The Rose - Salt Lake City, UT

The Rose

235 S. 400W
Salt Lake City, UT 84010
http://www.theroseestb.com/
Monday-Friday 7am-6pm
Saturday & Sunday 8am-6pm
Food served until 4:00PM

Parking is confusing, posted signs state 2-hour parking and by permit only; however you are apparently allowed to park while in the Rose Cafe or the other adjacent stores.   Access is above sidewalk level via stairs, I did not see any type of handicap access.  The interior is basic cafeteria style tables and chairs, mostly two per table, a couple of 4 seat tables and one 8 seat table.   The music is loud but you can still carry on a conversation, you order at the counter and they will bring your order to your table.  The Rose seems to be a coffee, meeting, computer café. They have stacks of board games in the front of the store for you to use.

The menu is limited.  We chose to go around 10AM for a light brunch. We found hey already had sold out the Frittatas.  As an alternative, we all selected the Smashed Avocado Tartine at $7.50, which consists of avocado, olive oil, black pepper served on five seed toasted bread with a lightly dressed winter green salad.

We waited around 15 minutes for our order and then he only brought us two of the three orders. We could see our other plate sitting on the service counter.  My son had to go up and ask the cashier for our order. He did receive a rather embarrassed apology.

The bread was awesome, lightly toasted and about ¾-inch thick and thickly crusted with seeds and all crowned with a generous layer of lightly smashed and seasoned avocado.  Well worth the wait.

They have the usual type of coffee house selections as well as sweet pastries and muffins.  Brunch is served until 4pm and lunch starts at 11am until 4pm.

Would I go back? Probably not; but that is not because of the food. I am just a bit uncomfortable with the atmosphere, a tad bit too young for my liking.  I was positively impressed with the food and  I will certainly try to replicate their bread and Avocado Tartine for a luscious meal at home..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Med - Salt Lake City, Utah

The Med

420 East 3300 South

Salt Lake City, Utah

(801) 493-0100

 A small but quaint building, it is surrounded with lovely flowers and grass. The interior has a somewhat Mediterranean décor.  The staff members are prompt and courteous. We were quickly seated in a booth by the front windows. Our Server was attentive and we quickly had water and time to look over the menu and ponder our selection.

 Select items can be ordered Vegan, Vegetarian or Halal and the menu offers a smidgeon of this and that from Greek, Italian and Turkish cuisines.  This includes appetizers, stews, soups and salads, souvlakis and kabobs, pastas, sandwiches, wraps and burgers to what they call “café favorites”.  Café favorites, pastas and souvlakis and kabobs come with a side salad, all other entrees come with your choice of soup, lemon rice, basmati rice, side salad or fries.

 We ordered from the Souvlakis and Kabobs section: my son ordered the Greek Combo plate; $11.99 ($1.00 extra for lamb) two skewers of meat (beef, lamb, and pork, chicken) served with lemon rice and pita wedges.  I ordered the Souvlaki plate; $8.99 ($1.00 extra for lamb), one Greek style marinated chicken kabob with lemon rice and pita wedges. The side salads were of good size, crisp lettuce with cucumbers, onions and tomatoes. My salad was served with a tangy blue cheese and my son’s with the house Greek dressing. Both were equally good.

The lemon rice was delicious, moist with a delicate lemony tartness. The pita wedges were warm and soft.  The kabobs on my son’s plate were cooked well done and a bit dry, but still had a good flavor and not stringy.  My chicken kabob was also done well, but still retained some juiciness and the flavor was excellent.    We each had a glass of the House Table Red Wine which was okay but it did manage to clean the palate.

There was ample food on the plate, but we had to forego boxing up the left overs since we were traveling and had no way to preserve the food.  We informed our server about the over-cooked meat and he stated he would inform the chefs. We also commented that he might inform other diners to special order their meat.

 It was an enjoyable dining experience and we both would dine again to sample other items on the menu.  They offer dine in, take out and catering and seating is booths and tables with ample lighting and space to walk between.

They are open from 11Am to 9:30PM Daily.

For your convenience I have included scans of the take-out menu (click to enlarge):