The New Uptown Cafe celebrated its grand opening on April 16 after its doors quietly opened in March. The Uptown Business Association, Mayor Jacob Frey and local artist Eyenga Bokamba joined the ribbon-cutting ceremony on the sunny Saturday morning.

“I am just so excited and pumped to be here. Uptown is coming back,” Frey told the group of cafe staff, lined up behind a giant white ribbon.  

The cafe’s spacious front area includes three paintings by Eyenga Bokamba. “They reached out to me,” Bokamba said about the cafe’s procurement of her work. The cafe purchased the paintings, two of which she made this year.  

“The importance of light and hope and positivity right now in this corridor is huge. I think the art reflects it, this particular joint reflects it,” Frey told the crowd after encouraging Bokamba to join the ribbon-cutting group.  

The cafe has ample seating including booths tucked away in the back and a classic diner bar.

The cafe is one of the few Uptown places to get a cup of joe and food at 6 a.m. There are plenty of early bird specials to entice you out of bed such as the Big Bird (egg, meat, hash browns, and a pancake or waffle) and the Sticky Bird (waffle with a side of meat). My personal favorite is the Thirsty Bird options, because it’s fun to consider someone a “thirsty bird.” Try the fresh squeezed orange juice.

“The city is coming back and you are a huge part of it,” Frey said to the Uptown Cafe staff, as Assistant General Manager Dani Rauton got ready to cut the symbolic white ribbon.

The cafe's sister-restaurant, The New Uptown Diner, sits a few blocks north on Hennepin Avenue South.

The New Uptown Cafe is located at 3008 Hennepin Ave. S. and is open everyday 6 a.m.-3 p.m.