Café Rica

• 62 E. Michigan Avenue
• Battle Creek, MI 49015
• (269) 441-0205
• Website
• Menu

One more day of working without my Kalamazoo colleague.  

I actually had to run to Grand Rapids for something in the morning but then I had an appointment set up in Battle Creek after noon.  It was the best way to plan my day but I figured I needed to make a trip to the Grand Rapids office then I could take my time getting to Battle Creek.  

My appointment in Battle Creek was for 1:00.  I got to town a little after noon.  I got gas and something to drink then decided to grab lunch before I did what I was in Battle Creek to do.  

I was near downtown and there’s a café in the area I keep meaning to try.  

Café Rica is on East Michigan Avenue north of Division Street in downtown Battle Creek.  The coffee shop actually got it’s start at BC Cargo, the cargo containers set up in the parking lot behind Full Blast on the corner of McCamly and Hamblin a few blocks away.  From there, they moved to share space with Simply Sensational Berries before finding this permanent spot on the ground floor of a century old two story brick building right on the edge of downtown.  

I parked across the street from Café Rica in front of the Battle Creek Enquirer building and pulled up a menu. I like to be prepared when I go in to coffee places since I don’t drink coffee. I usually panic and buy some coffee drink I don’t really want just to give myself a few more minutes to look over the food menu.

I noticed they had online ordering through a few different services. To calm my anxiety, I ended up just putting an order in from my car then waiting for the twenty minutes or so until GrubHub said my order would be ready.

I was a little surprised at how big the space was when I went in to pick up my order. There’s a pretty large open kitchen right as you walk in the door and that’s next to the order counter. The drink menu is hanging behind the registers but I never even got close enough to see where the food menu is. There’s a basket sitting on the counter for to-go orders. Mine wasn’t quite ready yet so I leaned up against a post near the kitchen to wait.

The coffee shop has a really distinct look to the place. They use tile work to draw your eye to the counters around the kitchen. In the seating area, they take advantage of this beautiful building by leaving the century old brick walls exposed and keep the space bright and open with large windows and high ceilings.

I actually ordered two things off the menu assuming they’d both be small and I’d still be hungry. Boy, was I wrong about that.

I started with the Steak & Eggs quesadilla. When I make quesadillas at home, they’re usually pretty small and I guess that’s what I was expecting. Not the case. This alone is enough to feed a big guy like myself. The burrito sized tortilla is stuffed with grilled steaks, eggs, onions, peppers, and a house made rojo sauce. I actually kept the onions and peppers off and added jalapenos. I tend to think of quesadillas as kid’s menu food but this thing…man, this was good. The steak was so tender and there was a lot of it. The quesadilla actually got a little messy because there was so much food trying to be contained by the tortilla and it just wasn’t working.

The other thing I got was the Breakfast Waffle Sandwich. I held on to this sandwich for later just because the quesadilla was so much. The sandwich uses two waffles as the “bread.” It’s filled with egg, bacon, and cheddar cheese then served with a cup of syrup on the side. This is everything you need in a breakfast sandwich. It’s like all the best of what’s normally on your plate in sandwich form.

I spent a little over $20 on my lunch but I got two sandwiches that were more than enough for one person on their own. As I mentioned early, I expected smaller portions but was pleasantly surprised with two gut busting sandwiches.

Café Rica is a really cool shop in downtown Battle Creek. The place was pretty full in the middle of the afternoon so it’s safe to assume it’s a place a lot of the remaining office workers in downtown go to grab a quick, delicious lunch and a cup of coffee.