The Coop---Every Community Needs One

The Coop: Every Community Needs One!

Growing up in the 60s, there were lots of local places where you could get chicken, a simple burger, hot dogs, maybe ribs...with fries, coleslaw, and other assorted side items.  There were a few places to grab a Coney Island, each with a slight variation of what you found on top.    The Twin Cities weren't into Chicago dogs in those days and there weren't gourmet burgers either containing interesting mixture of ingredients or topped with hundreds of kinds of 'fixin's'.

Most of these places have gone to their final rest...replaced by 'newer concepts'.

But, then there's the Coop.   Going back to 1963, this place has written its own history.....and longevity.   And you need to make your annual pilgrimage to South St. Paul, both to experience the foods that were all treats for us in the '60s and the great personalities of the staff of the Coop.

The Coop Staff:  Fun & Efficient

We were greeted by Chelsea.....quick enough to play along (and maybe outsmart) John in his 'cleverness.'  She took our order with a big smile and bigger personality...all underplaying her superior abilities to skillfully deliver our orders flawlessly, with a great sense of humor...and the ability to 'one-up' each of John's 'one-ups'--the most most fun-loving approach.  What a gem she is.

Anna efficiently made order after order of fries, while switching places with Chelsea taking orders, and they each juggled an array of customers and items, eat-in, take-out, humor the 'difficult' ones (would that include John--not for me to judge!!!), and then teamed the delivery of food and utensils to our tables....all with the kind of cheerful demeanor that are so often missing in food establishments, but that add tremendously to the experience.

We took a brief tour of the menu and went with two combo baskets.  John opted for the BBQ chicken sandwich with fries and selected slaw as his option.   I opted for a Coney, made their way, with fries and a Coke.  We grabbed a table near the window (this place is mostly take-out, so only a few tables inside), where we opted to skip playing the tic tac toe wooden game on the table in favor or perusing the magazine rack...which inspired me to

think about new food spins.  The Reinhardt food service magazine was in the rack....looking pretty unread...so I decided to crack the spine and take a look.   It was page after colorful page of spins on traditional 'Mexican' food.  There were beef cheeks and new flavors of tortillas and page after page of drool-worthy photos.  So, in a few minutes, when our meals arrived, I was ready to chow down.

Bottom Line on The Coop Food:  Yeah!!

Giant baskets overflowing with fries...each with an 'entree' nestled in the basket.  Plus, John's had a portion cup of creamy slaw to fill out his basket space...which was generous, to say the least.

The fries (from a pretty standard frozen bag) were perfectly fried.  They arrived hot, very lightly salted (I watched Anna salt a couple of batches in a stainless tray)...crispy on the outside and hot and tender on the inside.   If you're going to eat 'old-style' fries (and they should probably exist only as part of an annual pilgrimage), these will fill the bill.  And, of course, the Coop has red squeeze bottles of ketchup, to use to fill any corner you can find in your overfilled basket, with a big puddle of ketchup that looks perfect against the backdrop of the black and white checked basket liner.

I loved my Coney.   The meat on top reminded me of things I ate in the last century...well, maybe a ways back in the last century.   The creamy textured 'sloppy joe' meat was just as I remember it...kind of a thick paste of ground meat that holds together (think of a loose meat sandwich that isn't 'loose'..but held together in a finely chopped meat 'slurry') crowning your chopped onion and mustard topped dog on a soft as a cloud hot dog bun.   Yup, a really fun Coney.

John's BBQ chicken was a breaded fried chicken patty smeared with a slightly sweet BBQ sauce on a traditional burger bun.   He was skeptical.   But he was quickly convinced that this was also fun food (not 'fan food'--he worked at the DQ as a kid---what exactly is 'fan food' other than a marketing slogan for 3 week old chili????) with pretty darn good flavor...the flavors of our childhoods.  The piece of chicken was perfectly cooked, with great texture, just enough BBQ sauce to come through but not overpower, on a fresh bun that held together for the duration.  

The slaw was creamy and had a pretty traditional creamy slaw texture and flavor.

This was a really fun stop.   The staff made this 'an experience'....delightful, but grounded in traditional, great-quality service....finely honed over years as a family business, we think.   The food was a throw back to decades of menu items that used to be common but are now a little harder to find.  The prices are downright cheap (a $3 hamburger!).  The 'atmosphere' was perfect.

And, thanks Chelsea for playing along...I'm sure you can 'make Renee remember John'  even after all these years (of never having met him).

The Coop in South St. Paul: Truly a memorable experience...family fun at it's best!

 

Details:

Website:  http://thecooprestaurant.com/ 

Menu:      http://thecooprestaurant.com/menu/

Directions:  Google Map