One of the best delivery meals I've had in a long time...starting with an amazing salad, a delicious bacon cheeseburger & homemade potato chips for our entree, & ending with yummy cheesecake & lemon pie for dessert...thank you Elbow Room for the awesome food & excellent service! We will definitely be ordering again soon! read more

Supper hour. Strangely, I wanted prime rib, she wanted breakfast. The historic Elbow Room served a perfect meal for both if us. She got 2 filling plates of eggs, meat & fluffy pancakes and I got a perfect medium rare cut of standing rib roast. Co-owner, receptionist and waitress was delightful and attentive throughout. A superb casual Mother's Day Albert Lea dining experience! read more

Great customer service, excellent food, friendly staff and clean! Definitely recommend this place!

Been here a total of three times, first time was great, the next time was with my parents, we showed up at 8 am, ordered at 8:10 and our food didn't come out 9:40, it was luke warm and just did not taste good at all. Then to make it up to us we received a 50% off our next bill, so against my better judgement, I went back, 3 out of the four of us ordered drinks and got steaks, all three of us woke up with the worst gut pains of our lives. 0/10, I will never be back, and I will recommend everyone who reads this stay away. If you are not a local, when you talk to them and they will tell you stories of cockroaches running along the floors of the kitchens and all the issues that come with this place, steer clear if you value how you will feel the next day and getting decent food at a decent pace. read more

Food & service were excellent. Ambiance was rustic. Hostess/server/cook was very friendly.

This is a great place for wonderful, home-made food that always hits the spot. Their specials are huge as are their breakfast choices. I will say that if you feel something isn't quite right with your order they go out of their way to make things right. Always courteous, and a fun place to meet up with friends or make some new ones. When I don;t know what to order, I can always find something delicious at the Elbow Room. read more

I met a friend for lunch here as I was driving across country. It's definitely a local joint and they had a good crowd of regulars coming and going while we ate a late lunch and chatted. The Elbow Room is not fancy but it's good food. I chose a double cheeseburger and nearly got myself talked into the "all you can eat prime rib" except I wasn't hungry enough to make a serious dent in the price. Cheeseburger (hold the bun, please) was good and freshly grilled. It definitely kept my keto diet going and I enjoyed it. A few options for macro beers here and the coffee is decent. It looks like they do a pretty good business. [Review 17162 overall - 77 in Minnesota - 679 of 2022.] read more

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You know those chilly winter afternoons when you really need a bowl of chili? This place hit the spot for sure. I sat at the lunch counter and had a great conversation with the cook that made my day. read more

Great food, Friendly service, price cheaper then most places. I now eat there at least 4 times a week. read more

We were there for Sunday brunch. Super cute small place that seems family owned. Atmosphere was very casual and the wait staff seemed really friendly. The food was not great. It was okay, but really had no flavor and needed some spices. We could add salt and hot saunce, but would have been nice to have some other flavors in there. We each got something different and each had the same reaction.... that it was good enough to try once, but that we wouldn't likely be back for breakfast food. Maybe we'll check out the lunch/dinner menu and see if there's more flavor. There's also a bar, so if you're just into drinks, maybe those would be good to try as well. read more

The Elbow Room - Old Bay Hot Sauce - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Albert Lea, Minnesota

Looks are deceiving, it looks like a house from the outside. When you get inside it is a quaint light restaurant. The atmosphere is accented by mellow 70's and 80's music. The food is amazing the staff is friendly and helpful. I will definitely be back read more

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I reviewed this restaurant on 9/11/2017 and sadly I must say things have changed, and not for better. Food was adequate, but overpriced. It tasted ok but overpriced. Mens' restroom is in need of a deep cleaning and then good daily cleaning. It is the dirtiest restroom I have used in several years. Overall, the restaurant interior looks worn and unpleasant. We will not return, and neither will our friends. read more

Go to for breakfasts in Albert Lea , worth a wait great for people watching, made from scratch food

Good food and wonderful service. Good location. We'll stop again if we're in the neighborhood

This place is incredible. Service top notch. Food was amazing. Patty melt was huge and delicious.

