You know this place. It's in your office building. It's the deli/cafe where you grab a quick lunch or bagel when you just gotta gnosh and failed to do proper nutrition planning.
Given it's in an office building, this is not a place I would stop or even would know exists.
However... it happens to be in the same building as my doctor's office where I have had the misfortune of visiting on 2 occasions this month (yeah, don't ask) and I was each time happily surprised!
You will not get gourmet food here nor anything much more innovative than traditional MN fare, as is to be expected at the "office building deli" (refer to Kokapelli's in Butler Square: http://www.kokapellideli.com/). I try to have a policy of reviewing establishments against what they are attempting to be, not against some other genre. If the place is not attempting to be fine dining, I don't review against fine dining standards. Be forewarned though, I have very specific and tight standards for qualifying a dive bar.
The job of the office building deli/cafe is to cater to the most prevalent pallet and let's face it, most owners interpret that to mean bland. This deli doesn't stray far from that formula AND it also managed not to disappoint this flavorlust guest.
One both occasions I was actually really impressed with the flavor of strength of the coffee (light roast). I abhor weak coffee and this was actually pleased. I have also tried the tomato soup, made according to the owner's 25-yo family recipe. It was very creamy with lots of onions. I would recommend trying it!
Service was friendly and fast, debit/credit cards accepted and prices not too exorbitant. So, for a blustery day when you've just paddled, swam, or run around Lake Calhoun, when you're tired of the hubbub around Whole Foods and you need a cuppa joe or a warm soup, check it out... but only during business hours. read more