Secrets of St. Paul: Bars and Bakeries

Lately, I've had a tune in my head.  I'm helpless to rid my mind of it, you see, because it's also a favorite of my co-workers and clients.  Maybe you're familiar with it...

"The sun'll come out, tomorrow.  Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun!  Just thinkin' about tomorrow, clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow, 'til there's none!"

Now, we don't usually prance around from day to day singing show tunes (though, that sounds fun, doesn't it?).  No, we sing this song out of the hope that, maybe... just maybe, the sun will come out tomorrow!  And if tomorrow happened to be a weekend, that would be great too, right?  Thus, springtime in the Land of 10,000 Lakes this year.  Sure, we've been teased every now and again with a sunny, beautiful day (in the middle of the work week), only to have the weekend spoiled with rain, rain and more rain.  Rain that also put a bit of a damper on last weekend's Mystery of Minneapolis/Secret of St. Paul duo.  The plan was to explore the Mystery after enjoying the Secret, but ended up being a lot of enjoying the Secret.  And what a lovely secret it was!

Don't let it shock you that I enjoyed the bars and bakeries of St. Paul at 11am on a Saturday.  I know you're thinking "bars"...

But I'm talking "bars"...



Yep.  It's the classic Minnesota church basement pot-luck dessert.  We gather round and eat our hot-dish, then we gather round again and eat our bars.  It's the Minnesota way.  We're Minnesota nice, and sometimes we eat baked goods in large quantities (as opposed to $4 cupcakes*) out of pans.

Bars Bakery is located on Selby Avenue in St. Paul, a short jaunt up the hill from the St. Paul Cathedral.  It's the perfect place for a rainy day coffee rendezvous, and they've also got patio seating for those inevitable humid summer days that we have to look forward to.  The owner was working behind the counter when we arrived, and happy to chat with us for a few minutes about herself and her small business.  The bakery hasn't quite been open for a year yet, though it was clear as we sat and enjoyed our coffee and bars, that it has several devoted neighborhood regulars. 

(Congo bar)

(picture kindly given from friend Bobbie)

(another good one from Bobbie!)

So, if you happen to find yourself in the Cathedral Hill area of St. Paul, you definitely owe it to yourself to give these bars a chance!

*It should be noted that we Minnesotans also like cupcakes.  A lot.  But for the sake of this post, bars take precedence.