The Cave Café

Nothing bad here but Afro-​Italian fusion is quite a bit of an overstatement. Food was OK; nothing great. Ordered a chicken curry and the Tibsie Derho and they both tasted and looked very similar and came with pita (thought that was Greek; well Italy is close to Greece I guess) and a lot of the standard frozen vegetable mix (carrots, corn, peas and green beans) and very little meat.
Nothing looked like the pictures on the website. We dont normally eat frozen veggies at home so I am not keen on paying somebody to serve me some.
Portions were generous though.

I had this when they came to our business and served at our cafeteria. I was impressed. I had not intended to buy lunch, but when they gave me a sample, I was sold. I thought the beef dish was good, though a bit spicy, and the chicken curry was great! The pita bread that came with it was moist and very good. I would totally try out their food truck if I saw it.

The chicken wrap is delicious! I always enjoy it when the Cave Café truck stops outside my workplace.

I love food trucks back home, and when I saw Cave Café out at 3M Centre it seemed like a nice change from the cafeteria.
I decided to go with the beef tibsie, and enjoyed the spicy sauce and mix of veggies, but would have liked a bit more beef to go with it.
My biggest impression, though, was that this was a pretty disorganized operation. Orders got mixed up, I watched my food sit for almost five minutes because they forgot to make the pita to go with it, several custom orders had to be redone, the person at the window was calling out items you ordered instead of taking names to go with tickets, and when I paid with a card and asked if they could email me a receipt, I got blown off with a «whoops, sorry.» (That also meant I didn’t get an opportunity to add a tip. Their loss!)
Would I try them again if I saw them out? Yes, but not if there was a big line. It seems like the busier they got the more they had trouble dealing with what was going in and out.

Tasty gyro. Portion size left a lot to be desired. Barely any lamb. The guy taking orders was abrasive. They weren’t serving rice dishes, which is fine but when we tried to order it, the guy looked at us like we were stupid and then told us no rice dishes today. Their entire menu is posted next to him and on the side of his truck. It would take one sign to share applicable information, but he decided not to, and treated us like we were the dumbass. No thank you.

Got the Chicken Tibsie today; wanted the lamb tibsie but it wasn’t being served for the day. My husband and I shared. We’re just trying to support the food truck scene. We’re new to the area and surprised there’s so few food trucks around here.
The problem? There’s a photo on this business review by a chris m. Our food looked like that but more rice and the rice was very red. There was no distinct flavor, the peas, carrots, chicken, and what I assume was tomato juice or berber tasting exactly the same: a sorted soft goo muted spicy taste.
Sadly, and not sure if Trader Joe’s sells it still, but they have a frozen rice meal with veg in it that tastes better. When I think about if i really dislike something, or I’m just being picky, I ask myself: «would I recommend this to a guest.» No way. Not ever.
Plus: I totally respect that the chicken was super moist.
Sorry folks! I really wanted to love you. I have a passion for different African foods.

As food trucks go, not too bad. Flavorful and you get a decent amount of food for the buck. The curry chicken is tasty– although they use chicken breast, the meat isn’t too dry because of the sauce. It seems to me like they may use a medley of fresh (peppers and onions) and frozen vegetables (corn and carrots). There are other vegetables too but can’t recall them all. The shame of the dish was that the rice was a little al dente rather than cooked all the way.
If you are looking for a good, flavorful, lunch time deal then this may be worth a visit.

Service: ³⁄₅
Portions: 5/​5-​definitey enough to eat!
Pita Bread: 5/​5-​grilled, delicious, buttery
Chicken Curry: 2/​5, poor flavor and texture. Rice-​a-​roni meets frozen vegetable medley meets semi-​dry chicken. No real curry flavor, would not order again.
I also wonder what «Afro-​Italian» cuisine is… seems like an odd mix

We have now chased down The Cave Café twice. The first time was at one of the food truck rallies at Canterbury Race Track last summer and now again at Mears Park. This latest time we got the Curry Chicken and the Tibsie Derho to split amongst the three of us, myself and my two daughters. The Curry Chicken was the favorite of my eldest daughter while my youngest and I both really enjoyed the Tibsie Derho. If you like a little Ethiopian flare to your meal the Tibsie Derho is the way to go.

Cave Café has been out on the streets for a couple of years now — after sampling a few of their dishes over the years there are definitely some items that stand out ahead of others.
I’d order the lamb curry or lamb tibsie any day — both contain a generous portion of lamb, rice and buttery pita bread and justify being the most expensive items on the menu (though sadly, also the items they seem to be out of most often). The lamb gyro, on the other hand, is pretty forgettable and not something I’d order again.
Service has generally been pretty friendly and the owner/​chef is generally a pretty engaging guy.- I’ll definitely be back for some curry (and keep my fingers crossed that they have lamb that day).

