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View
the Cafe 322 menu
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Restaurant: Café 322
Where: 322 W. Sierra Madre Blvd.
Phone: (626) 836-5414
Reservations: Parties of 8+
Cocktails: Yes
Service: Tableside wait service
Atmosphere: Casual
Outdoor Dining: Yes
Credit Cards: MC, Visa, American Express, Discover,
Debit w/logo
Kid’s Menu: No, but ½ orders available for kids
Senior Discount: Yes
Food to Go: Yes
Catering Menu: No, Banquets available, though
Price Range: $3.75 – $11.95 |
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Co-owner Mario Lalli, Jr. cuts the ribbon at the opening ribbon cutting
ceremony |
Fried
Mozzarella |
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Caesar Salad |
Minestrone Soup |
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Braised Lamb Shank |
Linguini and meatball |
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Pan
Seared Scallops |
Lemon
Granita |
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Spumoni |
Tiramisu |
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DOT COM DINING A Look At San
Gabriel Valley Restaurants by SanGabrielValleyMenus.com
Café 322 A Great
Addition to Sierra Madre Dining Scene
By Bill Coburn
Café 322 in Sierra
Madre opened recently, and is carrying on the long family tradition of providing
delicious Italian food accompanied by quality live entertainment Wednesday thru
Saturday evenings.
I stopped by
recently with the family, and we started our evening with an order of Mozzarella
Marinara. Unlike most places that give you (often frozen) mozzarella sticks,
Café 322 serves “mounds” (for lack of a better word) of fresh mozzarella,
breaded and fried, topped with marinara and parmesan. It was really good,
possibly the best I’ve had.
For entrees, Katie
ordered the Braised Lamb Shank and a Caesar Salad, I ordered the Pan Seared
Scallops and a cup of Minestrone 322, and Keelan had a ½ order of the Rigatone
di Polpetti, which is rigatoni pasta served with meatballs and a tomato sauce.
However, he requested to substitute linguini for the rigatoni, and our waitress,
Valerie, was kind enough to grant his request. Coincidentally, it turned out
that Valerie and I had worked together at another restaurant not long ago.
Katie and I both
enjoyed our starters. When I first got my soup, I thought it looked overly
brothy, but as I started eating it, I realized it was because all of the
vegetables were finely chopped, instead of the chunks found in most
minestrones. There were plenty of veggies, it tasted great, and seniors or
people with dental issues will probably enjoy the non-chunkiness. Katie said
the Caesar was really good, and she liked that it was more like a “real” Caesar
dressing, and not a “creamy” Caesar which is served in so many places.
Katie would never ordinarily
order the lamb shank described on the menu as Slow
braised to fall off the bone with a reduction of rendered juices,
but Valerie recommended it, and Katie was very glad she did. The meat was
indeed falling off the bone, delicious, and the sauce was just right, almost a
little sweet, she said. I found the scallops (Jumbo scallops seared and
served with a balsamic reduction)
to be quite good, as well, cooked just right (frequently I find
them to be undercooked, but not at Café 322), and they (like the Braised Lamb
Shank) were served with garlic mashed potatoes that were as good as any I’ve
ever had, and sauteed vegetables. I’ve had larger orders of scallops, but paid
significantly more to get it, even though they weren’t as good. And with the
mozzarella we’d split, and the cup of soup I’d ordered, I didn’t need a larger
portion. I was very satisfied. Keelan was served a half order, which looked
more like a full order, and was more than enough food for him, and the meatball
was quite large and delicious.
For dessert, Keelan
ordered spumoni, Katie had tiramisu, and I had lemon granita, which was a lemon
sorbet with a strawberry sauce. All three of us were really happy with our
selections, and Keelan pointed out that the spumoni was heavier than you get at
the chain stores, which must puff them up with air.
The following night,
I stopped by for the Café 322 ribbon cutting ceremony, and afterwards, they
provided pizza for the participants. I tried the Grilled Chicken Pesto
pizza - Grilled breast of chicken, pesto, mozzarella cheese and parmesan
béchamel – and it was so good I ended up eating several slices. Fortunately,
they’d put plenty out. On an earlier visit, I had ordered the Roast Pork Loin
Sandwich - Slow roasted pork sliced thin and served on an Italian roll with red
onion, Roma tomato and garlic mayo – sans tomatoes - and it, too, was
delicious. Lots of tender pork, and no skimping on the garlic.
In addition to good food, Café 322 features live
blues, jazz and opera in the evening. The night we stopped by there was a jazz
quartet playing, and while I didn’t get there name, this was a group of veteran
professionals, very tight. It would be easy to overpower the dining room in
this venue, but the volume was kept at a level that allowed people to continue
enjoying their meals and their conversations. Don’t get me wrong, there was no
doubt an emphasis on the music, but you weren’t blown out by it.
In August, some of the musicians scheduled to
perform are Kristin Korb with John Mayer, on the 19th and 20th,
The California Navels on Aug. 24th, followed by The Downbeats on
Thursday the 25th. Jon Mayer will be back, but with Roy McCurdy and
Ricky Woodard on the 26th and 27th.
Café 322 also gives back to the community. A couple
weeks ago, they had a fundraiser for the PUSD GATE summer camp’s performance,
featuring performances by members of the cast, and on Sunday, Sept. 18th,
they will host “A Night at the Opera,” a fundraiser for the PUSD All Star Band
which will be performing in the Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 2nd,
2006. Among the performers that evening will be David Miller, who directs the
All Star Band, as well as being the musical director at PHS. Café 322 will
donate 20% of the evening’s proceeds to the All Star Band, and you are
encouraged to call Café 322 to make table reservations if you want to make sure
you get a seat.
You can find Café
322’s menu at the San Gabriel Valley Menus website, or go directly to
www.cafe322.com.
Bill Coburn is owner of SanGabrielValleyMenus.com, a restaurant website
featuring more than 150 restaurant menus, as well as downloadable coupons. He
has nearly 20 years experience in the restaurant business, and has been eating
for much longer than that.
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