Ward 6

Visited on Saturday, June 15th

Ben's Review
For my birthday I was tasked with choosing a place to get dinner with Erin as her mom had offered to watch the kids while we went out. In typical fashion I had a hard time deciding and enlisted the help of my coworkers. I got several awesome suggestions and settled on Ward 6 in Saint Paul.

Ward 6 is on the east side of Saint Paul in an old saloon (apparently the bar is the same one that was installed in 1903) and has a retro feel to it, even though the place has obviously been spiffed up a bit. I could tell it had opened not too long ago since the paint on the trim wasn’t even dirty yet.

Pints of beer are $5, except for Hamm’s which is only $3, and the tap beers are a great collection of local beer: Summit, Fulton, Flat Earth, Steel Toe, Indeed, Pour Decisions, Surly, and Lucid are all represented. They also have a full bar and several cocktail suggestions on the menu. I started with a Lynchburg Lemonade while we were deciding on food and had a Steel Toe Size 7 with my food.

The food menu is not huge, but there are several good looking options. Erin’s reuben even looked good to me, and I’m not a reuben fan. The daily special that day was a pork loin with warm potato salad, which easily sealed the deal for me. The potato salad was just as much of a draw as the pork, I love that stuff!

I had my beer and my German food and I was all set. The portions of food at Ward 6 are refreshingly reasonable, not the gargantuan plates you get at many places these days, and the prices are proportional as well, which I appreciate.

The pork had good flavor, but was not as moist as it could be, but paired with the potato salad, it was excellent and I wolfed it down in no time, leaving me to finish my beer as dessert :) We were done so quickly that we had to figure out something to do, lest we get home to Erin’s mom too early! We went for a walk down Grand Ave where Erin had some ice cream and I got a cigar, great ending to a birthday dinner.

Erin's Review
For once, I left the dinner decision completely up to Ben! We are completely out of the loop on restaurant openings lately, so I wasn't too shocked to hear that his coworkers had recommended several places we hadn't even heard of! I did look at the website for Ward 6 before we went, but wasn't quite sure what to expect.

This is definitely an awesome place that I WISH was closer to us! It's not like it's that far away, obviously, but it would be nice if it was even within a few miles, or not on the other side of downtown St. Paul. We went to downtown St. Paul for a drink at Barrio prior to heading over to Ward 6, which is pretty close to The Strip Club. It's one of those places that is casual but feels nice, serves really great food, and is affordable. Definitely kid friendly, too, I'd like to go back for breakfast with the kids sometime.

I saw that the bar had some ties to Hamm's (apparently the actual bar itself used to be in the brewery which was next door or something) so felt it was my mission to have a Hamm's while we were there. Also it was $2 cheaper than everything else, and I think we ALL know that I don't care what kind of beer I'm drinking, and in fact the closer it tastes to water, the better.

The Reuben was calling my name - to think of my younger self, never even trying a Reuben because it sounded gross to me. Now I love them! They are pretty rich for me, so I actually only ate half but the other half reheated well for another meal. The fries were delicious as well.

Really loved this place - excellent service, friendly atmosphere and good food. Worth the few extra miles from Minneapolis even!!

Deets

Ward 6

858 Payne Avenue

St. Paul

Heartland

Visited on Saturday, November 10th

Ben's Review
Erin had been antsy to go on a date night to a nice restaurant and gave me a short list of places to choose from our list. We settled on Heartland because they actually had a reservation available at a reasonable time, and it was within walking distance of a pre-dinner drink spot.

I had some credit with the new driver service, Uber, that recently launched in the Twin Cities, so I figured we could really make a night of it and get a ride to and from dinner.

Using Uber is way easier, and more fun, than ordering a cab. You request a driver through their iPhone app and then optionally watch the car on the map as they arrive at your pickup location. The phone tells you how far away they are as well as the driver’s name. When you arrive at your destination, you simply get out of the car and go on your way. No money changes hands, as Uber has your credit card info and will charge it automatically. Tips are also built-in and there is zero pressure from the drivers.

