Cafe Camille

The corned beef that was used on this sandwich was somewhat formed into a patty--it's the type that has a flavor that will stay with you for perhaps longer than you would like. The bread was grilled very nicely and there was a lot of Thousand Island dressing and sauerkraut. I paid extra for the onion rings instead of the chips, but they were average at best. The Cafe is French in its atmosphere, but not in its menu. The restaurant was cheerful and the service was friendly. Overall it was a good bargain for $4.89, but it's not good enough to make me want to stop by again.

The Cafe Camille sounds posh, and looking in the window one can see France-inspired clothing and fashion prints; once inside, though, the cafe is just another greasy spoon, complete with mismatched coffee mugs already on the tables. The atmosphere was a little like going into Aunt Martha's attic to see what treasures she might have--or, rather, like batty old Aunt Martha decided to serve coffee in her attic. While I didn't see actual dust, the place sort of resonated with the need for a good dusting. What Camille had going for it was the local flavor, of which we got an earful as we listened to a long-and-loud-winded conversation regarding elections local and national and what was quite possible some juicy local gossip, only we couldn't blow our cover by actually stopping all conversation and craning our necks to hear the scoop. Oh, the sandwich. It was a sandwich, and it fit the basic description of a Reuben: rye bread? Check. Some form of corned beef? Check. And so on. The bread was really thin, and I couldn't taste any caraway. The sandwich was heavy on the kraut, which I found delightful, and the dressing was superb. At the time, I found the Reuben a bit greasy. Three hours later, I found myself revising that description to 'greasy enough to cause it to haunt me and the husband for the rest of the day.' I'll try to be delicate: you don't want to eat the Camille's Reuben and then be stuck in a car with anyone for the rest of the day. You have been warned.