Critic's Review
After Rubio's and Pieology, I was ready for some actual food. French restaurants have been dropping like flies in this area; This place bought out Tommy and didn't seem nearly as rude as places like Le Cafe; places that I never even bothered to try.
I opened the door at 1:55pm to see a completely empty restaurant. The owner/chef was sitting in the back and he perked up as I entered. "Open for Lunch?" I quipped, fully knowing that they were open
The place looks like Tommy's with some different decorations, which is exactly what it is.
I asked if he had iced tea ("of course") and asked for some lemon while I pondered the menu. He brought it out right away and I initially didn't see the lemon. The little sliver dropped into the tea was hard to see from some angles.
I snickered a bit but didn't ask for more lemon. I had to fish out the sliver and squeeze it; restauranteurs don't seem to understand that you need to squeeze the lemon to get the juice into the tea. I contemplated sugar, but decided against it. Clearly the shakers here were inherited from Tommy.
Music isn't too French, although Alanis Morrisette is Canadian. Tracy Chapman isn't, nor is James Arthur. The place was dead quiet (due to me being the only person in the dining room), so the music seemed very crisp.
While I was waiting a couple came in and sat in the rear behind me, but they must have been married a long time because they hardly said a word to each other the entire time.
My Croque Madame came out in about 10 minutes.
"Croque Madame" is the fancy french name for a ham and cheese sandwich. A Croque Monsieur is just the sandwich; the Madame has a fried egg on top. They get $1.50 for an 18 cent egg, which is a nice markup. This version is served open-faced; sometimes it's an actual sandwich. This has to be eaten with a knife and a fork.
What was strange was that you'd think with the browned cheese on top that the cheese would be piping hot, but it wasn't hot at all. It was warm. Could these be pre-made and reheated?
The sandwich comes with fries or a salad; I went for the greens. Visually, the dish was well constructed, but the flavors didn't pop. This is better with a nice baked ham; the ham was hard to identify. There was a spear of mustard; the cheese had a very mild favor. All of the flavors were kind of subdued.
About halfway through I became disinterested in the the sandwich, which is always a bad sign. The weeds were made edible with a light vinaigrette; a competent but uninspiring lunch.
The dude disappeared until he finished cooking for the couple, so I had to wait a bit for my check. No refill offered on the tea.
Conclusion
This place is a one-man band which makes it feel less like a restaurant than most other places. I get the impression that the owner is a competent cook; although for $12.50 the sandwich I had simply wasn't good enough. For that price give me some good ham; a slice of boiled ham isn't going to get me to come back again. $11.50 for a hot dog because it has some fancy cheese on it simply won't go over well in America.
His dinner prices are the same as his lunch price, which indicated a cultural lack of understanding of the US. It also explains the empty restaurant.