By Rachel Hutton, City Pages June 11, 2008 excerpt - ". . .Obento-Ya sits on a quaint Como Avenue block near the University of Minnesota, a mixed neighborhood of college kids and old-timers, with just a whiff of Berkeley-like laid-back diversity. The adjacent barber shop looks ancient enough to have been around when a shave and a haircut actually cost two bits, as does the hardware store, the corner market, and Kind Hearts nursing services across the street. The newer businesses cater to a youthful crowd; they include a tanning salon and a head shop whose windows display ads for a smoking contest and a sale on salvia, along with photos of shoplifters captioned "Have you seen these bitches?" The neighborhood has a mellower, more mature vibe than the Dinkytown detritus—overstuffed apartment buildings with beer-bottle lawn ornaments and urine-soaked bushes—just a few blocks away. It's a hotbed of professors and graduate students with worldly tastes and small budgets—just the right clientele for a bento shop." link to full article |
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