After many, many failed attempts to eat at Café Berlin (map) over the past year, I was finally able to get there while it was open and have a meal. The hours are a little odd, and on one visit the kitchen actually closed for unexplained reasons minutes before I got there. So, before I get started, let’s get those hours straight. Pay attention now, so you don’t find yourself repeatedly facing locked doors as I did. Café Berlin is open from 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. They are also currently opening for dinner from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and for late nights on Friday and Saturday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., and Sunday from 10 p.m. to midnight. Whew! Even after committing this to memory, I would recommend calling ahead before you go, just to be sure: (573) 441-0400.

“Best breakfast in town, hands down, ask anybody,” they boast on their Facebook and MySpace pages. The menu looks amazing, with lots of tasty-sounding breakfast and lunch dishes using locally produced vegetables, dairy and meat and homemade breads and granola. There are also plenty of vegetarian and vegan-friendly options, which always wins a few points in my book.

The folks at Café Berlin are known around town for their sustainability efforts and, true to form, made their recent move from Walnut & Providence to 10th & Park using only bicycles. I never visited the old Providence location, but I am told that it was set up a lot differently than the new one. It used to be more café-like, where you order and pay at the counter, then your food is brought to you when it is ready. The new location is much more like a restaurant – you wait to be seated, and then a waiter/waitress comes to take your order. This isn’t immediately clear when you first walk through the door, however, so people tend to either just find a table and sit down (and then get chased away by someone informing them that there’s a wait list), or just stand in the doorway looking confused until an employee eventually notices and comes over to seat them.

The place was pretty crowded when I was there around noon on a Saturday, but I only had to wait about 10 minutes, so it wasn’t too bad. Only about half of the building’s floor space is being used for seating right now, but it looked like they were still working on the back room so hopefully there will be more tables added later.

I had heard wonderful things about the Café Berlin breakfast burrito, so after drooling over the menu for quite some time, that is what I ordered. It was eggs, roasted potatoes, cheddar cheese and vegetarian sausage wrapped in a tortilla, with spicy salsa on the side. You can order it with meat too, but a few of my omnivore friends have tried the vegetarian sausage and said they actually prefer it over real sausage, so if you’re feeling adventurous, give it a try. The burrito was everything I’d hoped for. The potatoes were cooked to almost the same consistency as the scrambled eggs and seasoned perfectly, and the “sausage” added a nice burst of flavor every now and then. The salsa was quite spicy – something I can’t always handle in the morning – but it was served on the side, so I was able to use it in moderation. The burrito was a little pricey at $8, but very filling and delicious. There is a smaller portion available for $3.50 on the “Not just for kids Menu.”

I also had coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice. The coffee came from Lakota, Columbia’s resident independent coffee roaster, and was a special “Berlin Blend.” It was very dark and strong, qualities I very much enjoy in coffee. The juice was definitely freshly squeezed (found a seed!), but pretty expensive at $2.75 for a tiny 8 oz. glass. If you get the 16 oz. for $3.95, though, you can have mixtures – any combo of orange, apple, grapefruit and carrot.

Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to Café Berlin, and I will definitely eat there again. The food is a bit more expensive than I’d like (because otherwise I would eat there every other day) but everything is local and organic, so your money is helping support the local economy and sustainability. Plus, most foods are sold individually as sides, so you could probably piece together a decently priced breakfast that way if you don’t mind smaller portions.

Did you ever eat at the old Café Berlin? How do you think the new one compares? Do you mind paying a little more for food if it’s organic and local? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you.

It was after the second strike when ordering that I knew my experience at the brand new Broadway Brewery was going to be a memorable one.

First it was the pumpkin ale, which just emptied out moments before. Then it was the watermelon salad, which I mostly just ordered for the sake of it sounding so peculiar (Watermelon? In a salad?!), but it was a seasonal choice, and clearly, watermelon is out of season in October. My dinner companion and I should have known this was the case when we noticed that it was listed on my menu but not hers.

After much consideration, we decided on an appetizer of the roasted potato wedges with a chipotle horseradish sauce for dipping pleasure, the chicken salad sandwich (my backup) with a side of ratatouille, and the apple salad, paired with a Boulevard Oktoberfest and a house-brewed Nut Brown beer. Rich and woodsy, it was a fine choice to nurse during the wait for our meal’s arrival.

