MJ's Cafe

Today is our anniversary...cue the "aws"! So, Chris and I have "big" plans for today...starting with a little lunch. He wouldn't tell me where we were headed as we drove through Mid City, but when we pulled up to MJ's Cafe...I was pleasantly surprised!

MJ's Cafe is a mainly vegetarian lunch spot featuring local and seasonal ingredients. Yep, right up our alley! We walked in and took two seats at the bar...a fabulous choice. We had a front row view of our meal being made and we were able to chat with the owner a bit. Maureen Joyce is energetic and obviously passionate about what she is doing. I enjoyed watching her delicately create each meal with a smile on her face....it was quite refreshing!

The daily lunch special includes a small soup or salad with one of their sandwiches. I decided to start with the Summer Squash and Salsa Verde soup, while Chris went with the Pinto Bean and Guacamole...both were fantastic! For our sandwiches, Chris decided on The Southwestern, which featured pepper jack cheese, guacamole, tomatoes and romaine lettuce. I went with The French, which was grilled and featured goat cheese, arugula, apples and a pepper jelly. Both were delicious...but I won this round! The French sandwich was seriously tasty and very filling.

The decor is quite simple with a little nod to vintage. The cafe actually shares space with a vintage furniture store, so that was uniquely quirky...I loved it! There is local art on the walls and the tables and chairs aren't too matchy-matchy. Honestly, I felt like I had pulled up a bar stool in a dear friend's kitchen...especially when Maureen started chatting with us as she chopped apples. The casual and comfortable vibe of the cafe made me feel right at home.

To put it plainly...the food was delicious, the service was outstanding and the general atmosphere was just trendy enough to be noticed but not too hipster to scare off the close-minded. Normally, when we go out to eat, ordering can be such a challenge. The meticulous studying of the menu followed by the endless questions for the server...it's exhausting. But today we knew that everything on the menu was fair game...and that was such a welcomed shift. With that being said, I'm confident that even our most carnivorous friend would enjoy lunch here.

In terms of price, $10 for lunch is not bad. Will we eat here weekly? Probably not.. However, we are definetely going back for more!

Fabulously served local and seasonal food...two big thumbs up from me!