For the last two months I’ve been working from home. Anyone who has experienced the work-from-home lifestyle can probably confirm that coffee shops become your saving grace, because they give you a reason to put on pants and be among people….there’s also the free wifi.

At the suggestions of my friend and NE aficionado, Kelly, I decided that today was a good day to check out Diamonds Coffee Shoppe.

Atmosphere:

Diamonds Coffee Shoppe is located in an old warehouse and is full of nooks and crannies. It can be best described as a maze (or Narnia, depending what you’re into). It’s pretty eclectic with a wide range of personalities. In the last hour I’ve seen retirees enjoying a cup of coffee, a mom with her children desperately trying to keep them entertained, a group of college students working on a project, quite a few people reading books on the couches, and other people like myself, vigoriously typing away on their laptops.

I ended up sitting in the back room (at least that’s what I’m going to call it), which I went through 2 other rooms to get to. The first two rooms I went past were bricked in and looked like cozy bomb shelters and across from the “main” room, where you order there is also a room with couches and there appeared to be more rooms around the corner that I have yet to explore.

In every room there is a variety of decorations, seating, and lots of plug ins, which makes it great for people planning on hanging out for the day working.

*I’d recommend the front room with the register if you’re looking for a good place to play Eye Spy. There are a variety of action figures and random decorations such as this mannequin head.

The other cool thing about this building is that there are a variety of studios and shops in the back. I absolutely fell in love with this piece by Michael Birawer depicting Marshall Avenue that was displayed at the front of his gallery.

Drinks:

If you’ve read my other coffee shop reviews it should be of no surprise that I had an iced latte…my go to coffee order of choice.

The drink was good and as I got the “for here” order it was served in a pint glass. It was a little under $4, which makes it one of the cheapest coffees I’ve had in a while.

Food:

At Kelly’s recommendation I ordered one of their grilled sandwiches – Grilled Ham & Turkey. A pretty good cafe sandwich, but at $9 it is what I’d consider overpriced.

They do have a pretty decent menu though which you can check out on the website. Kelly also recommended the Breakfast Burrito!

Service:

I guess this was 50/50. The first person who I ordered coffee from was friendly enough, if just a little spacey, but the 2nd dude who I ordered my sandwich from definitely seemed to hate his life. It probably didn’t help that I couldn’t hear him all that well and when I apologized he seemed to be more sarcastic than before. However, he did bring me out my sandwich, which was nice.

On their website it says that you can order ahead of time, which is great for people on their way to work and you can reserve rooms for meetings, which is awesome. They also deliver via BiteSquad, which I don’t really understand since I’d say this place is more about the atmosphere than the food, but to each their own!

All in all, the retro cafe vibe is pretty great. It fits perfectly within the Northeast arts area that it’s in and I can definitely see myself coming back to explore more of the rooms.

Diamonds Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Monday – Friday: 6:30AM – 8PM
Saturday: 7AM – 7PM
Sunday: 8AM – 6PM