I tried the chicken curry. It had a pretty good flavor with a decent amount of meet and filled me up. The pita bread was pretty good, kind of sweet.
They were on the U campus (where I tried them) but I’m assuming business wasn’t good enough and they’re not longer showing up. Not enough people around during the summer when neither the U nor the food truck does a greatjob of advertising their presence.
Also, I understand the desire to cut out the credit card middle man, but fees for using cards really annoy me. It’s a cost of business. Encourage cash? Sure, I always use cash at small businesses if at all possible, but if you want my business and want to accept cards it shouldn’t cost more.

I found out that Thursday was the last day for the Kellogg and Robert food truck court, so I stopped over there after a meeting and grabbed some lunch at the Cave Café. I was deciding between a burger and duck fat fries at Neato’s OR The Cave… and was coerced into curry by the very friendly gentleman at the latter truck. Not that I need that much convincing when it comes to curry… but eventually those duck fat fries will need to make it into my mouth. Mark my words.
I got there around 1 p.m., so they let me know that everything was $ 1 off. Sweet. As I waited for my chicken curry from Chef Teddy, my new friend told me tales of how (along with Vellee Deli) they are part of the exclusive food service at the Gopher stadium. Pretty cool. The rest of the menu includes lamb gyros, tibsie (which I gather is like a berbere stir fry… like Ethiopian tibs, I would guess), sandwiches and a few other things.
My curry was good ‘n’ spicy (I ordered it hot) and full of perfectly cooked veggies and tender chicken. It came with a rice pilaf and some buttery, warm pita bread. It’s African-​style curry, so it’s going to be much different if you’re used to Indian or Asian curries. In hindsight (and this has nothing to do with my feelings about the curry itself), I probably shouldn’t have eaten this and then gone running an hour later. Curry + running = death.
The Cave Café is billed as an Italian and African fusion, but I didn’t notice any Italian influence (aside from the fact that they put Kraft parmesan cheese on the pita bread, which I fully support). Regardless, this is good food with wonderfully friendly service and large portions. I’d definitely recommend this truck… just don’t go running after lunch.
Don’t.

When i hit up the food trucks in St. Paul I like to size everything up before making a decision… especially when it comes to food. And drinks. And shoes. (I do love shoes) So last week, I carefully reviewed the menu at every truck before landing on The Cave Café’s mobile kitchen. The menu promised dishes designed around an Afro-​Italiano fusion.
Unable to resist anything with lamb in it, I ordered the Lamb Tibsie — a made-​to-​order concoction of marinated, chopped lamb sauteed with onion, tomato and peppers served over rice. The $ 11 portion was huge. I’d show you a picture, but once I started eating all thoughts of documenting it for the review go right out the window. Trust me when I say that it was delicious — perfectly balanced and very hearty. Plus, the guys who were working the truck were very friendly. Although that’s a hallmark of most of the food truck operators.

If I had it my way, I’d have my lunch handed to me from a food truck every day of my life. So you can imagine my jaw hitting the floor when I walk out of my office and see The Cave Café sitting right across the street. In the middle of the U of M campus. Whaaaat?!
For the past two years, I’ve been so jealous that the downtown peeps get the food trucks all to themselves during weekday lunch. Hey now, share with the rest of us! However, my dream of having a food truck on campus has FINALLY come true — though it’s only here on Mondays and Wednesdays, I’ll certainly take what I can get! It’s a great central location on campus, and I love hanging out and talking to the guys that work here, especially the owner, Teddy.
On Monday, I got the chicken curry ($ 9), which definitely had plenty of rice, vegetables and large, juicy chunks of chicken, though I wish it had a little more flavor. As I’m not a huge spicy fan, the level of heat was pretty good for me… however, like Spencer R. says, you can definitely go for Medium or Hot if you want! Later in the week, I tried the Chicken Wrap ($ 7 with chips), which is especially good thanks to the pesto sauce inside.

I was intrigued by the «afro-​italion» descriptor on the truck as well as the fact that it started raining buckets and this was the only truck that provided cover. I was also very impressed by the fairly reasonable price for the steak sandwich ($ 7 and includes a bag of Lay’s chips). The sandwich was awesome. I like rare meats and this was well done but the meat was crispy but still juicy and when placed on a good bun with excellent sauce and jalapeño. The combination was fantastic and I look very forward to having it again.
For nine dollars you can get a very good gyro that was unfortunately dwarfed by the awesome sandwich. You get enough lamb but could have more. Flavor was good but didn’t leave me wanting more. If I feel like dropping $ 9 to scratch a gyro itch, then this will do but I may just head over to Miguel’s in the skyway instead…(a little cheaper too). I’ll be back for the steak sandwich for sure. Also I did note that while I was ordering at one when they were closing down, there were 3 other people that were regulars running over to grab some grub while the other three trucks had nobody. (Rice Park on Tuesday) They must be doing something right.

I was surprised and pleased to find that the Chef Shack was back at Mears Park again today. So I went for lunch. Again. (It really is that good).
The Spinach Tibsie may well be even more delicious than the Vegetable Curry.
And THIS time, I was given a choice of «Mild, Medium, or Hot». I chose hot, and to my delight, it actually was! A great level of heat and flavor, especially for Minnesota.