Honey & Rye — Restaurant in Saint Louis Park

I love this place! It has the love-crafted appeal that you come to desire when you see a small business like it. It's a women-owned and operated one, too, which is a welcome sight any day.

The baked goods are amazing. Made fresh every day, around the clock. So far I've had three items: The Chocolate almond croissant, the banana bread, and the blueberry-lemon scone. All three have defied my expectations that I've come to have from going to chain places like Starbucks or grocery store cases. The bread was soft and buttery, the croissant buttery, flaky and sweet, and the scone was a perfect buttery crunch on the outside with a soft, gooey interior. I'd recommend anything on the menu, honestly though, because that's 3/3.

They serve coffee, too! I found St. Louis Park has a distinctive lack of artisan-style shops like you'd find in Minneapolis and St. Paul, with Caribou and Starbucks being the highest bidders; that is til I came here. The coffee is pretty good, with locally-grown coffee from "Tiny Footprint". So far I've ordered 3 drinks: Espresso macchiato, cappuccino, and Cold Press. The espresso is pretty good, however it's only natural you're not going to get as good as somewhere like Dogwood. The espresso can be on a bit of a surextraction side at times, but so far it's been pretty solid. The cold press though has always been AMAZING. Tiny footprint is a good roaster, and at Honey and Rye, they make it on-site, daily. I hope to try all of their coffees to see what best fits the espresso they're using or the roast they use for batch brewing. Either way, I always look forward to it.

If you're ever in St. Louis Park, and want that eclectic coffee shop feel, but with more individual fair than a Starbucks can supply, with sweets that will make you sad you had to eat...

I would always pass this bakery while at work. But today my curiosity got the best of me. So I decided to check them out. Entering the building, the smells 10 out of 10. I looked around, to be honest there were some pastries and breads that looked very delicious. But the display case seemed like it was missing stuff. Now not saying there was stuff missing, but it looked like it was bare in some places. Now my eyes went to the Key Lime Bars... Oh yes! I ordered one of those fast as I love Key Lime pies. Then I saw a Coconut Cream pie with chocolate? Hmmm 🤔 I felt I needed to further investigate this matter. Lol. So I ordered a slice of that two. The employees were moving about helping customers. A nice young lady helped me she had super customer service skills. I felt welcome. They also had all kinds of products from local companies. It is worth checking out.

Now to the taste. I tried both the pie and the bar. My favorite would definitely be the Key Lime bar. It is super creamy and the bottom crust has a light airy kind of crunch. Crazy right? But yeah light and crunchy. The flavor was so good. The Key Lime gave me a punch 👊 in my taste buds waking up my palate.

Now the Coconut Cream pie with chocolate. A bit different. If you love coconut 🥥 flavor it has that very well. The coconut shavings can be a bit much to chew. Thick shavings. The addition of the chocolate is like a thin chocolate bar on the inside on top of the crust. That is just a bit off-putting. Personally I would have rather they put a thin layer of a ganache there that would have been nice. But the flavor is there. So yeah it tastes good (flavor wise) I'm just not the biggest fan of the large amount of shaved coconut in it.

Overall, I'd be back...

Cute cafe & bakery! They had so many options for both drinks and food!! I got a Caramel Oat Milk Cold Brew and YUMMM!! This place has one of the best cold brews I've tasted. I also had the Savory Monkey Bread which was also super tasty! I got a regular chocolate chip cookie and a brownie too. Both of them were pretty mediocre, and I likely wouldn't buy again. As the other reviews mention, this place does seem to be a tad overpriced. The taste does not match the price, but it's still a really nice cafe. I wouldn't want that to take away from the employees or the environment because the staff here were some of the kindest baristas I've met. Although I came when it was busier, they urged me to take my time and helped me decide what to get. Amazing people. They only offer outdoor seating here and there is nowhere to sit indoors, not even for waiting for your order. This was really disappointing for me. I was hoping to sit down inside and read a nice book on a cozy chair, but realized pretty fast that the metal chairs and the outdoor breeze were the coziest I was gonna get haha. Nothing bad about that, but not quite what I was expecting for a pricey cafe. They also have a lovely mini market inside where a ton of sellers have their items displayed! I loved this because it showed how local this cafe is and how much they care for their community! -Although this was a nice addition, I would sooner recommend replacing them with benches or some sort of seating. Market items could be moved around the corner near the fridge area to utilize the now empty space. Just my input, but this place was truly lovely. I'll be coming back next summer on a nice sunny...