Caffeinated happy hour at Muffin Top Cafe

Muffin Top's Caffeinated Happy Hour is 2 to 4 p.m. on weekdays. Coffee, espresso, tea, smoothies, frappes, 2-for-1 taps and rails, appetizers three dollars down. It is for the person who is done with meetings and not ready for dinner, and for the person who wants a latte and a friend and a reason to put the phone down. Board games exist. Use them.

Mother Clucker's happy hour covers the later afternoon into early evening — 2-for-1 taps, rails, house wine, $3 off apps in the window we post. Wings. Garlic cheese bread. The things you eat standing near a dartboard while you pretend you are only staying for one.

I like that the same block can do both without changing jackets. Downtown Minneapolis likes to sort people into "coffee shop" and "bar." We sorted them into one door and a clock.

If you are a convention guest killing time before a 6 p.m. something, this is an easy walk from the south end of the Mall. If you live in one of the buildings that make this square mile louder than it looks on a map, you already know. If you work here and you have been eating lunch at your desk like a hostage, walk over. The taps are not a personality. They are 2-for-1 for a reason.

Check the board. Hours shift. The idea does not: come sit down in Loring Park before the day gets away from you.

— Sam