Area Attractions: Half-Pint Café at the MIA (MN)

Disclosure: This post is part of a three-part series about a blogger preview event I attended.

If you haven't been to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, I highly recommend it. It's a great museum with a wide variety of art, easy to navigate, and good for families of all ages. Admission is free (although they do welcome a $10 donation, and I recommend you donate what you can). They also have a variety of special events and temporary exhibits, so your experience will be different each time you go. My kids' favorite is still the giant sun sculpture in the lobby before you enter the museum.

I had a chance to try out the Half Pint café. It's supposed to be a kid-friendly spot. It's right across from a glass-walled play area, so kids could play while you're in line - or they can play with the cars that are used as line dividers.

The food itself was delicious - for me. I loved the roasted veggie sandwich. They also have parfaits, cookies, and other sandwich options. My daughter was a little pickier. Her lunchbox had veggies (which she ate gladly) with black bean dip (which she didn't eat so I added to my sandwich), a natural fruit roll-up (she had most of it but she's texture oriented and it had a different texture than she was used to), and a sandwich (that had red cabbage on it, and again, the texture bothered her). But she tends to be very iffy about new textures, so I wasn't surprised at her attitude towards it. You can also get a parfait and Izzy's ice cream. It's a good place to check out, especially if you want to introduce your kids to meal options they wouldn't necessarily get at home.