by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
Looking for a new place to nosh Downtown during the film fest, and don’t have a wallet brimming with cash? It’s time to try Café 331.
A lot has changed since they first opened. The food is still good and reasonably priced, but there’s tons of wild art on the walls from artists such as Kyle Cannon and Edbot5000. A dividing wall separates the dining area from the bar. The wall features a funky cutout window, so you can survey the action on the other side. They’ve also built a small stage on the bar side. The place pops with color, whether it’s from the art or from the deep red accent walls.
You can expect bar, lunch and breakfast food from Café 331, and they do it well. They first became known for their appetizers, which they gave out during ArtWalk. The calamari rings are tender and subtle in flavor. They aren’t my pick in the entire city of Jacksonville, but they are pretty well known Downtown. I’m a fan of their cheese sticks and judging from the quality of their feta, I’d probably love their feta fries as well.
Omelets have become a breakfast favorite at the Café, probably because they don’t skimp on the omelet fillings. They generously stuff the feta and spinach omelet with real Greek feta. Most of the feta served in restaurants today is French, which is much milder and less salty. The Greek stuff gives all of their feta dishes a bold flavor.
The char grilled chicken wrap is a favorite at lunchtime. It’ll fill you up, but you don’t feel heavy and groggy after finishing it. It’s such a perfect choice that sometimes a party of a dozen office workers will all order it. I especially loved the fluffy wrap, which had far more character to it than most of the flat, bland wheat wraps I’ve tried.
Owners Judith and Milton Mavros both have a hand in creating items for the menu and bar. She’s responsible for the items with an Irish touch, since she’s a native of Ireland, and he’s created items such as the Foo Foo drink and the chargrilled chicken wrap, among others.
Out of everything I’ve tried there, my favorite menu item is the Romano crusted chicken sandwich. It’s a little messy, but by gosh it is worth every drip and drab that you might have to wipe off with a napkin later. The bread soaks up a layer of delish pesto along with a tomato cream. The chicken, gloriously tender, is lightly batter fried with a touch of Romano. Provolone melds to the hot chicken to make one of the best chicken sandwiches I’ve had in recent memory.
The side salad I sampled offered me full flavor, with a sweet raspberry vinaigrette and again, real feta. The salty and sweet were an interesting contrast, though I found that there was a little too much on the sweet side, as they have dried cranberries along with the dressing.
On the bar side, you can kick back with a game of pool, or a little darts. They’ve got a full bar with some intriguing specialty drinks on the menu.
The Foo Foo Drink came into being almost by accident one night when Milton was challenged by a gaggle of girls to make something “fruity.” He combined Malibu, Amaretto, pineapple, orange juice, cranberry and grenadine. The women loved it and he ended up fixing it for the rest of the night, going through a number of bottles. Thus the Foo Foo was born. My dining companion and I each tried a one. We loved it too. But then, both of us are a sucker for a sweet girlie drink.
The bar menu differs a little from their lunch menu. One item, which always needs explanation from a barkeep, is the Chip Butty. It’s a traditional Irish bar item that would be ordered at the end of the night to soak up excess alcohol. Basically it’s a French fry sandwich laden with melted butter. The grease and starch is supposed to help keep the rest of the alcohol from hitting your system all at once, sort of like a slow release.
331 puts forth a casual atmosphere, where you order at the counter. People come here not just for the food, but for the neighborhood feel. Regulars are greeted warmly, often by name. It’s not haute cuisine, but it is darn good late night bar and brunch fare.
Article Published in the May 2008 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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