A Taste of Cuba in Minneapolis

September 19, 2014

I recently had the priviledge of spending a week in Minneapolis pedaling their network of bicycle paths and trails. With over 85 miles of off-street bike paths and 90 miles of on-street bikeways, there's plenty of pedaling to do. Fortunately, Minneapolis has plenty of "bicycle fueling stations" that most citizens refer to as bakeries and diners. I asked several local cyclists to name their favorites.

One diner was on everyone's list—Victor's 1959 Café (revolutionary Cuban cooking).

It was a dreary, overcast morning when I walked in to Victor's, but the diner was so wonderfully colorful and the staff so welcoming, it was as if they'd bottled up the sun and brought it inside.

I ordered the Ranchero Cubano and was served up a plate of corn tortillas topped with eggs, cheese, and Creole sauce, and a side of black beans. That, and a cup of coffee, was all I needed to fully understand why this diner was so beloved by cyclists.

While enjoying a second cup of coffee and gazing at the colorful graffiti on the walls of the diner (you server will provide you with markers to leave your own mark), I wondered, "Do I cycle to eat, or eat to cycle?"

I continued to ponder that question, as I pedaled to a nearby bakery.

Read more about Willie's wanderings in Minneapolis in the Oct-Nov issue of Adventure Cyclist.

Photos by Willie Weir

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SIGHTS AND SOUNDS is posted every other Friday. Willie Weir is a columnist for Adventure Cyclist magazine. His books, Travels with Willie and Spokesongs, will inspire you to hit the road, and might change the way you approach bicycle travel. He lives in Seattle with his wife Kat. You can read about their adventures at http://yellowtentadventures.com.