I'm surprised noone else has commented on the food at Little City either, so here's my take as one who works close to the capital and eats lunch downtown nearly 5 days a week. About 4 years ago, I frequented this place for lunch. Their salad's were very nice with fresh greens and tangy dressing. The poets place always featured fresh fruit, veggies and cheese. The sandwiches were never loaded with meat, but nice quality of bread and some different combinations served with really good chips/salsa. The soup's were different and I believe, homemade. Overall, it was a place to get a healthy, tastey lunch with a yummy coffee on the side. Their coffee and espresso drinks are still consistently good, but in the last couple years, the quality of service has crashed into these hipsters with no clue how to talk to customers or provide anything that resembles service. The food has also suffered greatly. I too had the experience of going there for an early lunch and having to wait for them to get up and running in the kitchen. Often, if you go before noon, you cannot get the soup. I guess all the hipsters get up too late to start the soup. Not only has service quality suffered in the past couple years, but the food is no longer fresh tasting. The salad greens are often slimey and the breads are always days old or days old tasting. I quit going there for any food. Haven't ordered anything off the menu in years. But perhaps they're taking notice of the decline in food orders? Within the past couple of months (summer 2007?), it looks like they've taken many of their plates off the menu and added some new sandwiches. I'm hoping for better things as this used to be an Austin institution very worthy of my business! It's such a disappointment to see the quality go downhill, especially since they are down to this location and the one in BookPeople.
Pros: Atmosphere, location
Cons: Hipsters with no service ethic and food often not fresh tasting
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