Location

1565 Cliff Road, Thomas Lake Center, Eagan
GOOGLE MAP • YELP • WEBSITE

Ratings

Pros

Amazing, open, inviting interior space; great coffee and food.

Cons

Severe lack of electrical outlets for would-be Wi-Fi users; port 22 is blocked? what???

Review

From the outset, this blog has been dedicated to finding great independent coffeehouses in the general vicinity of where I live, in south Minneapolis. The radius has gradually expanded outward, but up to now the reviews have all been of locations in Minneapolis or St. Paul, with no love for the suburbs.

This has not been entirely by choice: I’ve actually attempted to locate independent coffeehouses in the suburbs and, well… there aren’t many. I’ve settled for Dunn Bros. or Starbucks when I travel to Roseville for work, and otherwise, I have identified a pair of indie coffeehouses outside the center cities — one in Brooklyn Center and one in Lilydale (which, granted, is only just barely outside of St. Paul, and for that matter, just barely a place at all) — but I haven’t had the opportunity to visit them yet.

So imagine my surprise when, at the invitation of an old high school friend who’s in town visiting her parents (who live in Rosemount), I discovered a French bakery and cafe by the name of Pardon My French, located in a strip mall in Eagan. It’s not the typical kind of place you’d expect to find a French bakery, as the owners freely admit, but the location offers one great advantage: the interior space is huge, and it’s very inviting. Tons of windows illuminate the interior without need for harsh artificial light; there are couches and tables and chairs aplenty, and there’s a huge, winding display case separating the seating area from the kitchen, proudly showing off the chefs’ latest creations.

The food offerings are what you’d expect: high-end pastries, quiches, sandwiches and such. They’re prepared with great skill, although since the quiches and sandwiches are premade, the quality suffers ever so slightly. Still, the asparagus and chicken quiche I had was light, fluffy and moist, with just the perfect amount of crust on top. Served with a swimming pool-sized mug of cappuccino, it was just what I was looking for, even if neither was quite as hot as I’d have liked.

Unfortunately there was one other thing I was looking for that is in woefully short supply: electrical outlets. As with most coffeehouses these days, free Wi-Fi is available (and, tellingly, given the large space, there are two hotspots), but there’s virtually no place to plug a computer in! My friend and I ended up taking turns using the single available outlet we were able to locate on a power bar next to the two computers available for patrons’ use. Before sitting down, I cased out the rest of the available tables and was unable to find even one other outlet within a reasonable distance of any of the tables.

Another drawback, at least for eggheads like me, is that the Wi-Fi appears to have port 22 blocked, meaning I can’t connect to my web servers to transfer files. Granted, this is an extremely arcane point, and will only affect… well, probably me. But it’s still a deal breaker: sure there’s Wi-Fi, but without SSH/SFTP access, I can’t do my work. So, that (along with the fact that I’m rarely in Eagan anyway) will probably prevent me from considering Pardon My French as a potential mobile office-for-a-day in the future.

The service today was… adequate. Nothing really to complain about, although my friend (who’s been here two previous times this week) noted that on her first visit the staff was very friendly and on her second, not so much. So, that seems to be a hit-or-miss factor potentially working against Pardon My French as well. (Then again, maybe they’re just trying to be authentic.)

Overall, I see Pardon My French as a great destination for lovers of French pastries and coffees, for casual Wi-Fi users looking for an inviting space to while away a few hours in, and for old friends to reunite and catch up on old times. Eggheads and non-francophiles beware.