Unlike speedy in-and-out coffee shops, cafés indulge fantasies of sneaking off through misty European streets paved with pain au chocolat and lined with biscotti parking meters. Indulge in savory streetside fare with today’s Groupon: for $8, you get $16 worth of breakfast and lunch at Cafe Marie.
Espresso and loose-leaf teas emit steamy spirals beside healthy breakfast and lunch noshes at Cafe Marie. Against the backdrop of exposed-brick and sienna-hued walls, diners riffle through the breakfast menu and temper the savory flavors of a popular gourmet salmon-egg scramble ($9.65) with 16-ounce pots of black cinnamon-and-spice tea ($2.75), sweeter than a lullaby whistled by a classically trained teakettle. Lunchtime entrees replenish waning energy reservoirs with hearty sustenance such as the smoked-turkey-and-cucumber sandwich, crowned with havarti cheese on italian ciabatta bread ($7.95). Blooming tomatoes stuffed with tuna-cucumber salad ($6.75) add romance to plates while patrons send emails to future selves with complimentary wireless. During warmer months, an expansive brick patio with wrought-iron tables overflows with alfresco noshers.
Cafe Marie
A community staple since 1993, Cafe Marie continues to entice customers with a huge breakfast menu, a sunny patio in warmer months, and the promise of a smile with every order. At the top of the café's menu are the phrases "Nourish your soul" and "Enrich your life." This isn't to suggest that a eating a gourmet egg scramble or whole-wheat flapjack is a substitute for meditation, but it speaks to the owners' belief that good food isn't merely sustenance. As if to encourage customers to relax and hang around for a while, they supplement their menu with a wide array of coffee drinks and loose-leaf teas.