The sandwich and salad came before our potatoes, and they made quite a delayed appearance. The chicken salad came served on a hard floury roll, and could be compared to the size of a “slider.” The ratatouille (which I hastily chose on the spot because neither of us could remember what ratatouille really was, no matter how hard we fixated on that delightful Pixar movie) came in a small cup no bigger around than the sandwich itself. It was a tasty tomato-based stew served cold. The dim lighting made it difficult to see what else was in it, but I think there were mushrooms. The apple salad was heavy on the foliage, light on the fixin’s. We were impressed with the flavors and presentation of our meals but neither of us was very full. The potatoes would surely fix that right up.

We did get them, eventually. I think the manager might have been embarrassed/ashamed for the long wait, so he tacked them off our bill. But I must admit, I quite enjoyed potato wedges for dessert.

Located in the old Uprise Bakery space below Envy, it is owned by the same four people who run the Root Cellar grocery store, which is attached directly on the other side. It has a cozy nook feel, which is aided by the low lighting and comforting mustard yellow and green-painted walls. No more than 25 tables fill the small room. They all rest on a smooth teal cement floor, which might come across as cold and stark in some venues, but completely feels right in the brewery. If table-sitting is not your thing, there’s a bar as well. The ceiling is a cluster of copper piping, which reminds you that it’s a relaxed, okay-to-wear-jeans kind of place. Local paintings and photography decorate the walls.

The great thing about Broadway Brewery is that it’s casual enough to hang out with friends but intimate enough to take out a hot date. We forgive the slow service because the atmosphere and food/drinks were well worth it. I recommend keeping it in mind for appetizers and drinks over a full meal experience if you’re on a tight budget simply because the portions are not huge.

What: Geisha Sushi
Where: 804 E. Broadway

I will admit it from the beginning: I am certainly no sushi expert. However, I really do enjoy going out for sushi occasionally, and was really excited when I heard that a new sushi restaurant would be opening on Broadway downtown. The first chance I got, I made my way over to Geisha to check it out.

The hostess ushered us into the restaurant and sat us down at a table next to a wall installation. The installation was glowing blue, filled with water, and had bubbles floating up inside it. While I’m sure that the intention of the installation to set a nice ambiance, it was difficult to look at, made me feel kind of dizzy, and kept me from looking to my right during my entire meal. My dining guest felt the same way about it.

The restaurant still vaguely resembled Quizno’s, which is the restaurant that had previously occupied that space. They had changed the furniture and painted, but the sushi was being made at the line where sandwiches had previously been made.

The waitress came over, dressed in a short kimono style outfit with a big bow on the back. All of the wait staff were women. I’m pretty sure there were men making the sushi rolls, and there was a man wearing a vest wandering around the restaurant, not seeming to do much. I saw him stare off into the distance for large chunks of time. The only Asian person I saw was the vest wearing man.

For an appetizer, we ordered a bowl of edamame, which was absolutely delicious. I’m a huge fan of edamame. I could eat it every day. Geisha’s edamame was some of the best I’ve ever had. They also gave us some miso soup while we were waiting for our sushi, which was pretty good.

Something a little odd that I noticed about the menu was that quite a few of the sushi rolls included chipotle mayonnaise. Some of them even had just plain mayonnaise. I had never seen this on as sushi roll before and thought that it was a little odd. However, I did go to Sunshine Sushi earlier today in the new Student Center and saw a couple rolls there with chipotle mayonnaise. So, maybe it’s not that odd. Just seemed odd to me.

I ordered one of the rolls with chipotle mayonnaise on it purely out of curiosity. When our sushi came, it was served on a multi-layer plate that looked like a boat. The sushi was all spread out and looked really good. You could tell that like the rest of restaurant, some effort had been made on the appearance.

The sushi turned out to be very tasty and delicious. Even the one with chipotle mayonnaise on it, although soy sauce and chipotle mayonnaise do not go well together. I definitely think I prefer my sushi without it, but it was still pretty good.

Geisha Sushi is a definite must try for any sushi fan in the Columbia area. Our bill totaled a little less than $30 for 3 rolls of sushi, an order of edamame and 2 sodas, so it was also pretty reasonably priced for sushi. Check it out if you haven’t already!