Formagio Quarttro at the Clicquot Club Cafe, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

Brian and I decided to have lunch at the Clicquot Club Cafe today. For those that have been following awhile, I've been frequently since they opened in January 2006. If my records are accurate, 17 times.

The Clicquot Club Cafe is pretty convenient to my home in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis. They're in the "Orange Crush Building" and do indeed serve Orange Crush.

For a café, they have an extensive menu but naturally my favorite is their Formagio Quattro pizza. Their pizzas are individually sized with a crispy "Napoli style" crust. You can taste most of the cheeses pretty well and none are all that overpowering. They're a bit light on the sauce, which for this style of pizza, great for me. I think it's a rather unique tasting four cheese pizza and every now and then I'll crave it, causing me to go back to the Clicquot but not exploring much more on the menu.

Brian had the Gorgonzola Frittata, liked everything a lot but didn't think the egg part was that great. We both left satisfied though.

One caveat about the Clicquot Club Cafe is that they are not speedy. If you want to have a relaxing brunch, lunch or evening snack and chill out for awhile, it's a fantastic place (the WiFi is strong and fast as well). Just don't go if you're in a big rush. It seems like they have one or sometimes two people waiting tables that also have other responsibilities behind the counter. They keep busy but attention gets spread thin when the Clicquot Club Cafe fills up. It's not a problem for me but it might be frustrating if you are expecting café speeds when their timing is sometimes more like a larger restaurant. Ordering pizza every time might be part of my problem.

I've also talked with co-owner Bryan Maher numerous times while I've been there in the past and he's extremely friendly. At times he's subtly hinted at dreams of starting other places around town. I hope he does because I really dig the Clicquot Club Cafe.

Clicquot Club Cafe
2929 25th St E
Minneapolis, MN 55406
612-724-4700

We were finishing eating supper at the last table the truck hit. It happened really fast, heard some commotion, looked up and there's a white truck coming at us. Before I could figure out what to do, I got thrown back into the bike rack full of bikes. Tables and chairs flying eveywhere. I looked back around and found my 5-year-old under the truck's front bumper and got him out. Tried to find my 2-year old who had been sitting next to big brother. He had been pushed into the bikes, too, along with my wife. Then I looked to help the people under the truck and knew right away they were stuck.

--Karl Pearson-Cater in the 4th comment of this thread of the Rake Forums regarding his experience with this weekend's truck crash at the Clicquot Club Cafe.