Urbane Café Restaurant Chain Makes Good on the Peninsula

Urbane Café
3954 W. Point Loma Blvd, Suite B,
San Diego, California 92110
Phone (619) 374-0183
www.urbanecafe.com

By LK Bruce

Hallelujah. You might not think the 42nd location in a sandwich/ salad/ soup outfit would elicit such a response but it does.

Urbane Café was founded by two friends in Ventura, hoping to fill a need there for a great sandwich and salad. Feeling every great sandwich starts with the freshest of bread, they designed the cafe around a hearth oven. The two came up with a bread recipe that was soft and round, baked “right in front of your eyes.” The menu then centered around locally sourced ingredients, house-roasted meats, and housemade crafted sauces to give each creation its own unique flavor. Though a chain at this point, they’re still family owned.

Urbane Café’s long-time location at the base of the University of San Diego may well be known to some Peninsula dwellers. Though just a hop and a skip from the Peninsula, to some it is psychologically remote, given the need to cross both I-5 and 8 to get there. Still it was always worth the hurdle, offering a unique take on lunch. When you remembered it.

After the demise of House of Yogi across the parking lot from Grocery Outlet on West Point Loma Blvd., news came that Urbane Café would open a location at that site. So we waited. And waited. And waited. Then Hallelujah. It opened in January. And it is good.

First, it’s a much larger store than one across those Rubicons of I-5 and 8. It boasts seven four-tops and three deuces inside and four four-tops and four deuces outside – plenty of space. And the parking is similarly light years better.

On our first visit, we were welcomed with a chorus of “Welcome in!” and a bright, clean atmosphere. I was immediately intrigued by the “Really Good Fish Sandwich” special, which comes with both pickled and crispy onions and yes, a really good piece of baked barramundi. Also piled on are housemade apple coleslaw and tartar sauce. I was kind of shocked at how good it was. Maybe for $12.75 it should be great but at least it is. If you’re like us and only eat half a sandwich at a time anyway for $12.75 you get two meals.

My husband ordered the “So-Cal” chicken sandwich, a regular menu item which boasts all natural roasted chicken, avocado (a must for anything labeled “So-Cal”), pepper jack, tomatillo salsa and chipotle aioli. He thought it delicious. Both sandwiches come with a decent handful of greens, lightly dressed with two mandarin orange slices to delight you.

The café offers excellent freshly baked cookies (chocolate chip, white chocolate cranberry, oatmeal raisin and carmel chip), various potato chips and a better than average drink bar with agua frescas, specialty lemonades, elevated iced tea, craft sodas, Mexican Coke, and more.

On our second visit I ordered the Tofu Banh Mi and was once again pleasantly surprised with the flavor and quality. My husband ordered the Pastrami Tri-Tip sandwich which is a contradiction in terms if you ask me, but he liked it fine.

There are 15 sandwiches, all told, divided into protein or vegetarian categories, all served on the same bread and with green salad tickled with mandarin slices.

We went for dinner take-out for our third experience. I tried to order the “Really Good Fish Bowl” special but they were out of barramundi so I went with the Salmon Bowl. It was tasty and tummy-filling with rice, marinated kale, edamame, roasted sweet potatoes and sweet chili aioli drizzle. In addition to these bowls they have a Mediterranean Bowl, a Seared Ahi Bowl and a Baja Bowl, the latter sporting all the usual ingredients with a special ranch cilantro vinaigrette drizzle.

Still on the bucket list are the soups and the salads. There’s one soup du jour per day and seven regular salads. The latter include, Ahi, Cilantro Chicken, Crunchy Peanut, Santa Maria BBQ, Keto Cobb, pear and pecan with goat cheese salad (the “Café”), and a Power Veggie which looks like it could cure whatever ails you.

There’s a kid menu and Honest Kid’s Apple Juice to go with. And catering. And for you music fans, this is where I’m going to be snagging my picnics for this summer’s Point Loma Summer Concerts. See you there.