[MSP] 2nd Moon Coffee Cafe, Minneapolis?

[The Dairy Queen]

http://www.2ndmooncoffee.com/index.html

Can anyone comment on the chow at this place? It's convenient to an event I need to attend and I thought this would be a good place to meet up with my friends (4-6 of us) for a quick dinner beforehand. Also, it says on their site they have a patio and they are non-smoking; can anyone confirm their patio is indeed, non-smoking?

I know Birchwood Cafe is also in the Seward neighborhood, but 2nd Moon is better located., so I'd prefer 2nd Moon as long as the food's good. Any other options in Seward I should be considering?

Thank you muchly!

~TDQ

[Quince]

Since you seem to be looking for a restaurant right on Franklin Ave, I second the recommendation for True Thai. 2nd Moon is only good for coffee. I wouldn't recommend Tracy's for anything but booze. Eating on the sidewalk on Franklin Ave. wouldn't be my first choice, but it is possible at Pizza Luce and Tracy's. El Gaucho has been closed for a while now. The Cliquot Club is around the same distance away as the Birchwood, and frankly, the Birchwood has much better food.

[AnneInMpls]

I wanted to recommend El Gaucho, which is just down the street, but it seems to be closed.

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/408434

True Thai is only a few blocks further away and has lovely food (I recommend the papaya salad). If you get there early, it should be pretty quick. But during prime dining hours, there are lines out the door.

http://www.truethairestaurant.com/

Anne

[The Dairy Queen]

Thanks for all the great advice, everyone. I think we're going to end up at True Thai. (And, yay!, I'll get my papaya salad fix!) I'm not sure how adventurous my friends are. Is there anything that comes to mind on True Thai's menu that might be a good recommendation for less-adventurous eaters?

Thank you!

~TDQ

[AnneInMpls]

I had True Thai's papaya salad for dinner last night!

For less-adventurous eaters, I'd recommend the chicken sate (everybody loves 'em), and maybe a Chinese-style stir-fry dish, like the 7-vegetable medley or the baby corn and snow peas. If they like coconut milk, the Pineapple Curry is always a big hit at our group dinners. Pad Thai is good for a very safe adventure.

Oh, and they should order everything "very mild". (Me, I'm a "medium" gal at True Thai.)

[Edited to add] If they have purple yam fritters on the appetizer menu, try to talk your companions into sharing an order. They're a bit like sweet potatoes, but startlingly purple and starchily addictive. They're too rich for just one or two people, so I almost never get them.

Enjoy,
Anne

[Cassandra]

The food at both 2nd Moon and Blue Moon have always been their great weakness. They have those tedious panini sandwiches and they buy not-very-good bakery items (bars, cookies, etc.) from someplace. When you compare the food to, say, Anodyne, May Day or Gigi's (none of which are in Seward), it really suffers from the comparison. I of course also highly recommend the Cliquot Club or the Birchwood for coffee and a bite to eat.

I have spent many, many hours drinking coffee at the Moons, because I love the vibe, but I would spend more time there if the food were decent.

[soupkitten]

boy did you take the words right out of my mouth, Cassandra!

[churchka]

I guess I don't remember them having any food other than pastries and rice crispy treats. I had a vegan chocolate rice crispy treat that was pretty nasty. That's when I stopped ordering anything but coffee there.

Right near there is Tracy's, Pizza Luce, The Blue Nile and the Seward Co-op. Tracy's is a bar with standard bar food, but smoking outside. The Blue Nile has some pretty good Ethiopian, they have an outside area, but I don't know if there is smoking. The Seward Co-op just has their deli stuff, but they have a small area with tables you can eat at, and their may be a picnic table outside. Pizza Luce has an outside area, with smoking I think.

[katebauer]

I don't think they really have dinner options at all. I was there about a month ago mid-day to do some studying and wanted a coffee and then just a little something else, and they didn't really have anything else that appealed to me. I think they might have had some pre-packaged sandwiches and sweets.

What about the Cliquot Club? I'm not sure of their hours but I keep hearing how delicious their sandwiches are.

[churchka]

Oh, and the Cliquot Club has great pizzas and desserts too. It is an awesome coffee shop.

[The Dairy Queen]

This is terrific feedback, thank you. As always, I'm so amazed by and grateful for the knowledge of my fellow 'hounds:

http://www.clicquotclubcafe.com/
http://www.pizzaluce.com/
http://tracyssaloon.com/
http://www.seward.coop/
The Blue Nile link was unavailable, but I'm provding it anyway, in case it comes up later (for the sake of posterity) http://www.bluenilempls.com/
http://www.birchwoodcafe.com/

~TDQ