The Vienna Cafe, located on Melrose' strip of shopping, is famous for their extremely large menu, half of which is dedicated to an amazing variety of breakfast entrees.
The other day, my friend Anna and I made our way down to melrose to shop of course, and to also find some good grubbin'. We entered a store in search of black high-wasted pants (which was made successful) but also was recommend the cafe a couple blocks down, Vienna Cafe (always trust locals for prime eateries). We were told the food is amazing, the atmosphere is refreshing, and the service is friendly and welcoming. She was right.
Even though it was slightly raining the day we ate there, we sat outside on a covered patio with heaters and comfy chairs. The lady that recommended the place told us to ask for a waiter who worked their whom she was friendly with and he would take care of us. Right away, we were greeted at our table by the waiter who was recommended, and he made us feel even more comfortable and excited to be their (like we were actually somebody important). Our actual waitress was a sweetheart and made small talk with us every time she came by to refill, take away or check up.
So now the good stuff, the menu. When our waitress handed us the menu, Anna and I were dumbfounded as to what the hell we were supposed to get. I love breakfast food, and their breakfast menu was out of this world. They have everything you can imagine and such a large variety of Omelets! Really good ones too. You can mix and match side dishes (which Anna did, great veggies and rice pilaf) or get something fantastic right off the menu, which I decided to do. Unfortunately, I did not try their breakfast yet, but I seriously got the best panini with an amazing caesar side salad.
I loved this panini so much that I actually memorized the ingredients and made it for dinner last night for myself and my friend Devin so she can taste the amazingness. This panini is vegetarian too, which I did not do on purpose ( I realized all my entries have been vegetarian so far, but all so good!). It was made on two slices of great panini bread (not sure exactly the bread) with one side spread with pesto and the other side spread with goat cheese. Inside, their was a sauté of spinach, grilled onions, roasted red bell peppers and tomatoes. Let me tell you, This panini was packed with flavor and so savory and delicious I am still thinking about it. The caesar side salad was so fresh, made up with their own caesar dressing on freshly cut romaine lettuce, freshly shaved parmesan and seasoned croutons.
I almost forgot the best part of the meal! Before you get your food, they kindly give you some bread and the most amazing, yet simple starter dip to feast on while you wait for your meal. They give you about four different types of bread to sample and the dip, o my the dip, we got extra because we could not get enough of it. actually, I am not quite sure you would actually call it a dip, more like a ceviche. So this ceviche included: sliced tomatoes (like a pico-de-gio), pickled cucumber, onions, a small amount or raisins, finely grated parmesan and cheddar cheese, and a garlic parmesan oil with some other spices. It was not normal. I filled up on that ceviche too much, almost couldn't finish my food, almost.
In total, This meal for the both of us did not even cost $20! My panini was only $9 and Anna's two sides were a collective $7 (and the "sides" were HUGE). I would definitely recommend this place to anyone. I really don't think you can go wrong with anything on their menu so I suggest you try it! And the prices are extremely feasible.
Forgot the camera that day so sorry I do not have a picture, but here is the website for the cafe. The menu on this website is not the full menu for some reason, my panini and other meals I was looking at are not on their! But it gives you the idea :)
http://www.viennacafe.com/index.htm
Cheers!
Carly J