Café Corazon – Kansas City, MO

It takes an awful lot to really make a coffee shop amazing enough to want to review it, but we actually found something head-and-shoulders over many other places. It helps that my wife will research and research and research and research places before she picks the one she thinks will be awesome – and damned if she isn’t always right. Haha. She found Café Corazon (with two locations in KC) and the more she talked about it, the more we knew we needed to go there.

Let me also tell you that this was the first time we rode those dumb Bird/Lyft scooters you see laying all over downtown areas. It was a short learning curve, but we scoot-scooted right over to Café Corazon from our hotel and felt pretty darn confident for having done it – gold stars for us.

There are multiple reasons this Café Corazon is awesome. It combines Latin and indigenous influences in the ambience, food, and coffee. They have latte flights AND mocha flights. They have an amazing breakfast menu like no other place – empanadas, tamales, and burritos – all super authentic. You can add booze to many of their coffee drinks. They’re also a sort of customizable yerba mate (pronounced yer-ba mah-tay) bar, as well. The staff is so incredibly polite, helpful, and respectful. You can see they have a LOT going for them.

I got a latte flight – which is horchata, dulce de leche, and churro atole. My wife got a mocha flight – which is spicy mayan, sevilla, and Azteca. We also got a beef empanada, a breakfast empanada, and a rajas (blue corn) tamale.

The latte flight was great – especially if you like cinnamon. The things are absolutely beautiful on their flight paddle, and they taste even better. The horchata one you could actually tell it was a cinnamon rice drink, even without the cinnamon dusting on the top. The dulce de leche was my favorite, since I’m a caramel fiend. The churro atole one was also good, again, if you like cinnamon, and a hint of maple. Such a good set of choices to sample.

The mocha flight was even better, though – because it has ALL THE WHIPPED CREAM and the sweet drizzles! The spicy mayan had just a little bit of kick, but wasn’t spicy and was still totally appropriate for a breakfast drink. The sevilla had a chocolate drizzle with some orange zest and whipped cream – my favorite one. And the Azteca had a lot going on, with chocolate, cinnamon, cacao nibs, peanuts, and whipped cream.

The tamale was top-notch with the blue corn, jalapenos, and cheese. Great flavor with the masa and they don’t skimp on the fillings. Really a memorable tamale. The beef empanada was really great, with a really tasty and crispy crust, and the chimichurri added so much fun flavor. It didn’t NEED the extra pop of flavor, but it definitely elevated it. The breakfast empanada wasn’t a boring old Caucasian breakfast pastry – it had eggs, bacon, and cheese, but also came with a salsa that had such good flavor – and again, the crust was so good.

This place cranked through the people, as well. Many stayed and sat down (inside or outside on the sidewalk tables), but many popped in and took it to go. We would tell anyone to go to this place and you’ll never regret it.

Also, we decided to walk back to our hotel and take it more leisurely than if we had scooter-ed home. Hahaha.

https://www.cafecorazonkc.com/

Croft Kitchen - Crosby, MN

 D and I were in the neighborhood and looking for a quick snack (not a full dinner), so we decided to pop into this local bar and grill we’d been in a few years back. This place has gotten a recent remodel and looks fantastic inside. New floors, tables, and booths go a long way into brightening this place up and refreshing it. There’s also a really surprisingly improved menu available. Super impressed with the offerings here – including the tap list.

 

Additionally, they do some special menus. I’m very interested in the Cajun menu special nights and an upcoming Italian menu special nights. Looks like this refresh didn’t stop at the front of the house – well done, whoever helped upscale this place!

 

We ordered the Armadillo Eggs and Spicy Cauliflower. And a couple of beers, obviously. The Vikings game was on, which meant they had half price appetizers, so we accidentally timed it really well, showing up when we did. And to kill time, D got to check out some claw machines, which is a hilarious draw, but apparently, it works.