Great home cooked food. Huge portions. Shrimp wallleye cod steak burgers chicken, they cook it all. Service was quit and they are just off the interstate. A great halfway stop to Ames. Sweet cozy environment. read more

This place fed us many times during the year of COVID. Delivery was a godsend. I know that they were super busy and understaffed so a few cold burger orders were to be expected. Went to the Elbow Room for my first breakfast experience the other day. To say that my wife and I were disappointed is an understatement. My food was hot and tasty just very slow in coming. The only staff on at the time was wearing all of the hats in the place. She was the host, waitstaff, and cook. None of these jobs seemed to be her calling. The meal delivered to my wife was a sad excuse for breakfast. The sausage links were not good, the scrambled eggs were still a wet mess and the hashbrowns tasted like the bag they came in. I really hate to bring this up but, the whole place is in need of a deep cleaning. Not saying that it isn't salvageable, just that it really needs it. Yuck! We won't be back soon. read more

Incredible spot. I stopped here after a long drive and was really in the mood for breakfast food. Even though they were serving dinner the cook (Mike) was nice enough to make me an omelet and a pancake. Try the pancake with the cinnamon butter. It is out of this world. you can tell the cook is super passionate about what he does and about coming up with creative ideas. The atmosphere was welcoming and next time I'm in Minnesota I will definitely go out of my way to stop here. read more

The Elbow Room - the front of the building - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Albert Lea, Minnesota

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awesome walleye! great juicy Lucy! we were just passing through and this place is worth the stop read more

The Elbow Room - Sweet walleye with a gorgeous woman - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Albert Lea, Minnesota

I give this place Negative five stars. Raw barely warm hashbrowns and oily omelets that don't even have all the ingredients that is supposed to be in there. They also don't bring you the toast that's supposed to come with the said meal. Then to top everything else they charge you for the nasty uncooked food that they did bring you and that you didn't even eat. Also heard from Numerous people that one of the cooks working there doesn't ever wash his hands and is very unhygienic. Wish I would have known this beforehand. read more

Seriously y'all gotta stop herE!! Little local spot. WE stopped in on the way home for lunch and the owner was so friendly!! We had 8 people in our crew and didn't wait long at all!! We love local spots and this one was fabulous! She gave us free pudding and my kiddos some suckers. :) it's a gReat little local stop. read more

Excellent food with a great variety. Wonderful staff. Can't say enough of good things about it.

Great find. Restaurant that looks like a house on the outskirts of town. Fried chicken was 5 stars. Cole slow is 12 stars, on the sweet side, with depth and crunchy cabbage goodness. Chicken fried steak was excellent. Cheery young lady who served us brightened up my day, and the chef graciously described the Cole slaw recipe. A very nice experience and really good dinner. read more

Driving cross-country and started looking for lunch. Perfect find! Small place, daily specials, and a chef who can do it all. They had a lasagne special, pulled-pork, shredded beef wrap, fresh mini pies, and more. I had a special burger (grilled) with home-made chili jam and avocado. The onion rings were light, like tempura, and perfectly done. A place to tell your friends about! read more

With this place it really depends on what you order. They have a variety of items on the menu & daily specials. Do not order their prime rib sandwich instead order the whole prime rib along with bread & make your own sandwich. The prime rib sandwich has a lot of connective tissue so it makes it tough to bite without fighting to tear the meat whereas the whole prime rib is tender & easy to cut & it makes about 2-3 nice sandwiches. The hamburgers are good & seasoned. Fries & sweet potato fries are on point. They're under new management so I think they're still trying to figure things out. The new owners daughter make sure if you're not satisfied with your first bite. She prepares it herself to make sure you leave satisfied. That's perfect customer service. read more

Very disappointed in this place! Waited over an hour for our food. We ordered 6 oz. ribeye and shrimp. When our order finally came, they gave us prime rib and told us it was indeed a ribeye . I'm pretty sure we know the difference. We had ordered our steaks medium rare, which the prime rib was well done. We didn't have to pay for our meal thank god! I will say that the waitress was very friendly and gave us good service. We will not be returning. read more

I have always liked their quaint atmosphere and their wonderful burgers and fries! I wish more people would write reviews as people do not get a fair idea of what the majority thinks. I always think that if you want fancy then it would be very apparent before entering that this would not be for you. As far as promptness please be a bit forgiving especially with small establishments. You don't know if there were employees that were unable to come in to work. Recently we had a home delivery of tacos and homemade fresh salsa! They were great! They have a large selection to chose from. So give it a chance if you do not expect a fancy place.klii read more

It's a cozy little diner type of place. Few tables, counter, and properly named due to it being a smaller place. Prices are finally cheap here, tried the cheeseburger. It was pretty good and something I would want again. The soup of the day was chicken wild rice, did a nice job with that as well. For the price it's a good value. No frills here, just food. read more

