Location

2929 University Ave. SE, Minneapolis
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Ratings

Pros

Centrally located, great coffee and food, a hidden gem.

Cons

Proximity to U of M WiFi network confounded my laptop’s flaky wireless card.

Review

The north side of University Ave. between the U of M campus and Snelling Ave. in St. Paul is largely an industrial area. It’s not a blighted-looking industrial area, but still, it’s not the kind of place one thinks of as a destination for latte and panini sandwiches. And yet, here I am, sitting in a delightfully open loft space, next to a huge window looking out on a patio/garden area with blooming trees and a water feature, across the street from University Park Plaza — architecturally, my favorite office building in the city after the Wells Fargo tower downtown.

I'm not sure why I like this building so much. Maybe it's because my brain was hardwired in the 1980s to find the shape of a CRT screen aesthetically pleasing.

Overflow Cafe is easy to miss — I’ve driven this stretch of University Ave. countless times over the years, and only just recently noticed that it even exists, at the end of a large, nondescript industrial/office building called Prospect Park Business Center. It’s the kind of place you’d expect to find in a suburban industrial park, yet it’s right in the heart of the city.

Overflow has done a great job of escaping the trappings of its surroundings. The interior space is one of the most appealing I’ve visited for this blog, its patio/garden would be very inviting if it were 10 degrees warmer outside today, and the coffee and food live up to the surroundings. In the center of the seating area is Overflow’s namesake: a sculpture/fountain of a coffee cup (about 3 feet in size) with famous quotations carved in its sides, with water gently overflowing down its surface. It’s a bit chilly inside, but that’s mostly because the seat I chose appears to be directly under an A/C vent.

It’s lunchtime, and the place is maybe 1/3 full but starting to fill up. The lunch offerings are great: sandwiches, salads, panini and wraps. I’m enjoying a chicken pesto panini sandwich. The chicken is good but not great — its texture is vaguely reminiscent of the “oven roasted chicken” at Subway — but the pesto is delicious, and the fresh tomatoes, red onion and spinach work well. The bread is perfectly grilled — crunchy but light.

This latte almost lived up to its name. Fortunately it did not overflow onto my MacBook.

The latte was a work of art. (I say “was” because naturally I had to destroy it with my first sip. It was so beautifully presented I was reluctant to put a lid on it, despite its proximity to my computer.) The espresso is a tad on the bitter side, but only because it’s so strong, and the creamy froth on the milk compensates for the bitterness, making the overall taste highly satisfying. And, somewhat surprisingly, it is an excellent complement to the panini.

Service is friendly and irreverent. I enjoy the banter I have with baristas, but usually it takes several visits — becoming a “regular” — before that happens. I felt like a regular the moment I walked in the door at Overflow.

My only real complaint at this point is my inability to access the Internet through Overflow’s WiFi network, but I fear this is a problem with my MacBook’s hardware and not the fault of Overflow — I’ve been experiencing this problem a lot lately, especially when I’m trying to access a business WiFi network that happens to be within range of the U of M’s network. I’m quite surprised that Overflow is within range of the U of M’s network — it’s about a mile from campus — but, for whatever reason, it is.

I was a bit hesitant about trying Overflow at first. How good can a coffeehouse in this location be, I reasoned. But I’m glad I gave it a chance — the owners and staff have gone out of their way to elevate the place above what could have been drab surroundings, and its proximity to the U of M (not to mention its overall accessibility being located right on the primary non-freeway thoroughfare between Minneapolis and St. Paul) make it a great destination, and one I am sure I will visit again… if I can ever resolve my MacBook’s WiFi woes. (Now I’m going to go home so I can post this.)