The Matchbox Coffee Shop

Top notch drinks. My fave is their Chai tea Matchbox’s own home brew, wow!
I love the conversations with the neighborhood people and the folk who work at Machbox, very arty free spirit types and all walks of life. All super friendly. Very small place, with outdoor seating. This is a cooperative run place, cash only, and on the same note very reasonable prices for organic delicious drinks! Many times I have seen where a new customer doesn’t have cash — your first brew is on the house, or you’re welcome to come back and pay with cash. They have for regular customers a tab of their own. this is a very different kind of coffee shop with who many LOVE!

Small place, great coffee! If you are looking for the trendy-​ist, most Disney-​fied, sterile coffee shop, this is not the place for you. In fact, don’t show up. If you want really, REALLY, good coffee, and you like an eclectic group of folks and you are open to conversing with strangers, then definitely, come on in!
Also, did I mention the coffee is amazing!

Coffee’s awesome, food limited and apparently the state nonsmoking law doesn’t apply here. Love to patronize this place but, unfortunately, my asthma prohibits it. I have to be able to breathe to enjoy my coffee.

Just moved back from Melbourne where the coffee is unbelievably amazing. I had pretty much resigned myself to not being able to drink coffee in Minneapolis because I couldn’t find any I liked, and on a whim I went here and it has been my savior. Everyone is relatively friendly and the coffee is top notch

Review is purely based on coffee alone. The atmosphere and aura is fantastic and doesn’t reek of fakeness and douchebaggery like Spyhouse, and the workers are really great. It’s a good place to get a nice, hearty cup of joe that’s better than your average pop-​up coffee shop.

The tea and service were great. Friendly people. The place, however, is very small. Not really a place where you can sit and work for a couple of hours. Oh, and they only take cash.

Matchbox is on my way from my house to the bus in the morning. It’s typically hard to judge whether one has time to get a coffee and not miss the bus. Not with Matchbox. I can leave literally 1 minute earlier than normal and be able to head down to the bus, delicious and hot americano in hand. They are so fast! By the time I get money out of my wallet (cash only) the barista is handing me my drink. I have seen them do a chai latte in the same amount of time. I have only had americanos and cold press, both are delicious. Their prices are also in normal, easy to pay amounts (think $ 2, $ 1.50) and CHEAP! A large americano is exactly $ 2.
Fast, great coffee, better prices.

Very, very, good coffee. They also sell whole beans. Very community oriented and Northeast centric — which is great. They sponsor local art and put it on their walls. It’s very much a NE Mpls hangout. Kind, prompt, and serious service. It’s a small operation, so sometimes at peak times there’s a little line, but the barista’s are on it and it’s totally okay. Best coffee shop in Northeast.

The way a coffee shop ought to be!

Forever my favorite coffee shop. Even though it’s cash only– totally worth hitting up an ATM (the 331 club has an ATM nearby, if you forget) for some of the best coffee and people in town.
I have been going to Matchbox since I was a kid (we used to live above what is now Maeve’s and Anchor Inn, but was Lucille’s Flower Shop [RIP Lucille’s). I went to day camp on second street for years, and NE holds a special place in my heart, even though I live in St. Paul now.
But this place holds merit beyond nostalgia. It may be tiny, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in service, atmosphere, and price. The epitome of a cool coffee shop– without the snobbery or standoffishness you seem to see so much. They haven’t lost their personal touch, and I have never had a negative experience with a staff member (or other customer) in the twenty or so years I’ve been going there.
The prices are incredibly reasonable, too. Dollar in house coffee with twenty five cent refills. Their other prices mirror this affordability, and they (like any good coffee shop) have some yummy baked goods and refrigerated options as well.
Should go without saying, but the coffee quality is great. Some of the best in the cities.
Now that Eat Your Words bookshop has moved in across the street, I have a perfect spring or summer afternoon– pick up a book from EYW, grab a cup of cold press from Matchbox, and enjoy the sunshine!

Matchbox is the cramped hipster coffee shop equivalent of Cheers. Everyone knows everyone. I love it. The baristas are great and the regulars are such characters. It’s the perfect spot if you’re feeling social, but possibly a little too rowdy for quiet studying/​working.
Also important to note — they only accept cash. However, you can start a tab with them (i.e. pay upfront and they’ll deduct from the balance as you go) which makes this a little less inconvenient.