 

The Armadillo Eggs were surprisingly delicious. I thought they were going to be a simple jalapeno popper, but they weren’t. Hear me out: the jalapeno is stuffed with brisket and cream cheese, then wrapped in Italian sausage and bacon, and then smoked and glazed with BBQ sauce. Honestly, this was leaps and bounds better than a jalapeno popper. They’re an appetizer, so everything is small, but don’t let that fool you – it’s about balance. Sure, if it was softball-sized and deep fried like a state fair monstrosity, it would be some sort of food challenge, but this has great ratios where you can taste everything. Loved how well put together these things were. 

The spicy cauliflower is like deep fried buffalo cauliflower, so don’t mistake this for healthy. The fry on this was impressive and there’s plenty of buffalo sauce all around the cauliflower inside. It’s served with a side of avocado ranch, which I could have drunk by the gallon. It’s the perfect dip for these little gems. 

 

I’m really impressed with the apps we got here. It’s clear the menu has been elevated and there’s some care that goes into the food prep (including plating, which D cares about more than I do). I’m glad to recommend this place now to friends that are up in the Cuyuna Lakes area for mountain biking or disc golf or camping. It’s got so much more going for it now, and we’re looking forward to going back and trying out some larger menu items. Great job on the update, Croft Kitchen!

 

Croft Kitchen

7 1^st Avenue NW

Crosby, MN 56441

Hazelwood Food & Drink - St. Louis Park, MN

 

Full disclosure: I wanted to show readers that I don’t ALWAYS eat garbage food or culinary atrocities – that’s what this review is. I met Trash and M.Giant for lunch in St. Louis Park since we had many things to get caught up on. Hazelwood is a slightly upscale and modern restaurant with just-short-of-tweezery dishes. Lots of instagramable decoration and plating. I think I had something going on that afternoon and didn’t want to fill up, so I ordered one of their healthy bowls with chicken. Of course, Trash asked me if I was ok or had some ailment that I was about to explain to them during lunch. But, really, I just love quinoa.

 

I’ll be honest, I did find it a little weird that all of the bowls have the exact same thing in them and you just pick what’s on top. But thankfully, everything in the list of ingredients sounded great and I just went along with it. Don’t most places have different flavors with different proteins? Just seemed a little simple for a place like this. Not complaining, just pointing out that I found it odd.

 

The bowl they brought out was picture perfect, as you can see. Green beans, baby greens, edamame, toasted pepitas, cucumbers, tomatoes, quinoa, lemongrass sauce, and plum sauce. The chicken had a roasted poblano sauce on it, as well, which was quite good. Everything was fresh and tasty and there was plenty of it, as well. The quinoa actually had flavor, which sometimes, it’s just a boring grain, so Hazelwood definitely knew how to cook it properly. The lemongrass sauce wasn’t too overpowering, either. This dish, for as simple as it is, has a lot of things that could take over the dish, but that didn’t happen. So, well done, Hazelwood. 

 

The menu has a couple of things that sound interesting, but I think what Hazelwood does well is take normal food and make it much prettier. They’re doing great at it, too. No complaints on my end.

Indian Masala - Maplewood, MN

My friend Fred Garvin (male sex worker) has recommended a few places over the past few years and he’s been right on the mark. It surprised me that he and his family would drive from Minneapolis to Indian Masala just for Indian food, but I found out why – it’s worth it. 

The restaurant is very unassuming from the street view – in fact, we weren’t sure it was even open still. But once you get through the doors, the people are friendly, respectful, and very glad you’re there. We got seated at a booth and handed these very nice shiny menus that were massive. There are so many different dishes on this menu that we had trouble deciding what to get. Usually, when that happens, we just overorder to make sure we didn’t miss anything – this time was no different. I’ll also mention that they have an ever-changing lunch buffet. So you need to check and see which day you want to come. Some days it’s all vegetarian, some days it’s all biryani, some days it’s everything, you just have to figure out which day you want to show up.

I guarantee you that anytime I see Chicken 65 on the menu, I will order it. One of my all-time favorites. This was in appetizer form, which just means a smaller portion. D thinks she has never had a dosa before, so we got the spicy podi masala dosa to split, not knowing how large it was going to be. And order of Chana Masala and Lamb Chettinadu, as well. When asked, we told the server to give us a medium spice level since we weren’t afraid of a little flavor. D also went with a Maharaja pilsner, which seemed to throw off our server just a little bit, but good for her for breaking down gender norms like the champion she is.

