herb box

This morning I went over to the Eden Prairie Lifetime Fitness and enjoyed a little breakfast at the club's restaurant, The Herb Box, while my kids ran around in the daycare. Yes, it was solo. And nice to be alone with my thoughts. I'm not sure if you can dine at this restaurant without being a member (it would be strange if you couldn't), but the couple times I've been here things have been tasty.

APPEARANCE: Very hip, contemporary. Sleek lines. Lots of seating. Linen napkins. Pretty centerpieces. Even though this is at a health club, I would certainly consider holding a nice event here.

CUSTOMER SERVICE: The couple of times I have eaten here I've been disappointed in customer service. Our first visit we had screaming kids and I asked for a piece of banana bread immediately to tide them over, as well as ordering a kids meal to start. It took as long to get the banana bread as it did the grilled cheese. After seven minutes of a thrashing baby, J went to inquire about the bread and they said "we are making it". Today, the server was friendly, but I think he was new: he didn't bring a spoon or sweetener/sugar with my coffee, I had to request refills, and my food clearly had been sitting under a warmer for several minutes.

FOOD: All in all, really good! Our first experience was lunch and it was AMAZING. My breakfast of poached eggs, bacon and toast was tasty, despite sitting under the warmers.

KID FRIENDLY: They have a nice kids menu and high chairs, but doesn't really cater to kids otherwise. Our first experience is telling, since our server didn't seem to understand the need to get something immediately in our children's tummies (then commented about how her son loves french fries - you'd think she'd get it).

PRICE: Not the most expensive, but not the cheapest. My breakfast was $12, with coffee. The kids menu is a bit pricey. But for once in awhile, not too terrible.

VISIT OR STAY AWAY: Visit. If you can look past the service, the food is pretty good. And if you belong to Lifetime, certainly nice to drop the kids off to play and have a quiet meal for a change.

The Herb Box is located in the Eden Prairie Lifetime Fitness on Prairie Center Drive.