A new eclectic cafe comes to the heart of Brainerd
There exists a cool, eclectic café decorated with strange and eclectic things. It has a menu that evolves like a familiar song through space and time.
It’s a place well hidden in plain sight; kept almost entirely secret because of its wholesome rarity and lack of signage. Its name, Ugly Tree Café,’ is taken from a fable about a “tree that is happy not to be good for lumber, useless and ugly to the axman, beautiful and beloved by all the creatures, including the axman and family.” The wholesomely rare café is just out on Brainerd Road near Belvoir Avenue. The cute café with the cute name is a new local treasure waiting to be adored.
The Ugly Tree is a place where a cold traveler can shake off the winter rains and warm up with a robust cup of coffee and read the news in peace; or have a meetup with a long lost friend over Dirty Chai Tea and a hummus plate.
The Ugly Tree Cafe is a haven, one of those remarkable bastions away from the hustle-and-bustle of the busy four lane modern life and sit back and nourish a peace-of-mind as well as the body.
I spin an empty porcelain coffee cup between my hands as a patron tickles the keys of a little piano behind me near the entrance. The owner/operator Richard Lanham and I get heavy into the philosophy of food as the January rain pummels the parking lot.
Richard is a kindred seeker and worldly sage that has stories for days and deep roots in the realms of literature and counter culture history.
“Our philosophy starts with whole foods, quality foods,” he said.
Richard’s musings are bolstered in kind by his right hand assistant and young java slinger Claire Davis. Claire is the high speed barista mastermind and guiding rudder for café operations. She’s also responsible for the interesting selections arranged on the menu. Claire, like Richard, has a passion for making delicious, wholesome and healthful food.
But coffee and fantastic conversation isn’t all that Ugly Tree Café provides. The café’ has one of the best vegetarian breakfast burritos that this loud mouth Texan has ever eaten this side of Austin. It’s so good in fact that it shut this noisy Texan up for a while.
A toasted tortilla graced with eggs, potatoes, black beans, Manchego cheese and spinach. It’s simple yet delicious and topped with fresh salsa and organic habanero sauce it tastes a lot like going back home again. Homesick Texan blues aside it’s a dang fine breakfast burrito that’s enjoyable anytime during the day.
If there wasn’t enough to steep this ol’ boy’s heart in nostalgia, there is the Southwest Black bean soup. The fresh vegetables tasted as if they were plucked straight from Grandma’s raised bed gardens. When Richard said they ensure that they will provide quality food he wasn’t kidding.
If the taste of the West doesn’t appeal to the buds, I also suggest the Hot Italian Turkey Panini. The balsamic marinated onions and roasted garlic bring this Panini sandwich alive and travels well if you’re in a hurry to get back to the office.
The Ugly Tree Café offers gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan options made to order with care and love. With coffee from Mad Priest and teas from Frontier there is always something delicious cooking Monday through Saturday.
Come for the food but stay for the conversation or just soak up the peace-and-quiet of a very chill hangout and refuge for a while. Check them out at www.uglytree.cafe