The Chicken 65 is really awesome – as it always is everywhere you go. This version isn’t as saucy as some I’ve had and is more of a dry spice rub. I’ve tried to make this at home and I just can’t get it dialed in yet. Covered with onions (optional) and some lemon to squeeze on it. It’s just hard to beat this dish and they nail it here.

The spicy podi masala dosa was much larger than we thought it would be. It’s folded in half and still covers the cookie sheet they serve it on. It comes with a nice dal (sort-of lentil soup) and two dips – one cheese-adjacent and the other tomato-based. It’s sort of a rice flour crepe filled with a spicy potato mixture. It’s a little bit sweet, so the spicy filling really shines, especially when paired with the dips or the dal. I’m glad we tried this, since we’re still talking about it.

The Chana Masala was good – it’s difficult to mess up chickpeas in a rich tomato sauce. It comes with a large serving of basmati rice. The spice level on this was great and we were both really pleased with this dish.

The Lamb Chettinadu was a bit of a gamble, but it paid off. Really flavorful lamb chunks that were tender and not stringy or gritty. The sauce wasn’t something I’ve had before, but I loved it. It’s also served with a large amount of basmati rice.

Everything here was so delicious. We couldn’t finish it all, so we took half of it home in to-go containers for lunch the next day. There’s a dessert case on the way out, so I grabbed some kheer for myself – I’m a big fan. We’ll be back here, without question, so thank you for the recommendation, Fred Garvin.

Top 5 things about Indian Masala

1. Chicken 65

2. Lamb Chettinadu

3. Spicy podi masala dosa

4. Chana Masala

5. seriously thorough menu

 

Bottom 5 things about Indian Masala

1. It’s a bit off the beaten path, being on the south side of I-94 in the southern section of Maplewood

2. Sometimes, it’s difficult to decide what to get with such a vast menu – great problem to have

3. The buffet is going to be on my mind for many days

4. Nothing else is a negative

5. Nothing else is a negative

 

https://indianmasalamn.com

Hope Breakfast Bar - St. Paul, MN

We’ve driven by Hope Breakfast Bar many many times and every morning, especially weekends, there’s a line out the front. We’ve heard our friends rave about this place and it’s been on our list for a long time. We finally made it happen and it was definitely worth the wait. It’s kind of a breakfast and brunch place with really nice atmosphere and really top notch food.  

You CAN get reservations, instead of waiting in line, but we took our chances. They said it was a 30-45 minute wait, and it was right about 35 minutes. Easy. Even while standing outside in the drizzle with our coats on watching people. We got a chance to check out the menu while we waited, also, which meant we were ready to rock when we finally got seated at the bar. If I’m not mistaken, if you have reservations, you get a table and they turn spots at the bar around pretty quickly for walk-ins. Just trying to make sure you know what to expect. (Meaning don’t walk in and expect to get a table for 8)

They’ve got some regular coffee drinks and juices, but also some cocktails, wine, and beer. Really adventurous ones, not just bloody marys and mimosas, either. D got a caramel coconut coffee (not pictured) and I got a 7^th Avenue Cereal Bowl, which is a cocktail made with Rumchata, milk from Cap’n Crunch, and crunchberries on top. Really impressive and delicious, as well. Even had a couple customers ask what I was drinking so they could order one.

We had some trouble deciding what to order since everything sounds great. We saw a couple of people order pancakes of various flavors and they all looked good and fluffy and fun. We decided to get Baby Cakes, which are a set of small pancakes with various syrups (blueberry, maple, and banana cinnamon cream cheese. These were everything we expected and more and we couldn’t decide which syrup was our favorite. In fact, we ask for lids for the syrups, so we could take them home and eat them on other things.

