Berkeley's Cafe has been open for a few weeks now, so I stopped in to see how life on war-torn Silver Spring was going.

Answer:  Pretty well.

Anecdotally, I've heard from a number of people who have eaten there, finding Berkeley's a tough table to get on Fridays and Saturdays during the hour.

Sadly, my wife and I have not gotten to Berkeley's, as our twice weekly dinner outings have been sharply curtailed by the birth of our second child.  However .. after helping my neighbor, they thanked me with a Gift Certificate from Berkeley's, so we should be dining soon.

And to show how well Berkeley's is doing .. the manager told me their first printing of Gift Certificates was sold out.  Pretty good first month.

Other bits:

First, you can read Berkeley's entire menu on their website: http://www.berkeleyscafe.com

They are open for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, all of which are available for take-out (Phone: 897-8624), and of course, have a nice bar for drinks.

They also have a quick to-go menu (see picture) with coffee, espresso, soups and salads, ready for a quick purchase.

 

Here's a sampling of their menu items:

Breakfast:

• Egg Croissant or Wrap 
• Belgium Orange Waffle
• Huevos Rancheros Omelet
• And all the basics .. Eggs, pancakes, bacon.
• Prices: $5-$9

Lunch:

• Appies: Cheese Plate, Fondue, Wings, Nachos, Samosas $6-12
• Soups: Tomato Rosemary, Whitefish Corn Chowder $4-5
• Grilled Burger / Chicken
  
• Tuna Salad
  
• Mustard Egg Salad
  
• 1/2 Soup, Sandwich
  
• Prices: $8-10
  

Dinner:

• Most of the Lunch menu plus..
• Roasted Pork Loin
• Apple Duck Confit
  
• Chicken & Mushrooms
  
• Fish & Chips
• Cafe Meatloaf
• Prices: $14-19

They have a great, cheap kid's menu, if I do say so myself:

• Chicken Strips
• Grilled Cheese
  
• Pasta & Marinara
• Mini Burgers
• Fruit Cup 
• Prices: $3-5
• They have high-chairs, crayons, the usual kid-friendly stuff
  

Deserts:

• Warm Sugar Donuts
• Chocolate Bouchons 

Now listen up, Whitefish Bay Villagers:  Many of us, myself included, have been waiting for a decent restaurant on Silver Spring.   It has arrived.

It's about a 3 minute drive from wherever you live.

And YOU and I have to support it.   Silver Spring is going through tough times right now.  With the economy in the tank, times will get tougher.  It is now more important than ever to support these local merchants, or .. guess what?  They'll close. 

Imagine if Berkeley's succeeds, turns a profit, and has some spill-over customers for the rest of the Silver Spring merchants, from 7am to 11pm.  That would be fantastic.  Imagine a 2nd restaurant (Hooters!) .. and an ice cream shop.  Bingo.  Silver Spring is back on track.

So how do you support it?  Take the pledge:  Eat at Berkeley's every 3 months.  Something, anything, a breakfast here, a dinner there.  4 times a year, once a season.  If you have kids and can't make it out, fine.  Do take-out.  Here's the phone again:  897-8624.

Marija Whitman, co-owner passed along this bit:  

Kevin, it has been the most wonderful feeling to see the outpouring of support and sincerity from customers.  What a warm welcome. We thank them sincerely for coming, and they thank us sincerely for being here. 

It makes us want to try harder to never let our amazing community down!

 

Make sure you read other items:

1. Election Prediction wrapup
2. Why is the NY Times picking on WFB?
   
3. Local Election Predictions
   
4. WFB Scam Alert
   
5. One less bad guy on WFB's streets!
6. Silver Spring Blame Game
   
7. Solicitors DO NEED PERMITS

 
 

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Short Restaurant Review:

My wife and I go out to eat on most weekends. Last week, we went to a relatively new local restaurant in Shorewood called the Oakcrest Tavern, located on Oakland just north of Capitol.

What a great addition to downtown Shorewood. Oakcrest moved in to the old Red Rock Cafe and Fish Market which closed its doors in late 2006.

The new Oakcrest looks nothing like the old Red Rock .. it's got dark-cherry walls and flat-screen TVs in every direction with a great bar and fireplace. It's a fine spot to have a casual dinner .. or watch a game.

I'm no culinary reviewer, so suffice it to say, the menu is American and casual, with your crab cakes, BBQ wings and nachos for appies, soups and salads, plus sandwiches, along side a NY Strip, pork chops, and cognac chicken, and the obligatory Friday fish fry.

Prices range from $8 for a sandwich to $15 and up for the chicken and chops.

I think what I like most about Oakcrest is that it's a great addition to Shorewood's village. It's a good atmosphere for Shorewoodians and others from the area to eat and be merry. (Cough) .. which is exactly what Silver Spring needs.

Full disclosure, Rick Schmidt, the owner, used to operate many other restaurants in the area like the Oakland Trattoria, and Water Street Brewery, where my wife waitressed ages ago while in college. We spoke to him after our meal.

He said Oakcrest was going great .. I mentioned it was too bad he picked Shorewood instead of Whitefish Bay for the tavern .. he explained he had looked into the many vacant spots on Silver Spring, but the one he wanted, (IIRC) the old Famous Footwear spot, had a prohibitively high rent.

That's really too bad. Imagine an Oakcrest type restaurant on Silver Spring, a nice sidewalk patio. How great would that be?

Check out Oakcrest's Website.