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Food + Dining
Restaurant Guide

Search our guide to 1000s of Twin Cities eateries.

Key

  • B - Breakfast
  • L - Lunch
  • D - Dinner
  • Br - Brunch
  • P - Private Dining
  • - No Smoking
  • - Kid-friendly
  • - Outdoor dining
  • - Wine and beer only
  • - Late night dining
  • - No alcohol
  • - Entertainment
  • - Wheelchair accessible
  • - No credit cards
  • - No personal checks
  • - Notable
  • Editor's Choice - Our dining editors' favorites

Price categories indicate typical cost of a dinner entree for one:

  • $ - less than $10
  • $$ - $10-15
  • $$$ - $16-25
  • $$$$ - more than $25

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Common Roots Café
$$ | Deli/New American

If you ever thought there was no way to elevate the humble bagel, you haven't been to Common Roots. The community-oriented counter-service spot serves up incredibly dense, chewy, and flavorful homemade bagels, along with killer cream cheese. An easy list of soups, salads, and sandwiches made from local and fair-trade ingredients round out the menu.

  • No Smoking
  • Kid-friendly
  • Outdoor dining
  • Wine and beer only
  • Late night dining
  • Wheelchair accessible
  • No personal checks
  • Notable
  • P | B M - Su /L M - Su /D M - Su
2558 Lyndale Ave. S.
Mpls., Minnesota 55405
Phone: 612-871-2360
84
out of 100
0.0
out of 10
  • Critics’ + Eaters’ Ratings »
  • Map »

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY

Critics' Scoring

Scores will be assigned based on a 0-100 scale broken down as follows:

100 = Perfect
90 = Excellent
80 = Very Good
70 = Good, not Great
60 = High Average
50 = Average
40 = Low Average
30 = Disappointing
20 = Nearly Without Merit
10 = Poor
00 = Worthless
82
StarTribune | Rick Nelson
01/30/08
Nothing that Werst is doing is particularly complicated, but he's obviously found a way to consistently buy farm-fresh ingredients and then put them to their best advantage without charging big bucks for the effort.
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81
City Pages | Rachel Hutton
9/22/08
After trying a few more dishes from the short, seasonal menu, I realized that Common Roots was far more than a coffee shop with benefits. It was a three-meals-a-day, scratch-cooking cafe-a place you could have a relationship with.
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80
Twin Cities Eats
07/18/07
Were they any good? The answer is yes, I really liked these bagels. The sesame was good, the plain was just as good, and the cream cheese I slathered on a plain one was deliciously creamy and bright.
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80
Twin Cities Eats
11/22/07
For my dinner, I had a tomato and coconut milk soup which was filled with chunks of tomatoes and red onions. It wasn't like any soup I have ever had in the Twin Cities before - sweet but balanced nicely with the pep of the onions.
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BUZZ

Metro
Best Breakfasts
... each bagel is handmade from local and organic ingredients, so you can't help but feel a little healthy each time you eat one.
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City Pages
Best Of: Best WiFi Cafe
2009
In the evenings, the place has a casual work/study vibe, with plenty of tea, free-trade coffee, wine, and beer to get the creative juices flowing. Even better, unlike many coffee shops that offer rock-hard cookies and stale muffins, Common Roots Cafe serves up bagels, soups, salads, and baked goods that are actually very tasty.
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City Pages
Best Of: Best Bagels
2009
Carefully hand-sculpting these golden rings of yeasty dough has to be almost an intimate act in order to secure a perfectly crusted outside and chewy inside lightly peppered with air pockets.
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EATER COMMENTS + RATINGS

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