We decided to get our own entrees that we wanted and then share them. I finally decided on the chicken fried steak, covered in mushroom sausage gravy, with a biscuit, scrambled eggs, and hashbrowns. D got the Hawaiian Bowl, which is Hawaiian bbq beef, peppers, cilantro rice, poached egg, avocado, and some fried noodles. 

D’s Hawaiian Bowl was more in line with my taste than hers. She liked it a lot, but I’m a rice bowl fiend and can’t get enough of stuff like this. I had almost ordered this dish, but when I heard she was going to, I went with my second choice, knowing I could steal some bites of hers. Aside from the pineapple pieces in the bowl, there wasn’t a ton of Hawaiian flavor in it. It was sort of an Asian/teriyaki rice bowl without many noodles. It had great flavors and everything was fresh and colorful, but it wasn’t the Hawaiian breakfast she was hoping for. Thankfully, I get to eat all of her leftovers, so I win twice.

 

My chicken fried steak was really pretty impressive. I’m sort of a gravy snob – not even sort of – and this mushroom sausage gravy stood up pretty damn well. The chicken fried steak wasn’t greasy at all and had really great flavor. The hashbrowns were plenty crispy (without me having to ask for it – which I forgot to do), the eggs were scrambled just right, and the biscuit was flaky and not dry. Even D was all in on my chicken fried steak and that’s never really been her jam. That should speak volumes, my friends.

 

The service was really impressive, with servers/bartenders checking on us without being overbearing. They were very friendly and chatty about the various foods people ordered and how fast the cooking staff was. Made the whole atmosphere even more friendly and welcoming. This place is busy for a reason and now we know why. We both said we’ll be going back as we drove back home with our leftovers. 

Top 5 things about Hope Breakfast Bar

1. Chicken Fried Steak

2. Baby Cakes

3. 7^th Street Cereal Bowl

4. Atmosphere

5. Really vast menu for brunch

 

Bottom 5 things

1. There’s going to be a wait – deal with it

2. On-street parking only – deal with it

3. Right after you order, you’ll see the kitchen send out food that you wished you had ordered – deal with it

4. Literally everything here is instagramable – look at all the pictures that I took, so everyone will be taking photos of their food – deal with it

5. As you can see, anything I could even think of that people might complain about are irrelevant and people should just deal with whatever their issues happen to be - hahahaha

 

www.hopebreakfast.com

Honey-Jam Café – Bolingbrook, IL

We were in Bolingbrook, visiting some family and thought we’d go out for some breakfast. I’m not always a breakfast person, but when I go out, I like to make it count. Plus, I was with my niece and nephews, so I like to remind them and make sure they know that I’m the crazy uncle.  

Everyone appeared to be ordering safe, so I channeled my inner 5-year-old and ordered the most ridiculous thing on the menu. A giant waffle covered in strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, graham crackers, whipped cream, Fruity Pebbles, and a healthy covering of frosting. It’s like a waffle circus on a plate. 

And when the niece and nephews (and my in-laws) saw this thing come out, I knew I had succeeded in reminding them that my version of culinary genius is a little different than most folks’. Mission accomplished. Also, this thing was really damn good. Full disclosure: this monstrosity did not need syrup. hahaha

Honey-Jam Café

120 E. Boughton Road

Bolingbrook, IL 60440

www.honeyjamcafe.com

Miss Phay Café – Davenport, IA

Visiting my folks in the Quad Cities, we heard a couple of people tell us we needed to check out Miss Phay Café in downtown Davenport. We had been to that specific location before, but it was a few different things before its current and amazing new restaurant. 

The menu has quite a few things on it, and from a number of categories. Very thorough! And also, great descriptions of things, so people not as familiar with Thai food would be able to tell what most of the ingredients are. We had a tough time deciding, but we narrowed it down. We were a little bummed we were headed to a wedding that evening, since the cocktail menu is really impressive. We may have to go back just for drinks. 

 

We (obviously) started with the red pork summer rolls. Vermicelli noodles, thin-sliced pork, carrot, mint and a peanut hoisin sauce. It’s hard to get these wrong, but these were definitely better than average. We always threaten to order one set for each of us, but we never do. Maybe we should consider that again when we find fresh rolls this good.

