Cafe 219

By Rob Holbert Managing Editor

Eating lunch in a restaurant can sometimes be tricky. If you wander into a place where people seem to tell time with a calendar rather than a watch, you can find yourself nervously waiting for your food, then wolfing it down in a frantic effort to keep the boss of your butt or to beat the Yellowjackets to your car. (Yeah, we haven’t forgotten about you.)

So often, many of us opt for something less appetizing, fearing that the more “gourmet” places will require a good excuse. So it’s nice that Café 219 happened onto the downtown lunch scene. Located catty-corner from the Saenger Theater, this lunchtime bistro serves up high quality food while keeping an eye on the clock for you.

To dine there is to see the whoosh of customers come and go. The place is a tidal wave of lunchtime activity that subsides by 1:30 or so, leaving a calm and wood-lined interior behind. Oh, and I suppose it also puts more than a few happy bellies back out on the street in the process.

I’ve been a fan of 219 ever since I first tasted the world-beating potato salad. In my estimation, only the Li’l Lunchbox’s spud salad is in the same league. I’ve been told the secret is using sour cream. Whatever the secret is, I’m sure it was delivered to the owner by a potato-loving angel who visited him in a dream. The stuff is so good it practically qualifies as dessert.

Café 219 specializes in sandwiches, although wraps and pizzas are also on the menu. Since the café is a sister restaurant to La Pizzeria, you know the pie is damn fine. I’ve also had several of the sandwiches, and can report that they are both satisfying and original. When someone complained to me recently that there are no good sandwich shops in Mobile, Café 291 was one of the places I mentioned.

My favorite on the list is the Tuscan, an eggplant, mozzarella cheese assemblage on panini. It’s delicious and filling enough, but it also has that healthy Northern Italian feel to it that keeps one from feeling like an after-lunch nap is in order. Most of the sandwiches fall in the $6 – $8 range.

The Cuban is another favorite. Not many places in Mobile deliver a Cuban, period, and Café 219 does it with style.

Soups and salads are also winners. On a recent visit, New England clam chowder was on the menu, and it was perhaps the best I’ve had in town – not that thick, Chunky Soup variety most places pass off. These clams must have come from good families, because the soup was rich and refined. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

They also have a trivia game during lunch which rewards the winner with a free meal. Don’t worry, it’s not too hard. Even I have won.

As much as I like the food at Café 219, I also like knowing the service will be outstanding, and that I’ll be back to work in a reasonable period of time. If only I could get them to give me a bucket of potato salad to bribe the Yellowjackets with, I’d be worry-free at lunch.

Rob Holbert is Lagniappe managing editor. Contact him at rholbert@lagniappemobile.com.

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