We had Uber drop us off at Barrio in Lowertown, about two blocks away from Heartland, to get a drink and an appetizer. We had a little over an hour to kill, so we were in no rush at all. Barrio was surprisingly (to me) quiet for 6pm on a Saturday and the bartender joked that IF they got busy, it would be much later.

We sat at the bar and got drinks and chips with salsa. I was impressed with the chips - they were salty, thick tortilla chips that came with three different salsas of different heat levels. I was less impressed with my martini that was small and watered down. That’s what you get for ordering a martini at a tequila bar I guess.

We made our way to Heartland a little before 7:30. It was oddly warm out (a stark contrast to this Monday morning), so the walk over was pleasant. Heartland is across the street from the Saint Paul Farmers Market location, which I’m more familiar with at 9am on the weekends with kids in tow.

We were seated right away in the bar area. Heartland seems to have several different rooms with slightly different feels to them. The bar spot was fine with me, I think the bar there is rather pretty, as is the entire building for that matter.

We had the server recommend a bottle of wine for us, within our price range, and he chose a Green & Red zinfandel. It was good, but I’m not one to judge a wine. I’m sure this bottle would be $30 cheaper at the liquor store, but not much you can do there.

Erin quickly settled on getting the three course tasting menu. The tasting menus are a decent value, but I saw the cassoulet and instantly had fond memories of our dinner at Meritage a couple years ago and how awesome the cassoulet was there, and I knew I had to try Heartland’s.

I wanted something else to share with Erin, but her tasting menu came with an appetizer already, so I got the broccoli with smoked tomato bechamel sauce for myself. The broccoli was excellent, with a rich, creamy tomato sauce drizzled over the top. Also, it wasn’t very filling, leaving me with a fighting chance of finishing my cassoulet. While we had our appetizers, we were also brought dinner rolls, which I happily had seconds of when they came around a second time - so much for not getting full :)

The cassoulet came out in a bowl that didn’t appear to be large, but was deceiving by it’s depth as well as the richness of the food inside. The creamy mixture of beans with several variations of rich, cured meats was absolutely delicious. In spite of all the food that I’d had so far, I still managed to finish the bowl, though I woke up painfully full around 3am. Probably not the wisest choice, but fun at the time :)

As we sat finishing our glasses of wine, I inconspicuously requested the Uber driver to head over to pick us up. I could see that he was a few minutes away, so we were in no rush to leave. We had a great time at Heartland and I would definitely go back.

Erin's Review
It had been awhile since we got to have a date night that didn't involve a wedding, so we confirmed with my sister and her husband that they could babysit, and I set out to try to get a reservation somewhere! Most of the places we have left on our list are definitely on the expensive and fancier side. I checked quite a few places in downtown Minneapolis (including the new-ish Butcher & the Boar and Bachelor Farmer) and saw they had ZERO reservations available even a week in advance! We decided on Heartland, and had no issues getting a reservation. Lowertown definitely has more action than it used to, but it certainly will never be the same as downtown Minneapolis. I actually went to Heartland for the first time back in April with girlfriends and LOVED it, so I was excited to check it out again with Ben.

We enjoyed our pre-dinner drinks at Barrio, and walked the few blocks over on the unseasonably warm evening to Heartland. The building that Heartland is in is quite beautiful - it's a very open space, with a few different rooms. They also have a separate market that is more like a deli and you get get things to go. I loved the bar area where we were seated this time - the separate rooms have a bit more formal of a feel to them.