D got the combo vermicelli salad. It’s got a little bit of everything in it: beef, chicken, shrimp, lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, pickles, herbs, peanuts, and even a crispy spring roll. The shrimp was definitely one of the more flavorful we’ve had. Really great flavor in both the chicken and the beef, and the other flavors were bright and fresh. A really solid choice.

 

I got the Green Curry Noodles with Chicken, which came with bamboo, basil, kra chai (which is sort of like ginger), and served with vermicelli noodles. Really a deep and flavorful curry. Glad I got this one. I (for once) didn’t finish the bowl and ended up taking some back to the hotel with me. Mainly, just because it was so good, I wanted another go at it. This was a really amazing curry. 

 

As we found out, pretty much anything on the menu is going to be delicious. Be adventurous and get something different if you go here. I’m sure the pad thai is absolutely stellar, but there are so many fantastic other dishes available here. The folks working are really helpful and friendly and we’re looking forward to going back here again when we’re in town.

 

Miss Phay Café

512 Brady Street

Davenport, IA 52801

www.missphaycafe.com

 

World Famous Momo – West St. Paul, MN

Well, since I’m (semi) back in action on the food front, I figured I should re-start with an awesome new place in my own city that deserves some recognition. World Famous Momo popped up in an old check cashing location right on the main drag in West St. Paul. 

First off, what is a Momo? It’s a Nepalese dumpling stuffed with some sort of meat and vegetables. Then, they steam it (or fry it) so it’s piping hot, and served with a sort of pureed tomato-based sauce. Now you know.

The inside of the restaurant is spacious, but hopefully to set the stage for more indoor dining once it’s a little safer – I’m looking forward to all of these things. The menu is limited, but don’t let that deter you. What they’ve got on the menu, they have perfected, so you won’t be disappointed. 

 

D.Rough and I got an order of steamed Momo, a potato samosa, and a mango lassi – to go, since we were on our working-from-home lunch break. The guy working the front desk was very conversational and we chatted while our food was being made by his father in law back in the kitchen. It didn’t take too long, which is awesome. But know they this food is made to order and not prepared ahead of time, so just be a little patient – it’s worth it. 

 

The Momo was awesome. Very delicious chicken and vegetable filling inside and the pouch was not doughy at all – steamed perfectly. They’re right in that middle size where it’s a really big one-biter or a two-biter that more dainty. I’m looking forward to also trying the fried version of these to compare them accurately. 

 

The potato samosas were really fantastic. Fried little hand-pies filled with seasoned potatoes and served with some sort of tamarind sauce. I’m not usually a tamarind guy, but the sauce in this case was really great. Really crunchy and tasty. 

 

Mango Lassi is always good – it’s like a mango smoothie, so what’s not to like. We drank a whole bunch of it before I realized we didn’t get a good picture, so my apologies on that. But it was really great. 

 

Overall, this food is something you’ve been missing in your life (unless you have spent a lot of time in Nepal). I didn’t even know I needed this, but I’m glad we’ve got a place right down the street from us. Really friendly characters working and creating delicious food. Can’t wait for you to check this out and support this small business!

 

Photo credits: D.Rough

 

World Famous Momo

1318 S. Robert Street

West St. Paul, MN 55118

World Famous Momo

Café d’Marie – Davenport, IA

D.Rough and I were headed out of town and needed to grab some coffee and a snack for the road. The number one place from Trip Advisor was Café d’Marie – I’d never heard of it, but if everyone thinks it’s great, then we’d have to go there.

There’s a newspaper clipping just inside the door with the history of the place – Dr. DeAnna Walter operated a chiropractic office out of her home and would serve coffee, tea, and sometimes whatever she baked in her kitchen in the waiting area. People began asking for more food items, and within a few years, she hung up her chiropractor jacket and started a breakfast and lunch place – and is KILLING IT!

