Muddy Waters Coffee

I was searching for a place with sandwiches and free wifi when I stumbled upon Muddy Waters on Unilocal.Based on the reviews – I decided to head right over.
The GOOD: Very friendly staff. FREE wifi. And made to order sandwiches! (Instead of the pre-​pakaged stuff.)
The BAD: In my 45 minutes at MW I saw 2 dogs go behind the counter. I’m all for some friendly canines but not when it’s jeopardizing a sanitary meal. One such unleashed dog was clearly making a few patrons uncomfortable– they were leaning away from dog when it visited their table while the owner paid no attention.

They don’t recycle and they are an uptown business?

I like this coffee shop. I can’t speak on the coffee here (or really anywhere for that matter) because I don’t really drink coffee, more of a tea drinker, but nonetheless, this is a good place. I’ve eaten some food here, which was pretty good and the tea selection is alright, but the real draw of this place are the things that so many others pointed to — the atmosphere, gorgeous murals, bathroom graffiti, etc.
If you can’t handle smoke very much, don’t sit by the doors.

You’re cool, Muddy Waters.
I have always sort of skipped over you for some reason. I hit many coffee shops in this city, so it surprised me when I realized that I’d never been in your company. I think I thought you were TOO cool, but you’re really just regular cool.
I still haven’t spent too much time with your murals and bathroom graffiti and incessant sidewalk smokers, but I’ve tasted enough to be glad you’re right down the way if I need some joe. I had a solid cup of coffee and then got a hot chocolate the last time I was with you and it was delightful, as was the service.
The only thing that might stop me from coming very often is that you doesn’t necessarily seem comfy inside. Not in the same way as some other coffee shops are anyway, and my main reason for going to coffee shops is to hang out and get work done. Also, I tried coming on a really hot day in the summer, and you had the door open and the window A/​C blowing… where’s your good sense, Muddy?!
The bike delivery thing sounds awesome for breakfast sandwiches and coffee, but I’ll be too embarrassed to ever order it since your establishment is probably equidistant from my own coffeemaker and toaster.
Anyway, just wanted to tell you that you’re the right level of cool.

Although I’ve never once stepped foot inside this coffee shop, I did at one point live five blocks down on Lyndale from Muddy Waters. When I saw a sign in their window that said they had weekend bike delivery, I gave ‘em a shot one hungover morning.
They have a website and a menu on their website — big score for any establishment in my book, as I am still occasionally disgusted to find that someplace doesn’t have a website and/​or a menu on said website.
So I called to order a french vanilla latte (hot) and a «bacon, nutella, and peanut butter on french bread» breakfast sandwich. It is listed on their menu exactly as so; as soon as I saw «nutella» and «bacon» next to one another I knew I had to eat it immediately.
The guy who answers has a sexy British accent and after I order my coffee and get to the sandwich, he says, «What — what kind of sandwich do you want?» So I tell him again, he repeats it back to me with great astonishment, and then yells, «Christ, what the hell is that, a bloody a pregnant sandwich?!» Luckily I’m not pregnant, nor am I a bitch, so I laughed and said, «Dude, it’s on your menu!»
And then I heard like four employees on the background insisting that it really was a sandwich on their menu.
After this exchange is over, I waited for the bike delivery dude to bike five blocks down Lyndale with my order. At this point I should say that I am not an idiot and figured that the order might take a little longer because it’s bike delivery, but I figured they would have some sort of system in place to ensure that the orders are delivered within a very reasonable window of time and that the food/​coffee would still be relatively warm and intact.
I didn’t get my stuff until just over an hour later. The coffee was freezing cold and literally there was about ¹⁄₃ of the cup remaining — the rest had splashed everywhere along the ride, including the bag with my coveted sandwich. Luckily this was well-​prepared and still hot and just as amazingly awesome as I expected it to be.
Nonetheless, the bike delivery idea is awesome but ill-​conceived at best. It is probably worth going to the café in person to get a BNPB sandwich, though…

You go there because the coffee is just better. Like much better. Then you realize that the food is great. The sandwiches are fresh made– i can’t stand eating those premade soggy bacteria pockets that they have at most coffee shops. I particulalry love the egg sandwich on a croisant, the turkey bacon with goat cheese pesto is fantastic and the dill tuna tastes like it was caught in the morning. The desserts are homemade and delicious– especially the rice crispy bars with nutella which are a special treat, and the yogurt parfait is wierdly delicious and addictive. They have a lot of unusual items you can’t get elsewhere– I had Jesus water which was a new one on me. If you are looking to support corporate fatcat stuff coffee chains this isn’t the place for you. This place has soul, history and a home feel to it.

