Coupons, cafes and coffee shops

I have to confess something. If you give me a coupon, I will drive 30 miles out of my way to use it. I’m saving money! Really. (That’s what I tell myself...)

My best friend was given a Happenings book in October, just a few weeks before all the coupons expired, and so we were off checking out coffee shops all over the Twin Cities area. Hey, it gave us an excuse to explore and get out of the house in the middle of a dreary October. Did I mention I love coupons? I don’t understand folks who don’t, but apparently there are some who don’t experience the lure of a coupon.

I sold Chinnook books this fall, and was amazed at how many people turned down the amazing opportunity to carry around an entire book of fantastic coupons. I bought a book for myself, of course, for $20 and just a month after using my first one, I’ve saved $28. I feel pretty good about that. And I didn’t go out of my way (much) to use up any of these ones. I mostly just went to different grocery stores. There’s an amazing amount of grocery coupons in the Chinook book. And what I love best is they all sell the kind of food I want to buy, locally grown, natural stuff.

New this year - The Chinook book has a mobile app. Never leave a coupon home again!

Anyway, I digress.

Our coupon-inspired tour of coffee shops included a jaunt out to Anoka in October. I didn’t bother Googling the place as I’m familiar with the city. Instead we just headed down Main Street in search of 530 W. Main Street. We expected it to be right downtown, but found ourselves heading west over the bridge. We discovered the “Anoka Coffee Shop” sign highlighting a small stripmall across from the cemetery. I know that good things can be found in strip malls, but (here’s another confession) I do usually turn up my nose at them. They’re usually just So. Ugly.

We walked in expecting mochas and grilled panini sandwiches. Instead, we were greeted by the sight of 800 cookie jars.

And a menu that looked exactly like the Creamery Cafe in Isanti, a mom-and-pop restaurant in the town we both grew up around. It was almost like going back home — except the drive was 30 minutes shorter.

Even the coffee cups were the exact same the Creamery Cafe uses. And that People’s Cafe in Cambridge uses, one of the many restaurants where I spent a stint waitressing. The sight of those brought back my teenage years... And the day I dropped an entire tray in front of everyone. I was sure the entire town was packed into that restaurant that day...

Although it was far from the Caribou-style coffee shop we expected, we enjoyed our lunch at the Anoka Coffee Shop. (I thought about suggesting to the owners that they change their name to “cafe”, but decided, hey, go with what you love). The girls really enjoyed checking out the shelves and shelves of cookie jars hugging the walls of the small cafe. Apparently, the owner started with just a few jars, and then customers supplied the rest. And they just keep bringing them in. His wife has threatened to leave him if he gets one more... But somehow that one more always manages to find a home on one of the shelves. There’s a running tab of the current number of the specials board.

We ate your basic greasy cafe food, eggs (for the gluten-free in our group), and a ham and cheese sandwich with a salad for the others.

We left laughing. It was a fun excursion to cheer up a dreary day.

Anoka Coffee Shop

530 W. Main St.

Anoka, MN 55303

(763) 421-9749