Heartland changes their menu daily, and has two 3 course menus - Flora, vegetarian, and Fauna, with meat. I got the Flora last time and really loved it, so wanted to try the Fauna this time. It was settled when the main course even had "Irish Creek Annie" beans in it - I'm a sucker for trying anything with my daughter's name in the description! I was a bit nervous reading that the beef and beans were in a goat's milk sauce, as I am not a fan of goat cheese no matter how many times I try it. I wasn't really sure if goat's milk always had the same flavor as goat's cheese so I figured I'd give it a try regardless. The flora option also had something with goat's cheese too and for some reason I was set on the 3 course menu.

Ben requested a zinfandel for our wine, so I asked the server to recommend one that paired well with the food we were getting. He talked for awhile about how the one he recommended was a good "food" wine, and how many zinfandels are not... whatever. I enjoyed the wine and it DID seem to pair well with our food, so he chose well! While we enjoyed the wine, we were brought an amuse bouche of butternut squash mousse and apple which was delicious.

I LOVED the first course of my meal - the fish was so tender, and the sauce was amazing. I wished there was much more, especially because sadly I was not a fan of the 2nd main course of beef roast and beans in the goat's milk sauce. For anyone wondering (and yes, I should have asked), goat's milk does indeed have the same flavor as goat's cheese. The meat also LOOKED like it would be tender and delicious but I found it very tough. The server came back and raved about how delicious the sauce was - it wasn't his fault I don't like goat's milk so I just smiled and nodded. After the bread, appetizer at Barrio and the first course, it wasn't as if I was actually HUNGRY, so I wasn't too upset about it.

The dessert course was fine. Nothing amazing, nothing bad. The pairing of flavors was a bit odd to me. Pumpkin pot de creme with a cranberry mousse - Thanksgiving flavors I suppose, but the white chocolate in the mousse was just not working for me. I still finished most of it, of course but it wasn't my favorite dessert. I did really enjoy the little french  press of decaf coffee I got to go with my dessert! I love how they instruct you to wait one minute to press - reminds me of every weekend morning where Ben sets a timer for 3 minutes before we are allowed to plunge our french press at home.

Having gone to Heartland twice now (check out the instagram photos from my first visit here), I would definitely recommend it for a delicious dinner. I was truly wowed the first time I went, and while this visit didn't live up to that experience, it was still an excellent meal. The setting is beautiful, and being in downtown St. Paul it's a pretty relaxed and low key atmosphere.

Ben also talked about the Uber car service we used that night - I LOVED it, and it was definitely worth the few more dollars versus taking a cab! Such a nice experience to be able to order the car and see it coming on the map while we were sitting at our table, versus calling a cab and just hoping they show up. I also loved not having to exchange money. And, you for sure feel like a high roller with a town car pulling right up to the curb, and a driver getting out and asking for you by name! Definitely a great service, and one I can see us using again in the future.

Deets
Heartland Restaurant
289 East 5th Street
St. Paul

Colossal Cafe

Visited on Friday, September 28th

Erin's Review

Our 7th wedding anniversary was September 24th, and because we had a few weddings in the weekends surrounding it that required babysitters for the kids, we chose to celebrate it by both taking a day off work and going to breakfast and then to the Ivy Spa Club to spend the day there (you can use their facilities all day by booking a service, it's awesome!).

When I sent Ben the list of breakfast options available, I realized just how slim the pickings are getting on our list. We have plenty of options should we ever want to have a nice dinner out, but very few for breakfast or a casual dinner. I guess it just goes to show just how many new places we've been to since we started this blog!

We settled on the new-ish outpost of Colossal Cafe that opened in St. Anthony Park, which is one of my favorite neighborhoods in St. Paul, and happened to be somewhat on the way to downtown from our house anyway. It was a beautiful fall Friday, and we were both in good moods with the anticipation of our spa day.

