Victor's 1959 Cafe

The Mad Scientist, malcubed and I went to Victor's 1959 Cafe: All-American Breakfast and Revolutionary Cuban Food for dinner after Cahoots today. We've lived not-too-far away from it for a while now, and only recently did The Mad Scientist venture through its doors--and then only for the (tasty) breakfast. Tonight we learned the depth of our error. All this time, we have been missing such tasty food? Tragedy!



Victor's 1959 cafe is a small shack whose exterior is wood shingled and trimmed in aqua blue paint. Flowers spill from windowboxes set on the outside. Inside, it's dark and crowded, but the smell of the cooking will make you think you died and went to heaven, the heaven to which all good revolutionaries go. The hard wooden booth-seats and tables are covered with colorful floral vinyl sheets that change from booth to booth, and the walls are littered with Communist paraphernalia (including, most entertainingly, a hot pink neon sign of Che), but most of the decorating was done by customers past armed with paint, Sharpies, and pens.

We knew we were in trouble the instant we looked at the menu's listings of alluringly exotic dishes with descriptions that made our mouths water and side dishes that we'd never tasted before (I now know that yucca fries are quite tasty, like baked potato fries but a bit sweeter, with a faint melony aftertaste and more texture). The waitress came by and asked if we were ready to order. No. Three minutes later. No. Another two minutes. No--but we'll order anyway.

The food was as delicious as it smelled. Hot, tender as if it had been simmering for hours (and maybe it had), crisp and freshly fried, and cooked with good (if mild) spice combinations and lime-and-lemon flavors.

This is a restaurant where you want to agree amongst yourselves to order different things and taste everybody else's food and drink. It's the sort of place where you take your more open-minded out-of-town relatives, because you know it's hard to find places like this except in "the big city."

The basics:
Type: Dine-in and carry-out
Dress code: bring your Sharpie--customers are allowed to graffiti on the walls and the booths
Location: the intersection of Grand and 38th St. S. in Minneapolis
Menu Type: one of those places where there are only ten entrees on the menu, but you know every single one will be delicious
Price Range: $9-$14 for dinner entrees
Vegetarian options: has a delicious-looking vegetarian plate and several veggie sides, which makes it a reasonable sample-size of the menu
Closest comparison: a Commie punk version of Puerto Azul in St. Paul
Tips: choose the moros and christianos rice, request the bill when you get your food served to you, and expect the seating to fill up pretty fast
Bonus: Where else are you going to get that Che stocking cap?

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