Colossal Cafe - Minneapolis, MN

The first thing that hits you when you walk in the door of the Colossal Cafe is the diminutive size of the dining area.  It's tiny! The accompanying photos probably don't really convey this.

As you step up To the counter they have some of their signature deserts called "flips" under glass and under your nose to tempt you. Flips are basically whipped cream in a pastry shell. The strawberry flips have sliced strawberries half sunk into the cream. I didn't try them but they look delicious.  On yelp someone made a comment about how good the walnut and brie flappers were.  I don't know if they meant flips.

What the dining area lacks in size, it makes up in quaintness. There were fresh flowers on each table.   The tables are close together so, its easy to make friends with your neighbors, and we did. 

This is a friendly neighborhood restaurant.  Young moms walked up, unstrapped and picked-up their youngsters and left their strollers outside while they communed with other young moms and their kids inside.

I had the Tunisian pumpkin spice soup and the Meatloaf sandwich.  The pumpkin soup was thick with a tiny bit of spicy heat to it.  The heat was not in a Cajun pepper kind of way, more like a Mediterranean food kind of way.

My neighbor said that he was originally from Egypt and makes this soup at home all of the time.  It is very healthy according to him.

Not all of the food served at the Colossal was probably all that healthy.  One of the tables was being served a breakfast biscuit.  This thing was an egg/flour monster.  I wasn't sure if she was going to eat it or if it was going to eat her.  It was huge!  I'm afraid to know what the calorie and cholestorol count on that beast was.  It did look decadently good though.

The meatloaf sandwich was like nothing that I've ever had before.  It was a mix of meats to begin with.  I think it was pork and beef with some kind of spices, maybe parsley and pepper.  The bun was really good bread; like a pretzel bun without the thick kosher salt.  They threw on some alfalfa and other green leafy stuff.  But, what really made this special was the cranberry chutney sauce.  It made the sandwich kind of like a Thanksgiving sandwich if you had meatloaf for Thanksgiving dinner.  The citrus flavor of the cranberry chutney was in perfect contrast to the savory meat flavor and consistency. 

One meatloaf patty would have been plenty but, they give you two.  I was not complaining.  It all comes served with some kettle style potato chips and baby pickles. 

Service was good.  The wait-folks were friendly and helpful. 

They only accept cash or local checks.  No credit cards accepted.

Food, service and atmosphere were everything that you would expect from a triple-D restaruant.  I would give Colossal Cafe a 9.8 on Bill's Triple-D scale.  Definitely worth checking out.


Colossal Cafe - Minneapolis, MN
1839 East 42nd Street
Minneapolis, MN 55407
(612) 729-2377
http://www.colossalcafe.com/