Cafe at the Gardens * * * * *

There's a new restaurant in town.  Alldredge Gardens, a long time plant house, has built and opened Cafe at the Gardens on the premises, and it's a very classy eatery in a leafy setting.

There are two places for customers to sit.  There's a very nice dining room and there's the plant filled atrium which has some very nice ponds with colorful fish swimming lazily among the rocks.  It was a very relaxing lunch.

I had the Classic Caesar salad ($5.00), the Margarita Pizza ($8.00), and tasty peach flavored tea ($2.49).  It was all quite good, too.

The pizza had mozzarella cheese with Roma tomatoes and basil on a very thin and delicious crust.   It certainly wasn't a typical pizza.  And even the leaf shape puts the diner on notice that it wasn't going to be your poppa's pizza.  It had a great taste, and I was prepared to take home a doggie bag, but I gobbled up the whole thing right there on the spot.

And here's a word about the clientele.  There was an old rule of thumb that said you could always find a good cafe by looking for one that has lots of trucks in the parking lot.  That may or may not be true now.  And I didn't see many trucks in the lot.

But here's another aphorism that's been true for a long time.  Look for women.  If you go into a restaurant and the female customers outnumber the male customers by about three to one, then you can be sure that the place is heavy on ambiance, and the food is going to be tasty and presented in a very pleasing manner.  (I suppose in the interest of full disclosure I should mention that your wallet may feel a bit lighter when you leave.)

This being a startup cafe, there were some kinks which I'm sure will get worked out over time.  But, all in all, the place deserves a top score of five stars with a double scoop of kudos for the gutsy move of opening a one-of-a-kind fine dining restaurant in this town where a list of favorite restaurants would be sure to contain too many well known brand name franchises.

I've always said that no one comes to Midland for the food.  And this might not be the tipping point, but it certainly is a start in the right direction.

So thanks to the owners of Alldredge Gardens for bringing us this fine restaurant.  Here's hoping it is a huge success.

Update:  A review of dinner time dining at Cafe at the Gardens can be found at  Fire Ant Gazette.

Comments

[Wallace-Midland, Texas]

Thanks for the review. We've been talking about trying it.

[jamielynne]

Guess who comes to Midland for the food?
I do.
As one of several Midland High grads who landed in the DC area, I know the power of mentioning even the possibility that my mom may FedEx some Rosa's tortillas. Whenever we're together the conversation is likely to turn to Tex-Mex. And anytime one of us is heading home, the restaurant lists come out. There's never enough time to hit them all --
Rosa's
La Bodega
Luigi's
Murray's
Michael's
THE BAR

and the chain's we don't have around here --
Whataburger
Sonic

I've been home twice in two months and I am starving.

[Geo]

You come here for the food?? If you hadn't said it I wouldn't have believed it!

But I have to say that is a very impressive list.

Thanks JamieLynne!