City Cafe: A Tale of Two Meals(Blogpost #2)

Sometimes great food can be found in the most unlikely places. That being said, a restaurant that shares a parking lot with a tattoo parlor and a nail salon seems like an improbable candidate for a fine dining experience. Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped City Café from becoming one of the most popular eateries in the Georgia Tech area. A convenient location (right in the heart of the Georgia Tech campus) and a 24 hour workday have helped it achieve this distinction. But that alone isn’t responsible for City Café’s success. Since it first opened on tenth street, the diner has become famous for its relaxed atmosphere and large portions of dessert.
As my guest and I walked towards our destination, I was struck by the contrast in activity between City Café and its neighbors (which include two other restaurants). All the buildings that surrounded City Café were practically deserted. They were dimly lit and dismal. Looking through the windows of these buildings, I saw that most of them were cramped and claustrophobic. On the other hand City Café was bustling with activity. There were probably more people inside City Café than in all of its immediate neighbors combined.
Once we entered the diner, the first thing we saw was a display case with a large variety of cakes in it. True to its reputation, City Café had some of the largest cakes I have ever seen. I guessed that they were about six inches tall (and that’s a conservative estimate). The restaurant itself had a decidedly retro feel to it with low hanging lamps and big red sofas that gave the impression that City Café was a remnant of yesteryear. The only thing that wasn’t in sync with the retro theme of the place was a patio which looked as if it had been added to the restaurant as an afterthought. We decided not to sit outside and instead chose a booth near the window.
I looked around my table and I noticed that the diner seemed understaffed. Each waiter seemed to have to cater to five tables at a time. But the staff was more than up to the challenge. They moved from table to table with an efficiency of movement and determination that would put most triathlon competitors to shame. It wasn’t long before we were being handed menus and being asked if we would like anything to drink. But it was still clear that the place didn’t have enough employees. Our waiter seemed like he was in a hurry attend to his next customer. He stared at us, almost as if to say “make up your minds already!” In my hurry I didn’t get a very good look at the menu and asked for a coke. My guest, who had barely even looked at his menu, asked for a glass of water. The waiter’s impatience was probably understandable considering how busy he was but that’s no excuse for rushing us through our orders.
Thankfully, when it was time to order our food, we were given more time. The menu was quite extensive with food ranging from bacon and eggs to pasta. After a lot of deliberation I decided to order a grilled ham sandwich. My guest ordered a cheeseburger. The food didn’t take very long to arrive and we began eating. The sandwich was delicious. Served with a generous helping of French fries, it was a very satisfying meal. I’m a very picky eater and usually add salt (or at least seasoning) to almost everything I eat. But this time all the condiments remained untouched.
Finally, for dessert, I ordered a slice of cheesecake. City Café has built its reputation on its desserts and it did not disappoint. The cheesecake was scrumptious. The slice of cake they served us was massive and could easily have fed three people. It was so good that I couldn’t help myself from scraping the crumbs off the plate. We asked for the check and got ready to leave. The entire meal cost us about seventeen dollars which is quite reasonable considering the quantity of food that we were served.
I left the diner thinking that City Café had more than earned its reputation as a great restaurant. I was so impressed with it that I decided to eat there again the following weekend. But that meal turned out to be starkly different from the one I had just enjoyed.
My second dining experience at City Café started out very much like my first. I was a part of a larger group this time but it wasn’t all that different. All the buildings surrounding City Café still seemed devoid of any liveliness. The restaurant still reminded me of a retro diner from years gone by. The staff still looked overworked. We sat at the table and were attended to by a polite but impatient waiter. Following this trend, I expected the food to be just as good as it was the first time. I decided to see what their pastas tasted like and ordered a fettuccine alfredo with mushrooms.
From the moment I saw my meal make its way from the counter to my table I knew that I wasn’t going to like it. It didn’t look anything like the creamy delicious pasta I had pictured when I ordered it. Instead, it looked bland and tasteless; like something that had been refrigerated for a long time and was heated in a microwave. I tried not to judge my meal until I had actually tasted it. But tasting the food only confirmed my suspicions. It was absolutely devoid of flavor. This time I found myself reaching for the salt shaker after every few bites. All my friends seemed to be enjoying their food but none of them had taken the risk of ordering anything that wasn’t a sandwich or burger. Halfway through my meal I found myself eating the sliced mushrooms instead of the pasta and occasionally munching at some French fries from my friend’s plate. Needless to say, I was very disappointed with my meal.
But the evening wasn’t a complete waste of time. The dessert was reliably good. This time we ordered a slice of chocolate cake. The giant slice was enough to feed everyone at the table. The cake was the best part of an otherwise forgetful meal but it was too little too late. This time I left the diner feeling like I hadn’t got my money’s worth. As I walked away from the café, the great meal I had the first time I ate there seemed like a distant memory. It was like the restaurant I ate in that evening was a completely different one.
Ultimately City Café is a mixed bag of culinary delights and gastronomic disasters and knowing what to order could be the difference between a great meal and a wasted evening. I recommend sticking to the sandwiches, burgers or anything else that involves meat and bread and staying away from the pasta and pizza. All the desserts at City Café are excellent and the portions are large enough to serve a number of people. Their cakes are easily the best part of their menu. At its best, City Café is one of the finest restaurants in the area. But at its worst, it’s a train wreck that leaves no survivors. In my opinion it deserves three out of five stars.
City Café
***
Location: 525 10th Street NW.