Caffe Casa
128 S. Kalamazoo MallThere are a lot of great coffee places in downtown Kalamazoo.
But I’m not a coffee drinker so I miss out on a lot of them.
The thing I always fail to realize is a lot of these coffee houses also have some great food selections. I’ll figure it out from time to time and stop in to a coffee shop to see what they have.
There’s one shop downtown I walk by all the time…usually on my way to City Centre Market to grab a Pepsi. I’ve worked downtown for close to seven years and I’ve never thought to look it up and see what they do for lunch.
I finally changed that last Friday.
Caffe Casa is on the Kalamazoo Mall just south of Exchange Place. The small coffee shop is right next to Lana’s Boutique and in the same Peregrine owned building as Climb Kalamazoo. Caffe Casa has been a staple on the mall since the early 1990’s.
I walked in to Caffe Casa around lunch time on a Friday. The coffee house has that distinct coffee house vibe. The space is kept somewhat dark using hanging bulb lights to mix with the natural light let in through the front window. There are tables lining the walls which are adorned with paints by local artists.
The order counter is near the back and it surrounds all the coffee making equipment. There is a bar area where you could post up with your laptop but they kind of had that area blocked off encouraging patrons to take a seat at one of the tables near the front of the space.
There is a bakery case at the order counter that has several home made sweet and savory options.
The menu hangs next to the order counter and it’s mostly filled with drink options. The far right side of the menu has lunch items including soups, salads, and sandwiches.
I put in my order for the Club Bagel sandwich to go. I was going to add an Italian Soda but there was a sign over that spot on the menu saying it was temporarily unavailable.
It took about ten minutes for the sandwich to be put together, warmed up, and handed to me in a small a paper bag.
The Club Bagel is a pretty simple sandwich. It starts with choice of bagel, I chose the Everything, and is filled with turkey, bacon, provolone, lettuce, tomato, and an herb mayo. I was actually a little surprised by the size of this sandwich. It was quite tall. I thought at first there was probably way too much mayo as it was spread on both the top and the bottom of the bagel but the rest of the ingredients countered that so there wasn’t an overpowering mayonnaise flavor to the sandwich. At right around $11 this sandwich is a really good lunch value. It doesn’t come with any kind of side but you don’t really need anymore food than this.
It’s always nice to find quick, lighter lunch spots around the office. I tend to go for burger and fries…which I love…but can be a lot if I’m doing that every day.
I don’t know why I’ve walked by Caffe Casa so many times without actually going in…I mean, not drinking coffee is mostly the reason, but I should have known I could have gotten a delicious sandwich from a place that’s been around as long as this coffee shop has.
SW Michigan Dining 