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| Beautiful Day Cafe |
This blog’s venture of trying out at least one new restaurant each week continues with Beautiful Day Cafe!
Beautiful Day Cafe is located at 2516 E Central just between Grove and Oliver.
I’ve been hearing good things about Beautiful Day Cafe so my friends and I checked it out for ourselves to see what this restaurant was all about.
What sets Beautiful Day Cafe apart from many other restaurants is their philosophy and belief in locally produced products for their menu.
From actual website, here’s a blip of what they are about:
The inspiration for Beautiful Day Café is woven into a tapestry rich with lush gardens and small-town cafes. It is more than a nod to the farm-to-table, slow meal and locavore movements – it is a community of neighbors committed to incorporating all of those values into their daily lives. It is equal parts homespun tradition (using the freshest and closest ingredients) and common sense – all mixed up with some fine skills in the kitchen.
The Beautiful Day Cafe seasonal menus are founded in organic practices. Whenever possible we source from local and regional farmers and fair/direct trade cooperatives. Our primary focus is divided between providing healthy, delicious meals (good for the body and the planet) and sharing this information with the community.
A natural extension of the Café is the Green Street Permaculture Garden (adjacent to our building at the intersection of Green and Central.) The foundation for this garden has been meticulously laid by a growing army of volunteers, and when at full production will allow us to fill your plates with our bounty. In the interim, it serves as the classroom where we can practice, and teach, sustainable, natural land practices.
This community of volunteers speaks to a much greater void that Beautiful Day Café is filling. It is so much more than a place to grab a bite to eat. Charolett Knapic and her team of imagineers have built a clubhouse where playing along is encouraged and the community has rallied around the dream with great support.
Beautiful Day Cafe sees itself as a community link for conscious living. We incorporate practices that regenerate wholeness and create purpose in our daily lives throughout the building and management of Beautiful Day Cafe, the Green Street Permaculture Garden, composting sites, hen house, water feature, fireplace, greenhouse and garage.
Before going to Beautiful Day Cafe, I had never heard of the locavore movement. I’m all for supporting anything local so supporting something local that supports local is a double plus.
Upon entering the restaurant we found ourselves in a very homelike and comfortable setting. The seating itself inside is a little tight depending on where you sit. During lunch, it was quite busy and there was a line forming right as we arrived so we fortunately beat the rush.
A brief portion of their menu is online, some items do change on there and some items were out as lunch continued. Here’s what we had to choose from on our visit:
Two of my friends went with the Club sandwich, another friend ordered the Burger and I tried the Breakfast Burrito with sausage along with a Kimchi salad just because it looked interesting. Normally I avoid eating Breakfast Burritos and Kimchi in the same meal. The lady who took my order probably thought I was pregnant or something that afternoon.
Even with how busy they were getting, the food came out quickly.
The very first comment made by everybody was the food portion sizes. Both sandwiches and the burgers were pretty small. For roughly $10-11, my friends were expecting a little something more filling. The burger was described by my friend as more of a slider. The club sandwiches had little to do in the way of actual meat inside the sandwich.
All three of them said their meals were delicious. Especially one buddy who had the burger and felt it was juicy and flavorful; but too small for his taste.
They understood with the type of establishment they were going to the prices would be a bit higher due to everything being local but just wasn’t sure they would order their same options based on the appetite they had.
My meal on the other hand was wonderful. It was a good size burrito. I found myself eating it with jealous eyes looking upon me. It was like vultures staring at a dead carcass. Every other person at the table said they wish they would have ordered the burrito I had. The included sausage option for two more dollars was the best decision I made since becoming a Wichita State Basketball season ticket holder. There was a great blend of onions mushrooms, eggs, etc. My favorite part was that it wasn’t soaked in cheese. The red sauce poured over the top was an excellent addition and gave the meal it’s extra zing.
The kimchi salad was certainly different than what I’ve been accustomed to. It was pretty spicy and had a lot of daikon and ginger that really stood out. Certainly unique and maybe something that isn’t for everybody’s taste. I’d probably order it again; I’m still uncertain of my true verdict on it.
On top of the meals, we all ordered their homemade ice teas which were excellent and not your original sweet or unsweetened ice teas. They had a Black Jasmine and a Sweet & Spicy option which were both fantastic.
Overall opinions besides my obvious happiness, was good food but just not enough and filling for the price they paid. If they go again, they would order the breakfast burrito or something that came in a larger portion. For a lunch spot, it was more expensive than they had anticipated. I received text from my friends later telling me they were still hungry as if I was going to feel bad for them.
Parking was another issue. It’s very tight especially with the garden adjacent to the building.
That does it for Beautiful Day Cafe.
Happy Dining!
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