I was somewhat surprised to see that this was the type of place where you order at a counter versus table service. I'm not sure if that is always the case, but it was for the weekday breakfast. This to me makes it a good option for kids, since the food tends to come a lot faster. I made a quick decision to order an omelet with bacon, green onions and cream cheese as well as a mammoth cinnamon roll which they heated up for me. They are "famous" for their pancakes, but I was told by 2 people to avoid them, so I did just that :)

We sat down, got ourselves some coffee from the self-serve coffee station, and I enjoyed a few bites of my cinnamon roll before I started to lose my appetite and feel a little ill. I had a slight cold and headache going into the day, and unfortunately it was only getting worse. Ben and I seem to be plagued with these random bouts of flu-like feelings that only last a day, and always seem to happen at the exact same time.

By the time our food came, I had zero appetite and started to even feel queasy so I just nibbled at my toast while I downed some coffee to see if caffeine would perk me up. I did end up feeling okay for awhile, but not well enough to eat my food. Luckily, it kept well (the toast was amazing actually), and when I finally regained my appetite later in the day, the omelet really hit the spot. The combination of green onions, cream cheese and bacon vaguely reminded me of one of my favorite absolutely not authentic sushi rolls, the Philly. Delicious! Far too rich to enjoy while feeling icky though.

Colossal Cafe in St. Paul is a cute little cafe - it looks like they probably have remodeled the whole place, and I really liked the completely open kitchen. We'll definitely be back, especially since I love the neighborhood and it's so close to our house!

Ben's Review

For our anniversary we had planned to go to the spa at Hotel Ivy in downtown Minneapolis, with a stop for breakfast beforehand. My getting LASIK delayed our spa day by a few days, but the day finally arrived a few weeks ago. We dropped the kids off at daycare and headed to Colossal Cafe in Saint Paul for breakfast.

I wasn’t feeling too great that morning, it felt like a cold was coming on, but since we had the day off with breakfast and a day at the spa planned, I figured it would still be a good time.

We arrived at Colossal Cafe around 8 and headed in. You order at the counter, about halfway into the restaurant, and they give you a placard for your table to identify you with your order. There was no line, though plenty of other diners, so we quickly made our decisions from the blackboard menu. I opted for a sausage breakfast sandwich on a biscuit with a cup of coffee.

I like the model of ordering at the counter and having self serve coffee. I’m not much of a breakfast guy in the first place, and I would just as soon be in control of my own coffee refills rather than wait for the server to come back around.

We got some coffee and just enjoyed being out to eat without two little kids :) Colossal Cafe is a cutesy place in a cutesy neighborhood, so hanging out waiting for food among the laid back crowd isn’t a bad place to be on a Friday morning.

Our food came out rather quickly and my sandwich looked delicious. However, what I had noticed in the minutes between ordering and the food arriving is that my headache and ill feelings had gotten a bit worse and my appetite was literally non existent.

It’s rare when I can’t even bring myself to have a bite of food, but that’s how I felt at this moment, and I was really sad about it :( The sandwich looked so good and I WANTED to enjoy it, but at that moment the thought of eating it made me feel even worse. Erin hadn’t felt great either and HER appetite was minimal at best as well.

Having never ‘failed’ at breakfast before, we were pretty bummed. Luckily we thought that our food would keep ok, so we drove it home before going to the spa to enjoy later.

Eating my sandwich later in the day, while still not feeling well, was certainly better than having it in the morning when I felt awful. I’m happy to report that their breakfast sandwiches stand up well to being refrigerated for a couple hours and reheated in the microwave :)

We’ll be back to Colossal Cafe so we can give it a real try in the near future, if for no other reason than to erase the bad memories of the day when I couldn’t stomach breakfast.

Service: The service was good and everyone was friendly.
Food: We need to go back, but what I had was pretty good.
Drinks: Small list of beer, but it’s got several local options and a couple on tap.
Ambiance: This is a low key breakfast spot in a low key neighborhood.
Convenience: Plenty of street parking and bus routes. Didn’t see any bike racks, but they can’t be too far away.

