Life | 5/7/08

Media Credit: Eric Gazzillo

Cafe Nordstrom, tucked within the second floor of the Nordstrom department store in Towson Town Center, is pretty hard to find.

Seriously, I accidentally bought some food at the small coffee shop one floor down, which once, as I recall, was called Nordstrom Cafe. So I went there, went home, then realized I went to the wrong place.

But once I found the real cafe, what I found was pretty unremarkable.

Cafe Nordstrom is basically an upscale fast casual restaurant. Upon walking in, I was greeted by the server who took my order up front. I sat down and waited for my order to be brought out. The wait wasn't long. I was in and out in about 20 minutes.

The atmosphere is decent. The restaurant has a big window with a view overlooking the woods on Fairmount Avenue.

When I dropped by, the restaurant was mostly populated with retirees and people on their lunch breaks, along with Nordstrom's usual clientele. Canned elevator-style music plays over the speakers. Yeah, it's one of those places.

The cafe has a very small menu of gourmet soups, salads, sandwiches, and several specialty dishes. With this gourmet food, however, comes a gourmet price. The least expensive entrees clock in at $8.75. My whole lunch hit about $17. Hold on to your wallets, people.

The menu has more chicken dishes than Jim Perdue on the Atkins diet. Vegetarians are going to have a bit of trouble here, as everything on the menu - except the soups, one of the specialties and one of the salads - has meat in it.

I started off with a bowl of the soup of the day, cream of mushroom ($3.50 for a cup, $4.50 for a bowl). It was very good, very thick, and probably the best value on the menu. It's definitely a good treat for the winter months, and something I'd come back for.

My entree was the tomato basil fettuccini ($8.75). It was very good, with fresh tomatoes and shaved Parmesan cheese.

The problem is there isn't nearly enough of it. The waiter brought it out, and I was genuinely surprised that there was so little of it. I briefly considered channeling my inner Oliver Twist and asking for some more.

The cafe is certainly a step above in-store offerings at other department stores, and its quiet setting is certainly far preferable to Rainforest Cafe's gimmicks and obnoxious kids or T.G.I. Friday's inherent chaos, so those looking for a low-end sit-down dinner could do far worse in Towson Town Center. But for the casual diner, or somebody just looking for food during their shopping trip, there are many other places besides Cafe Nordstrom, especially in the mall, that have bigger servings and equally good food that aren't a hike away from everything else and won't leave a crater in your budget.

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