Keys Cafe & Bakery

What Keys Cafe & Bakery does

Keys Cafe & Bakery is a family-owned cafe and bakery chain founded in 1973 by Barbara Hunn, headquartered in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota and operating 8 dine-in locations spanning the Twin Cities metro and western Wisconsin. The business runs dine-in restaurant service, a bakery counter, a catering operation (covering meetings, boxed lunches, and holiday orders), and a Take & Bake product line, with three generations of the Hunn family currently involved in operations. It also produces occasion cakes for weddings, birthdays, and graduations, and operates a Yummy Rewards loyalty program. Google ratings across the 8 locations consistently fall in the 4.4–4.6 star range.

The company employs approximately 12 full-time bakers and supports its channels through third-party delivery and ordering partnerships with ChowNow, DoorDash, and Toast. There is no indication of external investors, private equity backing, or public ownership; the business is privately held and family-controlled. Its 50+ year operating history is the defining feature of the brand, with proprietary recipes passed down through the family lineage.

Revenue mechanics are diversified across dine-in traffic, bakery counter sales, catering (priced per event or per head), Take & Bake retail purchases, and third-party delivery orders. Pricing follows standard bakery-cafe industry structure on the consumer side and event-based quoting on the catering side. The customer base is primarily individual consumers and SMB / group-ordering catering clients, with no enterprise anchor accounts identified in the available information.

Name

Keys Cafe & Bakery

Legal name

Keys Cafe & Bakery

Website

https://keyscafe.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1973

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Keys Cafe & Bakery is a family-owned cafe and bakery chain operating 8 dine-in locations across the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin, offering dine-in service, catering, Take & Bake products, and custom occasion cakes to consumers and SMB catering clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Family Restaurant and Bakery

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Retail Bakeries (311811), Special Food Services (7223)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Bakery Products (2050)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYTHAFAFAG

Cafe-Bakeries (Bakery + Coffee/Foodservice)

Travel & Hospitality/Foodservice & Beverage (Restaurants, Cafes, Bars)/Bakeries & Patisseries

SECONDARYTHAFAFAA

Retail Bakeries (Bread & Daily Bakery)

Travel & Hospitality/Foodservice & Beverage (Restaurants, Cafes, Bars)/Bakeries & Patisseries

SECONDARYCRAHAKAJ

Bakery Grab-and-Go (Pastries, Packaged Desserts, Takeaway Bread)

Consumer Products & Retail/Grocery & Food Retail/Foodservice-to-Go & In-Store Prepared Foods (Grab-and-Go)

SECONDARYCRAHAGAC

Bread & Pastry Specialty Stores

Consumer Products & Retail/Grocery & Food Retail/Specialty Food Stores (Deli, Cheese, Gourmet, Bakery)

Keywords

• Family restaurant dining
• Scratch bakery goods
• Custom celebration cakes
• Event catering services
• Take and bake meals

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint Paul

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Restaurant Sales: Full-service restaurant revenue from breakfast, lunch, and dinner service across 8 locations. Offers extensive menu including eggs, pancakes, omelets, sandwiches, salads, burgers, steaks, pasta, and daily dinner specials.
2. Bakery Products: Fresh-baked goods including cakes, pies, cookies, bars, cupcakes, breads, sticky buns, and custom celebration cakes for weddings, birthdays, and graduations.
3. Catering Services: Catering for business meetings, events, and holidays including breakfast catering, boxed lunches, dinner catering, and dessert trays. Delivery available throughout Twin Cities.
4. Take & Bake: Ready-to-bake items for home preparation including caramel/cinnamon/pecan rolls, lasagnas, Swedish meatballs, chicken pot pie, sloppy joes, and cookie dough.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Keys Cafe & Bakery operates eight full-service family restaurants across the Twin Cities metro area and western Wisconsin, serving made-from-scratch breakfast, lunch, and dinner comfort food all day. The company also runs an in-house bakery producing custom celebration cakes, pies, cookies, and pastries, and offers catering services plus Take & Bake frozen comfort foods for home preparation.

