![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamsharkPrevious outings include:
Cafe Maude - thumbs up
Cafe Agri - thumbs down
Cafe Gigi - how did we not find this place sooner???
According to their website they've been here 6 years, but we never noticed the place until a friend from St. Paul told me about it. Gigi's is the perfect picture of the casual neighborhood cafe/restaurant. It's set up kind of like a deli - bakery items and samples of entrees are on display in the big glass counter case. You order your entree at the counter; they bring it to your table. Or, presumably, you can buy any of that food to take out. This would be a perfect place to pick up scrumptious sandwiches and desserts for a picnic. But it's also a perfect place to eat in. There's outdoor seating and a surprisingly large indoor seating area including both regular and high-top tables.
As for food - their specialty seems to be desserts, all of which look spectacular. The two we tried were just as good as they looked. The New York Cheesecake was my pick, and absolutely perfect if you like a slightly lighter cheesecake texture. The Key Lime Tart is not a tart at all but piece of a full-sized pie. It was quite good, but just slightly gooier in texture than I like. That's more a personal preference than an actual criticism, however. Oddly enough, the cheesecake was served in a tart shell and the key lime pie had the kind of crust usually associated with cheesecake. I don't care, as I like both types of crust. I just thought it was odd.
It's not just coffee and desserts, though. They also serve entrees in the hearty hippie food tradition. Lots of vegies, but also plenty of cheese and butter and chicken, and the kind of presentation that manages to suggest a groaning board. The portions are generous, the prices are low, and the place is hopping even on a Tuesday evening. We had the vegetarian tamale pie and chicken stromboli, and liked them both.
It's just blocks from our house (36th and Bryant), open every day until 10pm. We'll be back to this one!
Cafe Maude - thumbs up
Cafe Agri - thumbs down
Cafe Gigi - how did we not find this place sooner???
According to their website they've been here 6 years, but we never noticed the place until a friend from St. Paul told me about it. Gigi's is the perfect picture of the casual neighborhood cafe/restaurant. It's set up kind of like a deli - bakery items and samples of entrees are on display in the big glass counter case. You order your entree at the counter; they bring it to your table. Or, presumably, you can buy any of that food to take out. This would be a perfect place to pick up scrumptious sandwiches and desserts for a picnic. But it's also a perfect place to eat in. There's outdoor seating and a surprisingly large indoor seating area including both regular and high-top tables.
As for food - their specialty seems to be desserts, all of which look spectacular. The two we tried were just as good as they looked. The New York Cheesecake was my pick, and absolutely perfect if you like a slightly lighter cheesecake texture. The Key Lime Tart is not a tart at all but piece of a full-sized pie. It was quite good, but just slightly gooier in texture than I like. That's more a personal preference than an actual criticism, however. Oddly enough, the cheesecake was served in a tart shell and the key lime pie had the kind of crust usually associated with cheesecake. I don't care, as I like both types of crust. I just thought it was odd.
It's not just coffee and desserts, though. They also serve entrees in the hearty hippie food tradition. Lots of vegies, but also plenty of cheese and butter and chicken, and the kind of presentation that manages to suggest a groaning board. The portions are generous, the prices are low, and the place is hopping even on a Tuesday evening. We had the vegetarian tamale pie and chicken stromboli, and liked them both.
It's just blocks from our house (36th and Bryant), open every day until 10pm. We'll be back to this one!