It’s not a big place, so you may have to wait in the hall way of her really beautiful house (literally) for a seat in the dining area, but there are all kinds of coffee and tea options, scones, cakes, cookies, and a bunch of amazing-looking quiches. We grabbed some coffees and a slice of quiche, and then while we waited, we caved and got a slice of this really attractive chocolate cake (somehow, I managed to talk myself out of the signature bread pudding, which I still regret).

The quiche was even better than we expected, and we wolfed that down pretty quickly, even though the slice was generous.

The chocolate cake was extremely moist and rich without being overwhelming.

Overall, the people at Café d’Marie know how to work magic. Give these folks a visit and you’ll be glad you did!

www.facebook.com/cafedmarie

Hai Hai – Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I needed “treat-yo-self” night, so we headed to Hai Hai – a relatively new “modern Vietnamese” restaurant in Northeast. It’s actually in the former strip club known as the Deuce Deuce, but don’t let that scare you. they’ve done amazing work in side and it looks absolutely lovely inside. The bar area is fun and inviting and the dining room has plenty of room without being too crowded. There’s also a really nice patio out back for more summertime dining.

D.Rough had already been to this restaurant before, so she knew the ropes and suggested a few things. A couple of appetizers to share and then two entrees to share. And, of course, cocktails. They have an amazing cocktail menu, which I have a feeling I’ll be working my way through in its entirety, at some point. 

I got something called Topical Tradewinds, which is some rum with jackfruit, falernum, pineapple in lime, served in a nice looking bowl. It was delicious!! D.Rough got the Hotel Continental – multiple rums, pineapple, and some other things, served in an awesome tiki glass – yes, I was jealous. Hers was also extremely good.

For food we got the salt and pepper fried tofu and the Hai Hai Spring Rolls. The fried tofu is so good, that it hurts. It’s large pieces of fried tofu – large enough to cut into 2, 3, or 4 pieces – sitting in a delicious rice powder and lime leaf sauce, and a small amount of thai chilis on the side that you can add if you like. It’s REEEEEALY good.

The Hai Hai Spring Rolls were good, but very unusual. It’s like a standard/non-fried spring roll, but there’s a pork sausage inside it and a fried egg roll skin inside, as well. It’s got a lot of different textures going on, which is nice, but it’s unusual, to say the least. It’s served with this delicious sauce for dipping, as well, and you’re going to love that part especially. Not our favorite thing on the table, but we did still enjoy it!

For dinner, we got Beef Larb and Hanoi Sticky Rice. It was extremely difficult to determine which one we liked best. The Beef Larb was great. I mean really great. It was served with some cabbage leaves for scooping the ground and spiced beef into, and also a few sesame-shrimp chips. Both were great. This had plenty of spice in it, but the seasoning on it was wonderful.

The Hanoi Sticky Rice was a tasty bowl of multiple ingredients – ground pork, pork floss (which is my favorite thing ever), Chinese pork sausage, mung bean, fried shallot, pickled vegetable, and some cucumbers in a sauce that you dump on top. All of these ingredients are sitting on top of a fantastic bed of sticky rice. The idea is to mix the whole thing together (which is difficult since the bowl is full), and then chow down. It was great, especially when you got some of each ingredient all in one bite. It was magic in a bowl.

I almost forgot about dessert!! They have four desserts on a small menu, that I believe rotates weekly or monthly, and they all look great. D.Rough got the Racine cake last time, so this time, we got the Coffee Pots de Crème. It had these delicious little crispy wafer things in it that I won’t even begin to describe. And the layers of sugary dessert were much better than I expected. Just get this thing.

Honestly, the next time we go back here, it’s going to be difficult to NOT get one of these four things again, since I know how good all of them are. There are, however, a few more items on the menu that I want to try, so that will help. I’m already planning it out and looking forward to the next trip there! Amazing job, Hai Hai!

www.haihaimpls.com

Lola Empanada – San Tan Valley, AZ

D.Rough and I were driving back to Phoenix from a visit to family in Tucson. D.Rough had been looking at food destinations off the beaten path between Tucson and Phoenix and kept seeing Lola Empanada come up. We left a little early to make sure we had time to stop by Lola and check it all out. I’m so glad we did.

