venue Mermaid Café
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Bridget Maniaci
If an alien crashes in your yard and says, “I’m kind of hungry, and I’d like the near-east-side experience,” you can feel very safe sending him to Mermaid Café. The coffee is traded fairly, the sandwiches are stocked with local ingredients from the farmers’ market, and the menu features lines like these: “Everyone has her favorite farmers!” and “We picked up this salad from Montezuma, Costa Rica.” Mermaid is heavy with DIY exuberance, and it serves first-rate breakfast and lunch sandwiches that range from a simple egg, cheese, and bacon on focaccia to the Vietnamese-inspired bahn mi (roast beef, daikon radish and carrot slaw, cilantro, and cucumber). Breakfast and lunch only.
