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Review content:
Homewood Caribou is a nice suburban alternative to the independent artsy city-type coffee shop. They’ve got plenty of space to sit and chat, study, read or write. And all of the above are certainly welcome. I’ve gone there several times and sipped away at my mug of coffee for three hours or more, while writing. If you arrive before the nightly rush, (around 8pm), you pretty much guarantee yourself a comfy seat on one of their cushy couches or lounge chairs.
I’d suggest visiting this place more for the atmosphere than the coffee. You’ll step in the door and feel as though you’re in some kind of fake winter cabin in northern Minnesota, fully equipped with trendy espresso drinks, soggy over priced refrigerator sandwiches, cool quirky greeting cards displayed on spinny racks, and even a chalk board and miniature table for the kiddies. Incidentally it looks like every other Caribou that I’ve been to. Even down to the fact that they have the same exact box of vintage toys for the kids. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm maybe they’re not really vintage.
Although the place is lacking in the artwork and poetry slams that you may experience in the city, it is chalk full of Homewood culture. You are certain to encounter a mixed crowd of old, young, busy, lazy, and if you’re lucky, friendly too. Yeah, don’t just start a conversation with someone in this place. Most of the guests are usually absorbed in whatever they are doing at that moment. But that, in itself can be fun. The staff is always friendly and knowledgeable, and it is okay to crack a joke with one of them. It is also pretty much a necessity to leave something in their tip jar, especially if you are planning on staying for a while like I do. If you can afford over 3 bucks for a mere 12oz.drink, then treat yourself to one of their hot specialty drinks. They tend to be a whole lot more creative than Starbucks. At Christmas time I was addicted to their “Ho Ho Mocha,” which was topped with a crumbled candy cane. Yum! Caribou’s cold drinks are more ice than coffee and not really worth the price. But they’ll probably ask you to buy an extra shot of flavor, which will definitely make it taste better. Go there after a holiday, and they’ll sell you the hardened leftover treats for half off.
There’s a group of wanna-be teen hoodlums that hang outside this place every single night, hacky sacking, drinking out of paper bags and whining on cell phones. They do get the cops called on them quite often, but they always come back. Maybe it’s just something about the aura of the Caribou, who looks kind of like Bullwinkle that lures them in. They’re usually too depressed to come inside, and I really don’t know if they even like coffee. So, if you’re one of those people who see teen angst as the ruination of society, then you probably should visit this place during school hours. My husband and I bore witness to a 15 year-old boy exiting his mother’s mini-van one Tuesday night, only to join the group of mourners, in their hacky sack melodrama. It was at that point that we decided not to raise our child in suburbia. Homewood Caribou can inspire you to make life decisions like that. Homewood Caribou is not a boring place.
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