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| - Located in a the former Victor Allen's Coffee on the busy intersection of Odana Road and Whitney Way, Cafe Maya opened with little fanfare last month. After perusing their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Cafe-Maya-678670192233687/timeline) and determining their served up a variety of sandwiches, pastries and breakfast foods, I decided to pay them a visit. While the food is still a work in progress, the redesigned interior is definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a welcoming space to hang on the West Side.
While I recognized the layout of the former tenant of the space, the new occupant completely reinvigorated the interior. The walls, which received a fresh coat of taupe paint, now feature vividly colored artwork that immediately caught my eye as I entered the restaurant. Coupled with the accent lighting, I initially thought I stepped into an art gallery. While the shop could use more comfy chairs, there is plenty of available seating and has a strong Wi-Fi signal. The Mexican-themed music that gently played over the speakers added to the relaxed ambiance. In the summer months, there is an outdoor patio. For those of you looking for a location to set up a base of mobile operations on the West Side, Café Maya is a solid option.
In addition to the usual variety of hot and cold coffee-based drinks, the shop also offers other tempting beverage options like fruit smoothies, horchata, coffee floats and Mexican hot chocolate. The pastry selections, though somewhat picked over when I arrived in the early afternoon, include freshly baked croissants, cookies and scones. In addition to waffles and oatmeal, Café Maya offers a variety of sandwiches on sourdough bread or croissants.
I elected to go with the eponymous Maya Sandwich (Chicken, smoked bacon, mozzarella, avocado, red onions, tomatoes with a chipotle ranch dressing) for $9, which included a small spinach salad lightly dressed with a bright honey mustard vinaigrette. The thinly sliced bread had a difficult time containing the bounty of fillings generously supplied by the kitchen. While the bread did offer plenty of flavor, the sandwich would have benefited from a thicker slice and more time in the toaster. The chicken was moist, but needed a dash of salt to amp up the flavor. While the chipotle ranch provided a pleasant kick, the rest of the ingredients felt like standard, institutional grade quality. Especially disappointing was the super thin bacon that provided almost no smoked flavor. Overall, my sandwich was a work in progress, but there is potential as the kitchen fine tunes its offerings. Still, it's far superior to any of the chain sandwich shops that have proliferated on the West Side.
I also purchased a blueberry scone to go. While it did not have much of an exterior crunch, the inside was moist, tender and flakey with a subtle natural sweetness.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my über enthusiastic server. While Café Maya providers counter service, it didn't preclude him from checking in on me from time to time. He also provided a thorough summary of the sandwich offerings when I mentioned this was my first visit to the restaurant.
While my sandwich was a solid three stars, the relaxed setting, the attentive service and the fine baked goods push the overall rating to four stars.
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