Last week's column on WCCO.com covered Minneapolis' Eat Street. I've blogged about different restaurants on this street before, here and here. Today let's take a look at another spot, directly across the street from the Black Forest Inn, that's a whole lot of fun and good food.
Can you guess the cuisine? Unlike much of Eat Street, this isn't a place focused on foods from outside the U.S. borders.
The Bad Waitress Diner & Coffeeshop. The tongue-in-cheek name does not refer to the attitude of the employees, but to the set-up, which involves customers seating themselves, reading their menus, filling out their own order forms, and taking them to the register to pay. You want water? Help yourself. The server will deliver your food, however.
Bad Waitress has three square meals a day, including hearty pancakes, omelettes, scrambles, French toast, and my favorite, the El Diablo Breakfast Sandwich (two eggs, cheese, and your choice of meat on an English muffin or biscuit); sandwiches, salads, burgers, soup, and chili; and at dinnertime, burritos, quesadillas, and pasta. Desserts are offered, of course, as is good hot coffee and a selection of wine and beer.
My most recent visit was at dinnertime. I brought my "real" camera to photo the interior, but you know what? It's such a warm and cozy place at night, and people looked comfy and content at their tables, and I didn't want to bother anyone with the flash of a camera. So I used my cell phone. My bad. Trust me. The place is a great hangout.
The food is great. I had a local brew:
to go with my veggie burrito.
Enormous, of course, because that's what diners do. But refreshingly, it's grilled rather than deep-fried, and the inside was heavy on rice and veggies and light on gloppy cheese. Wonderfully seasoned, not spicy, but very flavorful.
My friend had mac 'n' cheese.
She was kind enough to let me try a bite. Yum. Very smooth and creamy.
It's a kid-friendly establishment, with plenty of things for them to eat. There's a happy hour with drink and appetizer specials, and a daily entree special as well. If you haven't been, it's well worth a stop; if you have been, don't you think it's time to go back?
Well, except our waitress wigged out when I tried to take pictures...
Posted by: Chris | February 27, 2009 at 02:06 PM