Broder’s Pasta Bar
5000 Penn Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55419-1035
Website: http://www.broders.com/
Menu: http://www.broders.com/pasta-bar/menu.html
Where Did I Find This Place?
I was having a major hankerin’ for some Italian food while we were in between seasons of “The Bachelor” and so instead of our traditional Monday celebrations at each other’s homes we decided to try a few spots out in Minneapolis. Broder’s it was.
Atmosphere
Broders is located in a historic portion of South Minneapolis where they own two different locations directly across the street from each other; Broder’s Pasta Bar and Broder’s Cucina Italiana, a specialty food items store with pickup and delivery services as well.
Broder's Pasta Bar's exterior, you can see the Cucina across the street too
When you walk in there is an adorable little bar where you can order a wine while waiting for your table or booth. When you are taken to your table you are instantly able to see the entire dining area since the room is open to the kitchen with a small bar and an intimate dining area.
Broder's interior view from our booth. LOVE the colander re purposed as light fixtures!
Menu
Antipasti dishes include fresh mussels steamed with butter and white wine, bruschetta, and fico e prosciutto which are figs with prosciutto herbs, garlic, mascarpone and toasted walnuts.
Pasta, gnocchi and risotto dishes are made fresh to order and are always served al dente with the freshest ingredients available, including their made-daily in house pasta. Their menu features a plethora of unique dishes that I could list off, but, since they are in Italian it doesn’t do a whole ton of good to the majority of you so I suggest clicking on their website above to see the whole list of goodies.
Desserts/Dolci are something that I wouldn’t suggest skipping at this spot. Vanilla pana cotta, cannolis, flourless chocolate cake and of course…tiramisu.
Meal
After sitting down we were served three types of bread pictured below.
Broder's Bread
We then decided to try a few different things and swap plates throughout the meal, which is the BEST!
fico e prosciutto: fresh figs with prosciutto rossa, herb & garlic mascarpone & toasted walnuts
lasagna con granchio: housemade pasta layered with crab, ricotta salata, fontina, red peppers & spicy tomato cream sauce
This was one of Broder's seasonal dishes that featured fresh pasta, almonds, and lettuce in a balsamic sauce
Another one of Broder's seasonal dishes that features risotto, spinach, scallops, tomatoes and garlic
And now for the good stuff…
cannoli duo: two small cannoli - sweet ricotta with pistachios
profiterole: pastry shells filled with Sonny’s caramel nut ice cream topped with homemade chocolate sauce
tiramisù: nuff said!
Review
I had very high expectations based on the fact that I had heard it was good, that it has a sister specialty foods store and deli and because of the way that their fresh pasta was talked up on yelp as well as their website.
All in all, I thought that it was only alright. The risotto was not even close to the point of being al’ dente (if risotto is even supposed to be served al’ dente…which I’m not sure that it is). I felt like I was eating under cooked hard rice with almond flakes. The sauce was also very runny, which I don’t think has ever been the case with any risotto I’ve had previous to this occasion.
The lasagna was good, but for main dishes the seasonal salad with pasta was the star. I wish that I would have written it down but I didn’t so I apologize.
In regards to desserts, the tiramisù shined and I thought that the presentation of the dish was beautiful. The chocolate that surrounded the filled pastry was also worthy of licking your plate clean.
BUT in closing, it is a place that I am definitely interested in giving a second chance though since I’ve heard such great things and look forward to trying out some traditional dishes and sticking to server recommended dishes next time.
Eat Cook Read 