We jumped on our bikes, rode the Hiawatha Trail downtown and were there in no time. Spoonriver is right next to the Guthrie and the Mill City Museum. It's a great location - one that affords the chefs primo access to the fresh produce at Mill City Farmers Market (actually, I believe the farmers market was founded by Brenda the owner of Spoonriver).
We opted for two types of mojitos instead of wine or beer. Kate had the Moroccan with cardamom and I had the Minnesota with cranberries. The Moroccan was better - it had a more traditional flavor profile for a mojito, but an added spice that I liked.
As a fan of Minnesota beers, I do have to say that I was disappointed by a restaurant committed to showcasing local food that only had 2 Minnesota beers on the menu - one of which being Summit. Really?
But I digress. Although almost everything on the menu looked good, we decided to split a couple appetizers: the shrimp & avocado salad, shrimp quesadilla, and cheese/fruit plate. The ingredients were fresh and spoke for themselves. Nothing was over-prepared and the quesadilla was piping hot. The cheeses of the day: a blue from Iowa, a french brie and an Amish cheddar. They were good, but rather pedestrian as far as cheese plate offerings.
The dessert tray didn't speak to us, so we choose to skip the sweets. Note: I almost never think a tray displaying today's dessert options is a good idea. The items rarely look appealing, why was the sorbet not melted?, when they've been sitting out on a tray carried to and fro.
The crowd was pretty old and we realized that the location right next to the Guthrie placed some constraints on Spoonriver. Namely, that they need to cater to an older audience and families, who are likely to keep the chefs from pushing the envelope in menu offerings. Location, location, location - but location comes with a specific market.
Overall, we had good experience at Spoonriver. Our coupon was for $5 off.
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