Hello, my name is Yoni, and I’m a coffee shop addict. I’m also addicted to being a «Regular» at said watering holes. I’ve schmoozed my way into regular-​hood in most every coffee shop of note in Minneapolis. Muddy Waters was the last unconquered territory in my illustrious career in loitering. I just didn’t like it there, people were all sneery and mean, coffee was bitter, and that intersection is just too busy.
7 years ago, I was finally up for the challenge. I decided to go there every day for 3 weeks. I was friendly, but not too friendly. I smiled at the staff, and nodded at the regulars, tipped well, and did what I was there to do, write, read, crossword, write more… By the end of that 3 weeks, I was in, part of the family, a friend of ours. It’s now become the coffee shop all others get compared to. It’s even better now that long time regulars Danielle and Sarah took the place over.
Also, on a random summer day and in a matter of 10 minutes, I saw Dessa and POS from Doomtree, Slug from Atmosphere, Craig Finn from The Hold Steady, Paddy from Dillinger 4, and a handful of some of the best street artists and muralists in the city. Where else in the twin cities could so many talented people accidentally converge?
OFFERINGS: (1 – 5 Stars)
Coffee — 3 Stars — Still brewed too strong for my taste
Tea — 2 Stars — Small selection but its better than Lipton
Other Drinks — 4 stars — Cubano, Hot Chocolate + Thai Iced Coffee :)
Food — 4 stars — My Favorite Sandwiches are the Dill Tuna Salad and Bacon, and the Turkey-​Bacon-​Goat Cheese-​Pesto. Decent soups, great breakfast sandwiches, pastries, snacks, gigantic rice crispy treats, but the best thing isn’t on the menu, ask for warm croissant with nutella and wink like you know the password.
Delivery: YES (Weekends Only, limited delivery area)
WiFi — FREE

I am not going to so much justify my love of Muddy Waters with a critique, but with an anecdote.
I had drunk probably the equivalent of my body weight in coffee over two hours of working on the last bloody final I will ever have to do, and of course, nature took advantage and interrupted me with a loo break.
And since I’d never gone into Muddy Waters’ loo before, I was shocked at the graffiti décor, in particular the ridiculously pornographic part. Now, I am all for porn and am certainly no prude, but why would anyone be in the bathroom long enough to draw that? That shit is detailed!
My only qualm is that it took me a good five minutes to find the light switch when I first got in there and then was so amazed, I stayed a really long time, making it awkward for the nice boy waiting for me to come out. I apologize to you, sir, here publicly. I swear I wasn’t doing anything untoward.
To be serious though, I think they have great coffee and anyone that has ever waited on me has either been ridiculously hot, ridiculously nice, or both, dude or dame. Yum.

Love Muddy Waters.
Yummy sandwiches. Delicious coffee drinks. Beats anything else in the neighborhood.
And the owners are hot. That too.

This reminded me of my favorite grungy/​punky high school coffee shop hangout. I thoroughly enjoyed the music (much of which was lifted straight from my iPod), the mellow clientele, the possibility of delicious foodstuffs (including humongous baked goods), and a tasty coffee concoction called a «Muddy Cubano.» The service was a little slow, but there may (?) have only been one person working. If that’s the case, then it wasn’t too bad at all.

ok ok. yes, yes… it’s grungy cool. the music selection was good, the coffee good, LOVE the mosaic! Artichoke sandwich is a no for me. toasted baguette aOK but filling was just your basic dip on a bun. Muffin ok. Did I mention the coffee was good? O yeah. not enough view for a return to hang. ok if your passing by though.

Spent Sunday afternoon doing homework at Muddy Waters. It was kinda cool inside-​great mosaic on one wall. Best thing was the huge glass they served my iced coffee in-​tasted great, and I’m still buzzing from it.
Graffiti bathroom kind of grossed me out-​uni-​sex bathrooms are kind of tricky if they don’t get cleaned a lot. Seriously, guys can be kind of nasty and putting down the toilet seat of a public restroom icks me out.
They had a huge fan, which felt good, but made it so three of the main tables were too full of wind to read/​write/​whatever.
Kind of mixed about the huge flat-​screen also. It was fun to watch Zoolander, but if you’re trying to get some work done having a big TV on can be distracting. They did have a couple comfy chairs, and after an hour of waiting, we were able to nab them.
The coffee though… that was great.

With iced «Thai Coffee» and «Latte Slushies» on-​tap you can’t go wrong. Medium 16oz $ 3.75 still cheaper than Starbucks and the place has MUCH more character. The baked goods and lunch options looked great too.

This is a nice café. It has a very busy scenery, bunch of mosaics and mis matched items. Good place sit and chat with some friends.

So there are certainly coffeehouses closer to my apartment than Muddy Waters. But this one beats them all out.
So I love the eclectic mish-​mash coffeehouses where things don’t match, the clients are regulars, and the staff have personalities. I don’t particularly care for faux-​indie coffeeshops with sparkly clean interiors and pretentious staffers. The more graffiti in the bathroom, the more I like the place.
I love the tile mural on the long wall inside this place, its pretty whoopass. I also like the fact that there is a super chill dog that hangs out in there all of the time. And that nobody gives me shit when I spread my notes out all over a table and take up the whole damn thing. And that the baristas play all kinds of great music that isn’t some sappy indie band that nobody has ever heard of. And the free internet is great.
Ahh, it makes it feel a bit like home to me.
Oh, and the coffee was decent too. But I think they only take cash, if I remember correctly.

