Meli Cafe

When traveling, it’s good to have a local with you that knows the turf and the ins and outs of where to eat and where to stay away from.

Our lovely Chicago host brought us to Meli Cafe for breakfast before we hit the tarmac and headed back to the greatest city in the world (nyc that is).

The first thing I noticed when I opened the menu was this:

I already liked this place and I hadn’t even tried the food yet.

Although I didn’t order off the gluten-free menu, our waitress was knowledgeable enough to let me know what was safe to eat. I went with:

Spicy Flamenco Omelet w/ chicken chorizo, jalapenos, onions, tomato, avocado & cilantro (gluten-free): I nixed the sour cream and pepper jack and ordered it with egg whites in an effort to keep this somewhat healthy. It was a perfect omelet, exactly what I like. They also made it correctly as opposed to my biggest omelet pet peeve ever: not mixing all the ingredients together with the egg before frying.

Oh and guess what? They offered gluten-free toast as a bread option. I felt like a kid in a candy store.

Some grub from around the table included:

Simply Vegetables Sandwich: veggie patty layered w/ portobello, roasted red peppers, & swiss on a toasted buttery bun

Pikantiko Mound: Chicken Chorizo, jalapeno, tomato, potato, pepper jack, sour cream sauce, chipotle sauce: Served over potatoes. This (minus the bread or plus GF bread) was gluten-free. Eating a mound sounded rather beastly, however, I am pretty sure my dish ended up being a larger portion.