Wonderful mom and pop diner with friendly service. The Elbow Room is a small diner in the southern portion of Albert Lea, MN that serves great breakfast and what I understand are great burgers (I have not had an opportunity to enjoy one of their burgers, yet). It has a few wooden booths, a few tables, and a bar that seats between five and six people. So, in The Elbow Room, you may only have a wee bit of elbow room, which gives this diner a cozy feel and a lot of character. We visited The Elbow Room for breakfast on our way to Minneapolis from Des Moines. I had a half order of biscuits and gravy (sausage gravy), eggs scrambled with cheese (the cook was very gracious with the cheese which I loved), and two sausage patties. Everything was delicious and definitely hit the spot. Before leaving, I ordered a piece of their pumpkin pie, which was somewhat disappointing. It tasted store bought rather than homemade. Typically, I find that mom and pop places make really wonderful pie. Despite this minor slip up, I would strongly recommend The Elbow Room, and I will certainly return to The Elbow Room in future. read more

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Great food, friendly staff, owners treat u like family , brings back good memories of the good ole days

This place is a joke. I wish I would have received what so many other customers received with a five star service. Customer service does not exist here. Today is 7/30/19. My Guest and I decided to try this place for lunch and we did not order for almost 10 minutes because I had been on a work call. Our orders were placed. Surf and turf and a fish sandwich. Quickly we placed an order for cheese curds. Which were great and came out right away. With the surge and turf It came with a salad. Salad comes out and is rotten. Just disgusting. There was a substance of what looked like gunk in a piece and some other pieces were rotting. I pushed to the side and was not interested. For over 45 minutes we waited for our food until finally we got up and choose to leave. Now, I run a service related business and myself and my employees know when we mess up, we apologize and try to make things right. Not the case with the three employees here. No apology what so ever. Must be how they were trained. No matter, I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone nor will I ever return here again. Too bad places like this exist, there's many small mom pop business that try so much harder than this that places like this make it hard to support. McDonald's would have been a better choice. read more

The Elbow Room - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Albert Lea, Minnesota

Food is good most the time when done right but there customer service is completely trash and they mess up almost 90% of the time on something on your order as a frequent customer. They argue when they do something wrong as different cooks make everything different . read more

What a zoo of a place this is. Cold burgers and onion rings. Malt was good. I went in to pick up order during Covid. A pig sty in there. Utter Chaos and confusion among employees. Saw partial orders on bar sitting there over half hour while I waited with additional things being added. Man came to pick up that order waited another 15 min while they completed the order. Can only imagine how cold most of those items were. I had to wait for malts while someone left to go get milk. Yikes. Never recommend this zoo! read more

The best food and service around. I highly recommend this place for your next outing.

This place has gone way down since new ownership. Went to eat with the crew from work and had over an hour wait for our food. Orders were wrong, burgers burnt. Friend ordered a 4 piece chicken and got 5 wings instead. Chicken sandwich with no cheese or tomato had cheese and tomato. My burger was waaaayyyy overcooked! Could only take one bite. The staff is very inattentive also. Don't waste your time. read more

Great burger! I had been once before, several years ago. There are new owners now and the menu is huge, much larger than before. We all got burgers and they were very tasty, great bun! read more

I ate here twice and each time was the same. The burgers were good, but anything else is frozen. Both times my side wasn't cooked all the way and had frozen parts. This included fries, onion rings, and cheese curds. Portion size of onion rings was also really small. read more

From the outside you would never know that one of the best burgers in all of Albert Lea is just inside waiting to be grilled. It honestly doesn't look like much of anything until you are opening the door and get hit with the first sent of cooking food. My partner and I went here my first time in Albert Lea and I LOVED it. I had a burger, and I believe he had a BLT, we shared an order of fries. The burgers are cooked and seasoned to perfection, and they are actually a reasonable size, and a SUPER deal for the money. I don't know if the fries are hand cut here or not, but they definitely know how to fry and season them! They were delicious! I hate mushy fries, and these were the perfect amount of crisp, without being hard/burnt. I will most assuredly be back! read more

Great service small town atmosphere! Food was amazing! The staff will cut up, make small talk. Great place to eat in my opinion.

Delicious philly beef burger and homemade chips. Had a sweet iced tea in a quart sized canning jar ! Friendly staff and great service. Nice and clean. read more