Deets
Colossal Cafe
2315 Como Ave
St. Paul

Bon Vie

Visited on Tuesday, March 13th

Ben's Review
As our first outing with Luke, we obviously went out for Erin to get eggs Benedict, something she was sad to give up during her pregnancy. Erin had heard good things about Bon Vie and since it was in Saint Paul, I agreed to head over while I was off work on paternity leave.

We went to breakfast during the week of oddly warm and sunny March weather in the twin cities and it was awesome. We arrived at Bon Vie around 9am with only a couple tables occupied and a friendly server quickly got us coffee. He was very interested in us having Luke with us, being that he was only a few days old at that point. Luke did well the entire time, just relaxing in his carseat.

The prices at Bon Vie are a little steep. $10 for eggs Benedict is fairly standard, but $9.25 for french toast seems high to me, but I was hankering for some french toast so I went for it.

I’m always surprised by how fast breakfast food comes out, but it makes sense when you figure they have everything prepped back there. Our server returned in what seemed like 4-5 minutes with our food and it looked great. Erin’s eggs did not come with a side ($4.50 for hash browns), and my french toast came with freshly cooked sausage links. My french toast also came with whipped cream (yum), and blueberries, which I quickly pushed aside.

The french toast was indeed excellent, making it nearly worth the $9.25 :) You get three pieces of bread and I could have easily eaten 3-4 more pieces, and I’m not even a breakfast guy. It made me want to go home and look up french toast recipes for home. We both love it though we have never made it at home.

Even though it was a touch pricey, I still think I would go back as the service was top notch and the food was excellent. I also love finding places in Saint Paul to avoid a trip ALL THE WAY to Minneapolis to have breakfast.

Service: Excellent service, our server was genuinely friendly
Food: Our food was great, breakfast is so much better fresh
Drinks: Full selection of coffee drinks, no booze as far as I could tell.
Ambiance: A quiet little cafe, not too many tables, but I bet it can get loud if it’s full.
Convenience: Street parking on Selby usually isn’t an issue, and free, busses available too.

Erin's Review
Back when we started this old blog (over 4 years old now!), I had heard that Bon Vie was regarded by some as the best eggs benedict in the cities. It's kind of shocking that it took me this long to go there, but considering that in the last 3 years, I was pregnant for 1.5 of them and not able to eat eggs benedict due to the undercooked eggs and raw eggs in the hollandaise, I guess it makes sense!

A few times over the course of my pregnancy, we drove by Bon Vie, and I knew I wanted that to be one of the first outings after having Luke. I only managed to wait 1.5 weeks before we took him out - luckily he was a great dining companion and stayed asleep or content the whole time!

I was a bit sad to see that the prices at Bon Vie are on the high side - I just couldn't justify $3 more for a half order of hash browns, although I do love them with eggs benedict to soak up the yolk and hollandaise. This is similar to a few other places where you just get the eggs and nothing else, unless you order it on the side. Obviously eggs benedict is PLENTY filling on it's own, and is probably approximately 1000+ calories the way it is, but a few bites of hash browns are always a welcome addition for me.

I ordered a vanilla latte immediately, and it came out quickly - it wasn't as fancy as the one at Victory 44, but was definitely good, if a bit on the sweet side (and if I'm saying that, that really means it's sweet).

Our food came out quickly, and my eggs benedict were all I had dreamed of - the eggs were beautifully poached, and almost tasted creamy. The hollandaise here is a bit thicker, and very lemony. It reminded me of one of our first We Got Served restaurant visits to Al's Breakfast, but definitely a bit fancier with the presentation. I also had a bite of Ben's french toast which was delicious.

I'm glad we finally made it to Bon Vie - it's a cute cafe with a friendly vibe - I'd definitely recommend it for breakfast!

Deets
Bon Vie
518 Selby Ave
St. Paul

Caribe Caribbean Bistro

Update on May 16th - Caribe closed due to Light Rail construction and is trying to re-open in Northeast Minneapolis - you can learn more and donate to help them rebuild here!


