 were behind the counter wiping it off, putting dishes away, etc which could have waited until they took care of the customers. One waitress walked right by us & over to a couple that she obviously knew to chat. Apparently our waitress had gone on break without reassigning our table. However, the entire fault doesn’t lie with her. The others could have covered for her if they hadn’t been trying so hard to avoid us. These waitresses seemed to have the attitude of “that isn’t my table, that isn’t my responsibility.” After at least 15 to 20 minutes or more, I finally went to a waitress sitting smoking at the counter & told her that there were two tables waiting for coffee and a chance to order dessert. Only then did we finally get a waitress to come back over to us. Management or ownership must condone this type of treatment of customers. They displayed the roadfood recommendation on their tables. Too bad they don’t realize that it takes a lot more than good food to get and keep customers. I would never eat there again. If I should decide to try their pie once more, believe me I will buy a whole pie for take out.