If any or all of these are on your checklist, you should definitely check out Café Annie’s located at 16909 Lakeside Hills Plaza. Café Annie’s was opened by Chuck Perry, who noticed that there were not enough healthy, fast options available for people and that this was contributing to our country’s obesity epidemic. He was particularly concerned with children as he saw how more and more of them were starting to have weight problems, much of which can be attributed to fast food. In response to this, he made sure a large focus of his new restaurant would be on healthy options that were appealing to the whole family. After trying out what Café Annie’s has to offer, we can definitely say he has succeeded!
We visited Café Annie’s on a Friday afternoon and were impressed by the clean, classic atmosphere with a pleasant green motif and plenty of places to sit, including booths, tables and even a couch area. There were a number of people already dining, including families, those on their lunch break and even a few people conducting business and utilizing the café’s free high-speed internet. We took some time to study the menu and tried to narrow down our choices as everything looked amazing. Unfortunately, we came at noon and were not able to try any of the breakfast options (which they stop serving at noon), but noticed they not only have breakfast sandwiches, but also omelettes, south of the border options and classics like two eggs and a pancake.
We tried to select an option from each portion of large menu so we could get a good idea of everything they have to offer. Our choices included the meat lovers pizzette (Sam Marzano tomato sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni), Street Tacos (chicken, carnitas or steak served on warm corn tortillas with shredded cabbage, pico de gallo, salsa verde and Mexican cheese blend), Greek Island salad (fresh mixed greens and romaine with tangy Greek dressing, feta crumbles, sliced red onions, tomatoes and black olives with pepperoncini peppers), Annie’s Best salad (fresh mixed greens and romaine, smoked bacon, fresh avocado, feta crumbles, tomatoes and choice of dressing), Hail Caesar Chicken Wrap, Portobello Peppernata Panini (roasted Portobello mushrooms, sun dried tomato pesto, fresh avocado and provolone on ciabatta bread), the Omaha Reuben and Prime Rib French Dip. We were especially impressed with the wrap, which is in a unique Paratha wrap that is baked at the restaurant and is fluffy and light, and the Annie’s Best salad, which was served with their signature house dressing, which is amazing.
Many of the options (sandwiches, wraps and paninis) also come with a side item, which include chips and salsa, picnic coleslaw, Annie’s side salad, market fresh fruit, house soup or soup of the day. Our favorites were the chips and salsa, the tangy yet not too sweet coleslaw and the amazing soups (chicken tortilla and roasted tomato).
Café Annie’s also makes sure to have delicious, healthy options that are appealing to kids. They have three choices (PB&J, cheese quesadilla and a kid-size pepperoni pizza) and each is served with fruit and a cookie.
Chuck Perry and his staff focus as much as possible on making everything they can from scratch and on offering meals that are just as pleasing to the palate as they are delectable. When you dine at Café Annie’s, not only do you feel good about supporting a locally owned business who is doing the right things for his patrons and his community, but you also feel good about feeding yourself and your family healthy food. Definitely a win-win situation and we recommend everyone give Café Annie’s a try!
For more information about Café Annie’s, please visit them online at www.cafeannies.com.