MiniSota Play Cafe — Restaurant in Maple Grove

Great place, kids will have excellent time. Read through some other comments and have shared some thoughts on those below if you want to keep reading. I think it’s unfair to criticize a business for these types of things as they are largely not in the control of the business.

I understand this is a business, so will have to pay for admissions. Inflation still is still very high, the costs of running a business are becoming out of control. Lastly, with businesses catering to kids, sometimes people can have unreal expectations of what the price should be since there a lot of free or very low cost options like parks or community centers, which get large subsidies from government to keep prices low.

I also understand there will be kids that enter with parents that have never said no to their children in their lives. These kids, with their yes parents, can be disruptive to a lot of ppl around them. Therefore, seams reasonable the store’s staff will have to step in and say no to the child to protect the experience of the other customers (and I’m sure to prevent things from breaking, back to that comment around businesses are expensive to operate).

I also accept, especially during flu season in the winter of a northern climate, the chances of getting sick if one leaves their home is a real possibility. I have saw the staff cleaning the toys and play area every time I walk into the store. I would imagine if the store’s staff knew a child was ill before entering the store, the staff would decline entry in order to prevent those germs from spreading to others but that is just not a capability a business can offer today. I also see disinfectant wipes available that a parent could easily use if there was concerns of toy cleanliness. I think it’s safe to say, whether business owner, store employee, or parents, if all of us could 100% prevent the spread of germs, we would do it but since we cannot, we have to be willing to take risk that comes with living in society. I also go down memory lane of the Covid years when I see some comments from “contact tracers”, those parents that know the only germs that could have gotten their child sick were in the play cafe. There was zero other human contact in those kids’ lives besides at a...

My kids are 5yo, 3yo, and 10 months. This was our first time visiting MiniSota, so I had no idea what to expect. Overall it’s a great concept - kind-of like a giant daycare setting with various toys (shopping carts, play food, Little Tikes cars, costumes for dress-up, pretend hair dryers and curling irons, etc.) set up as themes (grocery store, beauty salon) in different areas. However, after a brief exploration of the different areas and toys, my 5yo - who isn’t difficult to entertain on average - was asking if we could leave to go to an indoor playground instead. This place is great for kids

Overall (4.1 stars composite score): Nice place where a child's imagination can run free. They need better pricing and business optimization. There's a lot of potential here.

Things to do (80% 1.5 star total): 1.2 stars There are themed play areas like Music, hospital, grocery, post office, salon, etc. Children have props and outfits to help them role play and it looks like a lot of fun. I would have like to see more props and play areas as this place has a decent amount of unused space that could be repurposed.

Service (100% of 1.5 star total): 1.5 stars Shout out to Anna, the cafe manager. She really made us feel at home. The staff is actively cleaning and putting loose items away. Everyone is super nice and focused on helping Great service makes the experience memorable

Value (70% of 1 star total): .7 stars Kids are $12.50 each and parents have to pay $4 a piece. 5 pack ($50) and 10 pack ($90) visits are available if you want to come more often They really shouldn't charge parents to essentially provide free coverage for their own kids. The cafe area can be marketed better, which can drive the revenue necessary to offset not charging adults.

Cafe drinks are fantastic. Their coffee drinks are made with Peace Coffee beans, which are fair trade and organic. This makes the coffee drinks a good value.

Atmosphere (70% of 1 star total): .7 stars This place needs music to help provide some vibe. Bathrooms are simple and clean. Baby changing tables are available. WiFi is available at 100Mbps down and 25 Mbps up. I would like to see it password protected though for...