French cafe life
Just turned on the news and saw that PETA named Washington the most vegetarian-friendly city. Cool! The report also randomly interviewed my minister. Apparently he’s a vegan… who knew?!
Back to your regularly scheduled post… 
Ah, to be in France!
I love visiting French bistros and pretending, at least for an hour or two, to be in France.
I wander past Cafe Deluxe all the time but forgo visiting in favor of Mon Ami Gabi, home to my favorite area happy hour. This time, some friends and I rendezvoused at Cafe Deluxe instead. Sometimes you have to break out of a rut!
I wasn’t very hungry so opted for a soup-and-salad combo. Yes, it’s a million degrees outside but that doesn’t mean I crave soup any less! This tomato-basil was perfectly tasty without being too creamy.
You have to pair soup with good, crusty bread. There’s no substitute.
Okay, so my camera at the picture of the salad. But just picture a small plate of lettuce and tomatoes and… that’s it. Not too exciting. I definitely had more than enough room for a huge cup of frozen yogurt afterward! 
The tables are decorated with quotes and inscriptions. You have to enjoy some Mark Twain with your dinner.
Nothing can compete with the actual French cafe experience, tucked into a tiny booth while sipping cafe au lait and munching on a pastry, but I’ll take any substitute I can get that’s not a seven-hour plane ride away!
The verdict? Cafe Deluxe is good with excellent service, but my loyalties are still with Mon Ami Gabi. It’s certainly nice to have options!
Speaking of options, I’m opting to forget about my leftovers in the fridge and head over to an old favorite… Chipotle. It’s been far too long since I had a nice, big burrito bol.
Do you tend to visit the same restaurants over and over or do you branch out?
My brother’s roommate is a manager at Cafe Deluxe (at least I’m pretty sure that’s the right place). Give me a heads up and I can let him know that you’ll be dropping his name :p
I wasn’t aware there was a Mon Ami Gabi chain. I saw it in Vegas at the Paris hotel.
I love finding new restaurants….but I’m also really bad about going to the same ones, over and over!
I love finding new restaurants and if I find a really good one I usually go often to that one
I tend to go to the same places over and over. I need to branch out.
There are so many good restaurants in Portland that we’ll never have time to go to all of them. I like trying new places a lot, so we rarely go back to the same restaurant (with a few exceptions).
I’m not much of a restaurant-goer but I like to branch out in most areas of life
Oh, and I’ve lived near Chipotle for most of my life and tried it for the first time the other day. What the heck took me so long??! It was awesome
I pretty much repeat the same restaurants over and over until I wear myself out and have to find something completely new. I guess I just know what I like!
I like visiting different restaurants but I tend to order the same kinds of foods and look for the best (crabcakes, manhattan clam chowder or spinach salads, for example). It’s just always nice to have choices and for someone else to have to do the cleanup!