Back in the day, when I taught pilates for community education courses that took place at Southwest high school, I would often drive to Broder’s Pasta Bar for a quick outdoor happy hour.
I’m embarrassed to say that of the many times I’ve been to Broder’s, I’ve never had their pasta. Either we were outside on the patio, where they only serve appetizers or I was inside and didn’t feel like loading up on carbohydrates for whatever internal quibbles I was having about calorie consumption on that particular day.
So, I took the opportunity when my friend J told me to pick my restaurant of choice for my birthday – her treat – to eat something epic. Finally, I would drive to Broder’s Pasta Bar and actually eat pasta! We split the caprese salad (heirloom tomatoes) and I chose the gnocchi verde con manzo. The menu described this as “house made spinach gnocchi with peppered beef, crimini mushrooms, leeks, zucchini & truffle pesto cream.” It was an aromatic experience. The gnocchi was perfectly soft and warm. The cream sauce flavorful and the peppered beef seemed to melt into my mouth. Even though one is supposed to ask the server to immediate box half the portion of the food or exercise self control, I didn’t do either. I breathed in my entrée until I was stuffed. It’s my birthday dinner after all.
Parking in the lot is always hard at Broder’s, but there’s street parking if you choose to go during a busy time of the night. However, the street lights aren’t the best and the sidewalks, I found, were uneven – so be careful walking at night. Outdoor seating in the summer, but remember, only antipasti.
Dessert wasn’t an option because I didn’t practice halving my portion size. However, there is always next time. I can’t wait.
Broders Pasta Bar, 5000 Penn Ave S, Minneapolis
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