Cafe 56 - Holding Up Very Well

I have a long history with Cafe 56; when I worked downtown it was one of my favorite lunch spots.  C56 was located on the corner of E.4th and Euclid (long before E.4th became the hip place to eat and be seen).  Originally the idea was to offer 56 different salads (that's were the 56 in the name came from) with large portions and quality ingredients.  C56 has gone through expansion and contraction, but has managed to keep itself a good place to get quality food at an affordable price.  Now located at 1433 Som Center Road in the Eastgate Shopping Center at the corner of SOM Center & Mayfield Roads (map is here), C56 is low key, but worth looking for.

Once inside I was very pleased to see that C56 had been recently redecorated and looked sleek and new.  The decor is shades of gray with stainless steel accents, but the feel is softened by the free form art and tree branches on the wall.  The overall feel is modern but welcoming. 
I also noticed that they have come up with a new menu that is closer to their sibling restaurant 56W which I was very impressed by (the review for 56W is here).  The menu features rice bowls, salads, sandwiches, soups and large plates where you get to pick your protein, sauce, salad and side for $10.  Not quite as diverse or quirky as the menu at 56W, but still some solid choices available.  Since I was using a Groupon (try it here), I had $15 to spend, which meant planning to take some home.  

I picked the soup and salad combo for $7 and a Salmon sandwich for $8.  Starting out with the Portobello Bisque which was excellent.  A large bowl was filled with a rich and luxurious cream soup studded with firm mushroom pieces and accented by onioney chive pieces.  The soup was just the right thickness and had a wonderful balanced flavor with just a hint of acidity to balance out the creaminess.  Combined with woody mushroom flavor it was a great start to the meal.

I had the Salmon Club sandwich ($8) with avocado subbed for the bacon and it was very good.  A large portion of salmon was grilled perfectly, then separated into smaller pieces instead of being a single fillet.  The avocado, lettuce, tomato and aoili (think fancy mayonnaise) formed a welcome platform for the flavorful, but mild fish.  The portion of fish was so large that I put some on the salad I had to take home.  After having many poor versions of home made potato chips, C56 gets it right with crispy chips that were not overcooked.

The Caesar salad that came as part of the combo was smaller then the main menu salads, but still a large portion of crisp fresh romaine lettuce, crunchy croutons, shaves of Romano cheese and a wonderful thick version of Caesar dressing.  Since there was so much food, this went home for lunch the next day and it was a great salad.  All of the ingredients were fresh and flavorful, the dressing was nicely balanced and is one of the better interpretations of the Caesar flavors.   Accompanied by the pretzel bagel and topped with some of the Salmon from the sandwich, it was a good light lunch.


C56 has managed to tweak its menu and decor over the years to keep up with changing tastes, the current Cafe is a great place to get high quality food at an affordable price.  Flavors for the most part are simple and straightforward, but bold enough to work.  A great place to get some good food.