Anyone who’s been in Butter Bakery Cafe around lunchtime can sympathize with owner Dan Swenson-Klatt’s predicament.

“We’ve run out of ability to be a coffee shop to during lunchtime and brunch time on weekends,” Swenson-Klatt said. “Do you kick out the people who want to eat or the people with laptops?”

To the probable comfort of many Butter fans, he can’t bear to give up either. Instead, Butter will be giving up its old digs at 36th and Grand for more a more spacious home in the first floor of the Nicollet Square building at 37th and Nicollet. While the cafe won’t be able to start construction on their new home until the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment tweaks the spot’s zoning to allow enough seating—currently capped at 30 chairs, with no patio allowed—next month, Swenson-Klatt said he hopes to be in the new spot by the end of the summer.

“Contractors laugh at me a litle bit when I say ‘September 1,’” he said with a chuckle. The space is “empty right now, so in one way it’s easy, but it’s also missing some important mechanicals.”

The corner space he hopes to claim will feature a long counter facing the huge windows, he added. He’ll be joining a chiropractor and the offices of a nonprofit.

“I think they’re a little upset that it’s taking us so long,” Swenson-Klatt said, chuckling. “‘We’re all here and there are no treats.’”

So far, there are no plans to change up Butter’s apparently winning formula, and Swenson-Klatt said he’s not worried about the impending road construction.

“The way that we’ve focused on being a walking place, a biking place, a neighborhood place, we’ll be fine,” he said.  (Source: SouthwestMinneapolisPatch)