Cafe Escadrille...Not All It's Cracked Up to Be

My husband and I went for lunch at Cafe Escadrille in Burlington, MA on a cold, sunny afternoon in February. We had heard rave reviews from a couple of our trusted friends and were looking forward to a unique experience.

Well, it was not to be had. This restaurant seems to have come right out of the 1970s. I kept having flashbacks to restaurant experiences with my parents and grandparents when I was a kid.

The decor was not bad. We had a nice table for two right by some big windows so there was plenty of light. The restaurant was fairly full and the energy level was good. I did notice an abundance of old people dressed in their best Sunday-go-to-meeting attire.

The lunch menu itself was, well, basic. There were burgers clams, oysters and shrimp cocktail, clams casino, oysters Rockefeller, french onion soup, clam chowder, fruit salad, Caesar salad, pasta, burgers and sandwiches....Monte Cristo, Reuben, BLT, club. This is just to name a few, but you get the picture.

My hubby started with the French onion soup. We both really like it a lot. In fact, it was our favorite part of the entire meal.

For entrees, my husband had a burger which was okay. I had the Monte Cristo (which they called a Monte Carlo) with ham, turkey, swiss and french toast. It was okay as well, but the French toast was cold. I did like dipping it into the maple syrup (which was also cold, but oh well). My husband, who considers himself a coffee connoisseur, said the coffee was below average.

I was really looking forward to the Toll House Pie for dessert. I pictured a gooey, chewy, thick, rich, dense chocolate chip cookie in pie form. Instead I got a slightly dry, cake-like piece of pie with chocolate chips in it. Yuck.

So overall, I'd say it's always good to try something new, but will we go again? Most likely not.

Visit them at:  http://www.cafeescadrille.com/