Dining and drinking review: The Art House Café

Review and photos by Ted Broussard

The Art House Café is located at 111 North Tacoma Ave.

Worth the 1.5 Mile Walk
Yes, I know the focus of these food reviews is supposed to be on restaurants within walking distance of The Esplanade. Every once in a while though, I come across a place that’s so good that I think everybody needs to know about it. Such is the case with breakfast at Art House Café in the Stadium District. Walking is not out of the question to get there, if 1.5 miles doesn't scare you off. You can even take the Link to the last stop at the Theater District to give you a head start, and cut the walk down by a mile or so. 

Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, Art House Cafe is all about “Scratch American Cuisine” with a spotlight on flavor and local, fresh ingredients. We've had dinner there before and were impressed enough to plan to return, but our most recent visit was for breakfast and this one knocked our socks off. 

We got there about 8:30 a.m. and had our pick of tables but the place was full by the time we left. Service is friendly and welcoming and our waitress seemed sincerely interested that we were enjoying our food. The breakfast menu has good variety and every dish we had was outstanding. From our first cup of coffee to the cinnamon roll (today’s Pastry of the Day) to the eggs benedict, each dish was perfectly executed and full of delicious flavor. The cinnamon roll was warm, gooey and clearly homemade in the best sense of the word. We savored every bite by eating half before the entrée and the other half as our dessert after. The eggs benedict was made with jambon ham and citrus hollandaise, served with sautéed baby new potatoes and a generous arugula salad with blue cheese sprinkles, roasted cashews and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. We were initially surprised by the salad with a breakfast entrée, but it was so good, we immediately cut them some slack and chalked it up to calling it brunch. 

My only slight complaint was that the waitress got a bit busy and forgot to check on coffee refills. That didn’t stop me from polishing off the cinnamon roll though, and she immediately brought over the carafe when I brought it to her attention. 

Art House Café is excellent. They take pride in cooking from scratch and using fresh ingredients and the proof is in the pudding, if you will. You can drive or you can walk but you should definitely give them a try.