Visited on Tuesday, December 20th with Erin's family

Erin's Review
It felt like an ordeal to pick a restaurant for my family birthday dinner this year. Since we were going on a weeknight, it needed to be somewhere relatively close to our house to avoid traffic because we'd be going at the height of rush hour. I really wanted to go somewhere new, but felt we'd exhausted the family friendly options in St. Paul and eastern Minneapolis on our list. Thankfully, after close examination of our list (which caused me to finally update it to delete all the places that closed and add a bunch of new places - it had been awhile for sure!) I remembered Caribe, one of those places that is so close to our house that I just apparently forget about it completely.

After conversing on twitter with one of Caribe's biggest fans (@AlecGraham), I decided to risk it with Annie even though it seemed not the most kid friendly place (small menu with no real kid options, small space, dark, etc) and figured she could eat off our plates and that if I brought enough entertainment she'd be okay. It turned out to be mildly stressful, but when is eating out with a toddler ever not?

We got there right at 5:30 and my parents were already seated at our table that we'd reserved a few days prior (they ask for reservations for parties over 6) - we did specify that we were a party of 6 plus a toddler, but were seated at a normal 6 top - luckily it was easy enough to squeeze in a high chair. We waited about 10 more minutes for my sister and brother-in-law to get there, after hearing the specials.

I'd already pretty much decided on the lobster mofongo if they had that, and was DYING to have some of the mango and cheese empanadillas. Perhaps it's pregnancy hormones, but when the server told us they were out of those after I attempted to order them, I was near tears. Yes, irrational. But I REALLY WANTED THEM. Plus I'd had about 10 minutes to get extra sold on the idea since we'd gotten there too. They were also out of 2 of the entrees as well (or just not serving them, not sure which) - note to servers and restaurant owners everywhere - if you KNOW you're out of something, tell the tables immediately so they don't get their heart set on something. It seems like an obvious thing to do when listing the specials. Anyway, through my sorrow, I managed to squeak out an order for the conch fritters instead.

The fritters came out fairly quickly, along with our beverages (I just had water and did try a sip of my sister's sangria - I liked it but she thought it tasted too much like black licorice, which I think was really the black cherries - whatever). I did really enjoy these, they weren't overly fried and the dipping sauces were very tasty. Annie also loved them, especially dipping. We probably could have eaten another order of them even, but wanted to save room for our main dishes.

We had eaten the fritters in record time, so the wait for our main dishes seemed pretty long. I'm not sure if it REALLY was, but I was getting mighty impatient by the time they finally came out, mostly because Annie had decided she'd had enough of sitting in her high chair (no food = no thanks for her) - she was fine one I got out the secret weapon - grapes - but that basically meant she wasn't going to eat anything substantial that evening. It did give me confidence that the food was prepared to order (mostly at least), which is a BIG deal to my Dad - I always like to try to find a place that he will enjoy for our family dinners and he did seem happy with his meal - success! Everyone seemed very happy with their choices.

 Brother-in-law's Piñon

My dad's pork tenderloin special

As soon as I got my lobster mofongo, I dug in, and gave Annie a few beans and pieces of it - she ate it up until getting a huge piece of lobster that apparently frightened her and she decided she was done with eating for the night (except for a mountain of grapes). The mofongo was excellent - it is described as a classic Puerto Rican dish made with plantains that are first fried,then mashed with garlic, salt pork, olive oil, salt, and pepper,using a mortar and pestle; then stuffed. It reminded me of a cornmeal type casserole dish in texture. It was stuffed with the lobster meat, and as pictured was on a bed of black beans with other veggies. I ate way more than I should have and felt seriously uncomfortable the rest of the night, but it was worth it! I need to remember that no matter how good something tastes, I AM 7 months pregnant and my stomach space is limited.

