Cafe Rani

-- restaurant review --

Cafe Rani has a lot of things going for it that I must let you know about.

For one, it has a prime location. It is right on Magazine Street with popular shops surrounding it. There is a nice little indoor seating area with a bar that is comfortable but still nice enough to feel a little fancy. The outdoor seating, however, is really where it's at. With New Orleans' climate it is lovely to sit outside in the sun year round or under the shade of a huge leafy tree. I'm not sure if many restaurants in New Orleans can claim such a nice dining atmosphere as under an old Louisiana tree with the sunshine coming through and a light breeze.

The food is definitely the best thing about Cafe Rani and I would give just the food five stars. There is a vegetarian section of the menu and all of the food is made with the freshest ingredients. Cafe Rani claims that they were "green" before it was cool to be green. The eggs sardou has a creamed spinach and artichoke base for a fluffy egg and golden hollandaise sauce. With your sardou you can choose between chips (Zapps), grits, or cheesy grits. The cheesy grits were mm mm mm good because they topped the grits with a layer of toasty cheese instead of mixing it in. The entire meal was lick-your-plate good and to top it off I had my favorite brunch/lunch (or dinner, even) drink- a bloody mary. I enjoyed it but the drink was very light on the alcohol and wasn't spicy enough for me. I like my bloody mary with a little zap to my taste buds (like at Bridge Lounge). My dining companion had a burger and said he would give it 4/5 stars when compared to all burgers he's had in his lifetime.

eggs sardou and cheese grits

burger with avocado on top

I have to note: the only little ding on the experience is that we waited for our meal for a good long while only to have the waiter come tell us that he had forgotten to put our order in. This wouldn't have bugged me so much if the maitre d' wasn't so awkward and could've understood that all we were asking for was a seat in the sun.

virgin bloody mary and then rani mary

Finally, for two people to have brunch with one drink each but without dessert you're looking at about $35-40 (sandwiches and burgers from about $10-$15 drinks $7-$10). Luckily our living social deal got us the entire meal for fifteen buckeroos! Cafe Rani is usually pretty busy and is crowded with uptown ladies lunching or rich college girls meeting for drinks on their parent's credit cards. If you can stand the uppity crowd and the occasional shoddy service the food here is worth it! I will be back often, especially considering I only live a few blocks away.