I rarely went to Muddy Waters before, mostly because they never had any food, and I wasn’t impressed with their drinks (mediocre tea selection and a passable chai mixture). Now that they added some food, I have to admit that they’re worth a second look.
The only vegan thing on their menu is a hummus sandwich, but it was a great sandwich — warm, soft bread and fresh vegetables. I wasn’t expecting something of that quality at a punk rock coffee shop at midnight.
The service is friendly and the interior is nicely decorated with a retro-​grunge feel. I like the roomy and comfortable counter area. They also have some retro video games.
The outdoor seating is usually populated by edgy, artsy punker types who, sadly, are always smoking. This makes it uncomfortable to sit outside, for me anyway. It’s a shame, because this is prime territory for people watching.
If Muddy Waters added a couple more vegan options (how about a tempeh or tofu sandwich?) and some vegan pastries (Caffetto only one block up has vegan desserts, so why can’t Muddy Waters?), this would be a prime contender for best neighborhood café. Right now, it’s just falling short.

When I first moved to Uptown a couple of years ago, I hung out at the Muddy Waters. It was a block from my apartment and the coffee wasn’t bad. I could use their WiFi and sit outside and watch the crazies at the bus stop.
One day I was sitting outside and it must have been slow because the guy who worked there had come out to sit and talk with his friends. They were pretty loud and obnoxious, which I thought was kind of stupid considering they were probably my age. Not to mention the fact that they were total punks but sounded like a bunch of drunken frat guys at a kegger. When the topic turned to anal sex and how it was SO AWESOME that one of the dude’s got to do it with some girl, I had had enough. They even looked over at me, not because I’m some hottie they wanted to mount next, but because I’m a girl and it somehow was super cool that they said this around me. I mean, ok, if it was some random asshole that would be one thing, but this guy WORKED there and here he was graphically describing going at it from behind. I’m not some prude, but visualizing this guy’s fluids and some girl’s rear end while drinking my iced coffee sent me over the edge.
My advice? Walk your butt one block north and hang out at Caffetto. Perfect coffee and the people who work there are awesome. There’s a reason that place is always packed.
Two stars for ok coffee and free WiFi, negative ten billion stars for that loser’s butt fetish.

EDIT (1÷24÷2010): Most everything I described here has changed. They redesigned the interior, and sadly got rid of the pinball (boo!).
The absolute closest coffee shop to me is Spyhouse, and it’s a coffee shop I understand. Couches and comfortable chairs. Eclectic, thrown-together-like-we-don’t-care-but-still-trendy-looking throughout. Big board of drinks, pastries, maybe some light sandwiches. Free wi-​fi, of course, of course. All pretty standard features, done rather well (except maybe the coffee, but that’s a different review).
Then, there’s Muddy Waters.
I would call it the coffee shop equivilant of a dive bar. No big board of syrupy, diabetes inspiring drinks. No case of tempting carb bomb pastries, (here, have a nutrigrain bar). No comfy chairs, rather a long line of kitchen tables aligned a single wall, and a diner style counter.
If you’re looking for a Starbucks experience, or the Starbucks Plus experience, this ain’t it. And that was okay with me.
Things I really liked:
* Really nice coffee dude (I reject the term barista), immediately chatted even though we weren’t regulars (which I think the place has its share of).
* They sell these giant cans of Jolt Cola (like 24oz, probably a fatal dose), which is so wrong, but funny.
* Sign by the register: «Unattended children will be given a free double espresso and a puppy». Dude! I want a puppy!
* PINBALL! They have a pinball machine. And a Ms. Pac-​Man/​Arkanoid machine.
* I think they were playing death metal, instead of the mellow coffee shop acoustic background music.
* Did I mention the pinball?
Not your usual coffee shop, and that was just fine by me. I wouldn’t come here to study, I would come here if I wanted to be distracted from studying.
P. S.: Super mad bonus points for the chick who was playing pinball there today. She was really into it, knocking the machine around and all that. Women + Pinball = HOT!!!

I like the décor and the tabletop pacman! Sparse but clean, it’s more fun in the summer when you can sit outside. They do serve sandwiches, which is nice. Also Monopoly pinball!

Okay, so here I am visiting MN and there was not way I could resist visiting a «Muddy Waters» since that is one of my favorite hangouts in San Francisco.
I wonder. .. does every MW have to be a little edgy, slightly grunge and have wait staff that have just a tad of attitude, cool but not sure I would cop any attitude back kind of attittude? So far, the answer is yes.
The MN version of MW has a great indie feel, free wifi and the service was good. Love the art deco tables, mosaic walls and did I mention free wifi?
Would have given a five, but I was looking for lunch and nada except of doughnuts and packaged stuff.