After we finished our meals, I was waiting and waiting to hear what the dessert special was... finally, my mom and sister finished and our server told us it was coconut tres leches cake, which excited me greatly. Since going to 112 Eatery, I love tres leches cake - and it's one of Ben's favorite desserts (I even made it for his last birthday). We originally were going to get 2 for the table, but decided on 3 and that was definitely a good choice as we devoured all 3 pieces extremely quickly - Annie would have for sure eaten all 3 pieces herself if we let her. This was delicious - almost like pudding and perfectly coconut flavored. A great way to end the meal! They usually have just one dessert option so it's luck of the draw - most that I heard of sounded great to me though.

I'm so glad we finally went to Caribe - we can get there without taking any major roads at all (aka University) but thankfully, light rail construction in our area is done so traffic isn't even a major issue like it was all spring/summer. I have heard awesome things about the brunch - they have several delicious sounding benedict options, so it'll probably be another one we hit up after I have this child - although Ben is already planning a return visit for lunch just to have the Cuban sandwich. It's debatable how kid friendly it is during dinner, but it would be fine during the day. It is a really cute place that's different from the usual spots - I highly recommend giving it a try!

Ben's Review
Erin struggled to find a place to go out to eat for her birthday this year, as we find ourselves going to the same places over and over again when we go with Annie. It’s just easier to go someplace that we know is kid friendly, rather than tempting fate with an unknown location.

She got several good recommendations about Caribe on Raymond Ave. in Saint Paul, in the old Jay’s Cafe location. (We never made it to Jay’s before it closed, though we live about a mile away). We got reservations for six adults and a toddler and headed over on Tuesday night.

To say that Caribe is small is an understatement. I think there’s room for about twenty people total to eat at once. In spite of the small size it didn’t feel cramped, nor did I feel like I was intruding on the other tables’ conversations. The lighting was dim but, again, not in an annoying way.

The dinner menu is small and fit on one page and while I was salivating the prospect of their Cuban sandwich, that was only on their lunch menu :( That just ensures that we’ll be going back at least one more time. Erin had been eagerly anticipating the mango and cheese empanadillas and was devastated when he told us they were actually out of them. He also mentioned that they were out of two of their entrees as well, the mahi mahi (which I was considering ordering) and the shrimp (which Erin’s mom was considering ordering). It’s a little frustrating when they have a small menu to begin with and then they have several items that are unavailable.

Luckily there were still plenty of items to choose from, so we made it through unscathed. I was tempted to get one of the specials, but Erin was already going to order it, so she convinced me to get the Jamaican Rundown, a coconut stew with some vegetables and crab served over rice. We all ordered and then played the game of trying to keep Annie entertained until our food arrived. Erin had some gifts to open and with six adults it’s a little easier keep her occupied than when it’s just Erin and me.

Our food came out two people at a time, with a few minutes in between each serving. This was good and bad, because it gave a little confidence that the food was prepared fresh, but it also meant that the first people to get served were over half done with their dish by the time the last people got served, oh well. My stew was a good, hearty winter dish. It actually reminded me of a non-spicy Thai curry, but with crab meat. The serving size was not huge, but certainly enough to fill you up. I thought Erin’s dish was better than mine and since she couldn’t finish hers I had ample opportunity to compare the two. In addition to hers tasting better, it was also the more interesting dish of the two, as mine was soup, more or less :)

I enjoyed our dinner at Caribe and will be going back for sure to try their Cuban sandwich. I would also be tempted to go back on a Wednesday night as it’s half price bottles of wine. I think this would definitely be a fun place to go without a kid next time.

Service: Our server was friendly and knowledgeable, just wish he would have told us what wasn’t available right away.
Food: Delicious food that is freshly prepared.
Drinks: Decent beer and wine list and half price bottles on Wednesday.
Ambiance: Despite the small size that I normally don’t care for, I really liked the ambiance, it was nice.
Convenience: Just north of University on Raymond, it’s probably much better now that the light rail construction has subsided.

Deets
Caribe Caribbean Bistro
791 Raymond Ave.
St. Paul