A handy, cozy little coffee shop in a helpful location. I’d never heard of Matchbox but needed a cup of joe and this hit the spot. Friendly folks, a DIY atmosphere, genuine humanity on display here. No crass corporate slogans, etc. Affordable drinks. Well done!

My experience at Matchbox Coffee provided some restoration of faith in humanity.
I wanted to read in a coffee shop one afternoon, so I headed here, completely unaware of what I was in for. I had NO idea how tiny this place would be. It has a bar and I believe one community table, which was occupied by two individuals when I arrived. The barista quickly started on my order, and as I stood there realizing I was going to have to head somewhere else for a cozy armchair reading session, I noticed a sign that said «cash only.»
Crap. I never carry cash. Like an idiot, I said «I’m sorry! Do you not take cards?» to which the barista kindly responded «sorry, no.» I apologized and said I didn’t have any cash on me.
Here is where the restoration happened: the two people behind me — easily overhearing this conversation from two feet away — both chimed «I have cash» and proceeded to chip in $ 2 each for my drink and $ 1 tip for the barista. I was floored. It’s little things like that that remind me of the good in people.
My gifted chai was great, but Matchbox Coffee got a five star from my experience alone. Any place that has customers that gracious has to be golden.

My fav lil’ coffeehouse that could. Matchbox features organic/​fair-​trade coffee, gourmet sandwiches from Chow Girls, collective ownership, great music & even a Melodi Grand piano that you’ll hear if you’re lucky. There’s solid WiFi here too, so sit down & get some work done!

Super cute place, with friendly people working.
I only had a tea, but my friend said she liked her coffee. Didn’t really feel the whole «Wow! This place is great!», but I did find it cozy but a little too tight of a squeeze inside.
If I lived closer I would tots try to go more often and become a regular and enjoy the window view.

This is my favorite coffeeshop!
The coffee is very good, but not in a pretentious-​good way.
What I really love though is how it’s such a utterly neighborhood place. As the name indicates and everyone says, it’s tiny, and so there are no private conversations. Everyone feels free to join any convo. I’d never go here for a first date! There are a ton of interesting regulars, and they play good music.

BEST, YES BEST COFFEE SHOP
Ok, so this says allot about what I like in my coffee shop and I could totally see why the average Starbucks patron would HATE, HATE, HATE this place… but i am not that person. :)
The matchbox is, well its a matchbox. Its tiny, with a bar that could fit maybe 5 people (that would be crowded) and then a table that could fit about the same amount. The coffee is average, not bad not great. Their chi however, is amazing! It is a Cooperative so the Baristas are their own bosses… which makes for some interesting baristas :)
If you like people watching, and want an interesting place to read or meet a friend give it a shot. If you need to spread out to get some work done, or think that Starbucks is coffee, then this is not your place.

Lurking round Spinario one hot summer day — someday I will be able to afford a $ 1000 bar cart — I came across this cute little coffee shop. Your basic place, literally a matchbox though. It’s extremely narrow. They make a nice French soda — syrup, soda water, and a little half and half — which was refreshing.

If you find yourself in this minuscule café one day, you won’t be disappointed in the coffee. In my experience, the staff is nice — OK people to be with in such close quarters. They serve some baked goods, including some vegan things… and the coffee is hot!
A lot of regulars were dropping in and out, but one of the patrons was thoroughly camped out. It reminded me of when I used to bartend in college and there’d always be the one guy trying to chat it up at 4 p.m. when the rest of the place is empty. Think they call those people bar flies. Well, this guy was a coffee bar fly, and it was sort of annoying to listen to him talk for a half hour while I sipped my coffee and read the paper.
That was kind of a tangent, but seriously. This place is a testament to good things coming in small packages.

I liked the chai here, especially because it is home-​made and not some awful over-​the-​counter stuff that comes out of a Tetra-​pak (I’m talking about you, Oregon Chai).
I also appreciate that they have ABC vegan cookies, though I wish they would make their own instead.
The space itself is really small, but it’s in a quaint, quiet neighborhood with galleries and other art-​shop places. It’s a great place to bike to, or to get a cup of tea at, after a day of wandering the galleries and antique furniture stores.