Review Sat Aug 02 2008

Urban Cafe Livens up Barren Stretch of Irving

When Urban Cafe, a new breakfast-lunch-and-dinner spot, opened down the block from our apartment at 1467 W. Irving Park a couple of weeks ago, my husband and I were thrilled. We love our neighborhood, but the lack of a coffee-and-eggs joint within walking distance has been a bummer on Saturday mornings, especially since we had great options like S&G and Wishbone near our old place.

Urban Cafe is a sunny spot with a friendly owner. We've visited twice, the first time on a weekday for to-go coffees and the most decadent chocolate ganache brownie I've ever had. I told my husband that if he is ever in the dog house with me, he'll have a much better chance of getting out if he gets me one of those brownies.

This weekend, we stopped in for breakfast. I ordered tofu hash, a healthy and tasty bowl of sauteed extra-firm tofu, nutritional yeast, potatoes, red peppers and toasted sesame seeds. It was a wholesome way to start the day, but I'll be honest: I was jealous of Brian's southwest omelet, fluffy, spicy and delicious with chorizo, roasted poblanos, cheddar, avocado and a chipotle sour cream drizzled on top. His macchiato also was excellent, a better choice than my iced coffee. Texas toast and hash browns rounded out the meal, which tallied just shy of $20 with our coffees.

The food is great. Service is very friendly, but could use a bit of polish. I expect as customers become more steady and the staff gets more accustomed to the rhythm of running a restaurant -- it's only been two weeks, after all -- the service will be as good as the food. Meantime, we'll be repeat customers, rooting for Urban Cafe to become a permanent neighbor on an otherwise dull stretch of Irving.

— Mandy Burrell Booth / Comments (0)