Product overview

Keys Cafe & Bakery is a multi-location family-owned restaurant chain (8 locations) offering made-from-scratch dining, an extensive in-house bakery, and catering services. The core product is full-service restaurant dining serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner all day, supported by a centralized bakery operation producing custom celebration cakes (weddings, birthdays, graduations), pies, cookies, and baked goods. Additional offerings include Take & Bake frozen comfort foods, catering services with breakfast buffets, boxed lunches and dinner catering, and the Yummy Rewards loyalty program. All locations offer online ordering through third-party platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Restaurant Dining Full-service restaurant dining at 8 locations across Minnesota and Wisconsin, offering made-from-scratch breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and desserts served all day to walk-in and dine-in guests.
• Bakery Products In-house baked goods including custom cakes (10" rounds, sheet cakes), fruit pies, cream pies, specialty pies, cookies, bars, cupcakes, sticky buns, and fresh breads, available at all 8 locations.
• Wedding Cakes Custom wedding cake design and consultation service featuring a variety of flavors and designs, with full-service bakery supporting dessert displays including bars, parfaits, cupcakes, and pies for wedding couples.
• Birthday & Special Occasion Cakes Custom celebration cakes for birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions with creative design options for individuals and families.
• Graduation Cakes Custom graduation cakes for high school, college, and pre-school celebrations with sheet cakes, rounds, bars, and cupcakes.
• Catering Services Full catering service including breakfast buffets, boxed lunches, dinner catering, and bakery dessert trays, available at all locations with delivery throughout Twin Cities for business meetings, events, and family gatherings.
• Box Lunch Catering Pre-packaged lunch catering featuring sandwiches on homemade bread, sides, pickles, and cookies, available for pickup or delivery for business events and meetings.
• Take & Bake Ready-to-bake comfort foods and baked goods including lasagnas, chicken pot pie, sloppy joes, Swedish meatballs, mac & cheese, chicken a la king, caramel/cinnamon/pecan rolls, and cookie dough for home preparation.
• Yummy Rewards Loyalty Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 50+ years of continuous operation since 1973 with 8 locations
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ChowNowcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party online ordering platform that powers direct ordering from Keys Cafe website for pickup at all locations. Integrates with restaurant's POS system for seamless order management.
• DoorDashcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party delivery platform enabling Keys Cafe to offer delivery services to customers who prefer not to pick up orders in person.
• ToastcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRestaurant point-of-sale and online ordering platform used at Hudson and Stillwater locations for order management and delivery fulfillment.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Denny's: Iconic 24-hour American diner chain serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Comparable in menu breadth, family-friendly positioning, and comfort food identity, though Denny's is publicly traded with national scale versus Keys' regional footprint.
• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store: National family dining chain combining comfort food with a retail store component. Comparable in homestyle comfort food, family-friendly atmosphere, and heritage branding, though Cracker Barrel is a much larger publicly traded company.
• IHOP: National breakfast-all-day family restaurant chain. Comparable as a direct competitor in the family breakfast/comfort food segment, with similar menu structure, though IHOP lacks Keys' strong bakery/custom cake component and is significantly larger.

Direct peers

• First Watch: Daytime cafe and breakfast/brunch/lunch concept focused on fresh, scratch-made food. Comparable in scratch-cooking philosophy and breakfast/lunch focus, though First Watch has a more health-forward positioning versus Keys' comfort food identity.
• Black Bear Diner: Family-dining chain with a strong homestyle, scratch-cooking identity and regional concentration in the western U.S. Highly comparable to Keys' scratch comfort food positioning, full-day breakfast service, and family ownership ethos.
• Another Broken Egg Cafe: Breakfast, brunch, and lunch cafe concept with scratch-made menu and growing franchise footprint. Comparable in breakfast focus, scratch cooking, and cafe-style experience, though positioned more upscale than Keys.
• Perkins Restaurant & Bakery: National chain operating restaurants and bakeries serving scratch-made breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Most directly comparable to Keys in combining a full-service family dining menu with an in-house bakery offering, though at a much larger national scale.
• Mimi's Bistro + Bakery: French-inspired American bistro and bakery serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a strong in-house bakery. Directly comparable to Keys' cafe-and-bakery model, full-day breakfast service, and scratch-made positioning.

Emerging players

• Le Peep Restaurant: Smaller regional breakfast and lunch chain with a similar full-day breakfast and homestyle menu approach. Comparable in menu style and family-dining positioning, though significantly smaller scale than Keys' 8-unit footprint.

Regional players

• Eggspectation: Breakfast and brunch concept with a scratch-made, comfort-food-forward menu and a strong bakery component. Comparable in breakfast specialization and scratch cooking, though primarily operating on the East Coast and in select international markets rather than competing directly with Keys in the Midwest.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCZ9n5Rfc9k9Z8ubGhVhZLDg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Keys Cafe & Bakery