The place wasn’t busy when we arrived and the woman working was having her really awesome and friendly young kids help us out. They were adorable. It took us a minute to decide on lunch, but we figured it out with some compromising, so we could try more things.

We got:

• Chicken bacon jalapeño popper
• Green chili chicken
• Spicy beef
• Spicy beef bean and cheese
• Yucca fries with garlic aioli

D.Rough also got a fresh margarita. We weren’t sure it was going to be good when it arrived, since it was  a little “clear”. But it honestly was fantastic. Really wonderful fresh lime taste and not overpoweringly boozy. Really awesome and refreshing.

The yucca fries were very generous (size-wize) and went really well with the garlic aioli. The dip was pretty magical. The outside was very crunchy and the inside was nice and fluffy like mashed potatoes. A wonderful choice and one I’d recommend (as long as you have someone to share the giant portion with).

Each of the empanadas were wonderful. I’m really impressed with how fat they were with fillings and also how well they were fried. They were flaky and crusty, but didn’t fall apart (and weren’t greasy tasting). D.Rough’s favorite was the green chili chicken one and my favorite one was the spicy beef with beans and cheese. We were extremely full after eating all of these, but it was worth it.

This place is a hidden gem that deserves more attention. Great work, Lola!!!

And then, just before we got back to the rental car place, a giant hawk slammed into the side of my car while I was on the highway and rocked my door. This is why I always get the insurance on rental cars. WEIRD STUFF ALWAYS HAPPENS TO ME!!!

Lola Empanada

5452 E. Skyline Drive

San Tan Valley, AZ 85140

Afro Deli – St. Paul, MN

The entire time the Afro Deli was open in Minneapolis, I never found time to go there, despite attending the U of MN across the street. I now know what a huge mistake that was. D.Rough is a regular at the new downtown St. Paul location and has raved about it, so I met her there for lunch. So glad I did.

The menu is on a big board when you walk in, so be courteous and don’t stand in the ordering line until you know what you want. You’ll want everything, but you’ll need to narrow it down a LITTLE.  Thankfully, I had an expert who offered her own advice as to what I should get. Thanks, wife! I got the Chapati Wrap with gyro meat (it comes with a salad), and a side of sweet potato fries. I also got two Beef Sambusas. D.Rough got the Somali Steak Sandwich.

The food takes very little prep time, so I was pretty happy with the short wait during the busy lunch hour. The salad was pretty standard, but who really reviews a salad? No one. The Chapati Wrap was wonderful. Lots of meat and plenty of peppers and lettuce and rice and such. Great flavor and not sloppy like wraps sometimes get. Super solid showing on this wrap.

The sweet potato fries weren’t stellar. They had good flavor but were a little soggy. I have heard their regular fries are the way to go here, so maybe I’ll try those next time. I certainly won’t complain about these (because I love me some sweet potato fries), but I’ve had better.

The Sambusas were really really good. I liked these a lot and maybe wouldn’t share next time. They are filled with ground beef onions and cilantro, but the bright green spicy dipping sauce (“basbas”) was perfect. I loved these things.

But the winner for me was the steak sandwich. It’s really thin sliced steak but seasoned in really spicy ingredients that make this thing pop. It’s a bit on the slide-y side when you eat it, but you’ll get over it when you have the first bite of this meat. It’s fantastic.

There are so many other things on this menu I need to try. The Chicken Fantastic looked amazing, and the Curry also looked like I needed to try it. I’ll be back!

Top 5 things about Afro Deli

1) Somali Steak Sandwich

2) Beef Sambusas

3) Chapati Wrap

4) It’s verrrrry reasonably priced

5) Having a location in both cities is really smart, especially in the business district of downtown St. Paul

Bottom 5 things

1) Sweet Potato fries

2) Parking isn’t ideal, but you can find it on the street

3) The place gets packed at lunch

4) There were a lot of people eating quesadillas here – super disappointing since everything ELSE is so good (probably the Minnesota spice tolerance issue…)

5) No other negative points – I tried really hard to find something else!

www.afrodeli.com