I had lunch at this Cafe on 434 yesterday. It is across from Ali Baba in an old BK. I was alternately - scared then intrigued then disappointed in the meal. I'll explain why. I had chicken fried chicken steak for $9 and a crepe for $2. The chicken came with home fries (choice of hash browns or grits) and toast. Everything came out too fast to be freshly prepared. The gravy had a film on it. I asked why and they said it must not have been stirred. But how can you ladle a perfect tile of gravy on a piece of chicken without disturbing it? I think they nuked it and the chicken in a microwave. The chicken had to have been fried earlier in the day. It takes more than three minutes to fry a chicken breast. The home fries were also a little dry and some were very crunchy. That either happens because of microwaving or mixing old batches with new batches of potatoes. The flavors were alright, but, it just gives the impression that the boss cares about the bottom line more than the experience or his cooks are lazy. I would suspect that the breakfast service serves fresher fare than the lunch service (of the breakfast dishes anyway). You may want to take that into account when ordering. The crepe was similarly poor. It must have been made hours/days ahead of time. It was cold and tough. And the preparer does not know how to make crepe batter. The call it a Swedish pancake. My mother is Swedish and a terrible cook and her pancakes are one hundred percent better than these. As I said, I was scared (it looks shabby from the outside (poor quality signage) then intrigued (the menu seemed interesting) then disappointed (food quality). The clientele started out as grannies and (fat) fannies. Maybe they aren't discerning customers. But, if they want to keep the few hipsters and other customer groups that came in during lunch, they will have to start making fresh food. This isn't a BK anymore. It reminded me of one of those places Gordon Ramsey blows his top over when he finds out what the kitchen staff has been doing.
The place seats about eighty. There were under twenty people while I was there. The furniture is straight grandma. It is old and scratched up too. The service (2) was good and polite and seemed to be able to keep up with this level of occupancy. God help them if it gets full. The menu is pretty large. They offered a weekly Cuban special. Buy it on Monday because I'd bet that is when it is cooked and everyone else will be getting leftover special.
I would see this place for what it is. It was probably financed on a shoe string. It is probably barely breaking even. As such, you may see corners cut. It wants to be Keke's, but, is now operating at below Bob Evan's. There is potential. However, it is a chicken or egg dilemma. If they get more customers ($), the quality may improve. But, they may not get more customers if the quality stays like it is. This is why owning a restaurant sucks and so many owners are tempted to cut corners. You aren't guaranteed customers if you spend to ensure quality. If you do go, stay in the scared mind set until they prove themselves worthy of intrigue.
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