Joe's Cafe has become too crowded and you're sick of the sandwiches at Capo. For a meager ten-minute ride from campus (or 20 minute walk if you’re feeling particularly outdoorsy), try Cafe Plenty, the quaint sandwich café and coffee bar that is entirely worth the small trek. Located in the Rittenhouse Square area, the outside appearance is inviting and after walking in, we immediately felt like we’d wandered into a scene from GIRLS–in a good way.
The simultaneously rustic and modern décor is so well coordinated that even the air vents seem like a purposeful design choice. A wall-to-wall window in the front fills the joint with natural light. The front of the store has the coffee bar and a seating area with stairs leading to a second level. This upper level has more tables and is completely filled with people working diligently on laptops. Think Starbucks next to Hill, but hipper.
The food is inspired by places all over the world, all of which the owners have traveled to. This ranges from cities in the United States like New Orleans to Australia, leaving a wide selection of casual breakfast bites to choose from. And these sandwiches aren't just your boring old "caprese," but instead are made up of intricate components, all house made. For example, the "Texas" offers house smoke brisket with a secret BBQ sauce, things not typically found in a corner cafe. We ordered at the coffee bar and were called to get our food before we had chosen a table and we're not even that picky about tables.
We started with drinks—a caffé latte ($3.47) and a hot chocolate ($2.50). Both were the perfect temperature and creamy without being too rich. Rival Bros. coffee is brewed better here than in Van Pelt. We downed both our drinks almost immediately.
For sandwiches, we ordered a Spanish-inspired egg white sandwich ($7) and a Genoa, Italy inspired Genovese Pesto chicken sandwich ($9.75). All of the sandwiches are available without bread or on a gluten free baguette and both were good choices. While the egg white sandwich was not a life-changing dish due to its fairly bland favor, the fresh side salad it came with was excellent. But the Genovese pesto sandwich was a wonderful collision of crisp vegetables and savory chicken that we’d happily get again. And while the sandwiches were on the pricier side, we got a lot for what we paid for.
If you’re looking to escape campus to a place with solid sandwiches and pleasantly abundant outlets for charging, Café Plenty is definitely a good bet.
