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17th Street Cafe
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
2 reviews for 17th Street Cafe
What a great little place right off carson.
The food has always been good, especially the roasted red pepper soup when they have it. If they do GET IT.
I am partial to their ruben sandwiches.
The staff are really friendly. I've been here a lot and never had a bad experience.
The 17th Street Cafe is an adorable little restaurant that aims for a fine-dining experience while not abandoning personable service. The entrees are very good--I recommend the mushroom ravioli--and much of the staff is very friendly and welcoming. The true secret weapon of the 17th Street Cafe is its charm. If you are looking for a full-blown fine-dining experience, you may be disappointed. First, the restaurant is very cramped. It has two rooms--a front room with a bar area and half a dozen tables against a wall, and a back room with about five tightly-arranged tables. Second, the back room is shared with the prominent kitchen door and a bussing station, all within intimate distance of your table. It is possible to have a nice and cosy dinner in these surroundings; but, it may be accompanied by kitchen sounds and the whirring of the espresso machine three feet from you. If you have a coat, ask the staff to hang it; you won't have room for it at your table. Third, some of the wait staff can be a bit detached, and that may influence your opinion of the experience as well. Fourth, and perhaps most frustrating, the dining experience can be sprinkled with little annoyances or missed opportunities that when added up keep 17th Street from getting a higher ranking from me. For example, we were given the check without being offered the dessert menu; beers were served unaccompanied by glasses, leaving you to quaff from ugly bottles incongruous to the white-tablecloth surroundings; bread baskets were delivered unaccompanied by plates, leaving you to hold your roll and drop crumbs everywhere. There were several other little things like these that I noticed during a recent visit--even casual diners may be annoyed as these seemingly picky situations add up over the course of a meal. I really liked the food and found much of the staff very friendly (their young busboys were refreshingly professional); however, between the cramped space and the hit-or-miss nature of the dining experience I'm not in a hurry to visit again. If I recall correctly, this place has been open for a couple of years; so, the problems aren't new-business kinks . . . they're quirks. If you are more forgiving than I am, though, this could end up being your favorite restaurant on the south side, as no truly egregious offenses are committed. Try it for yourself.