Thursday, June 24, 2010

Canon Restaurant Review: Downtown Cafe (Lavonia, GA)

Earlier today, my friend Dickson S. and I went to The Downtown Cafe in Lavonia, GA for an early dinner. The place has been open for over ten years, but for some reason, I had never dined there until today. Why, you might ask? Well, it's because I tend to go out of town whenever I want to go out to eat. To be honest, I had not heard a lot of strong recommendations about this place, but I was in the mood to eat some Italian food and was curious to see what it was all about for myself.

So we get there and enter the building. Not surprisingly, since it was 5:00 on a Wednesday, the place was nearly empty, as there were a mere three people there eating when we got there. We stayed there about 45 minutes, and not many other people came in during the time we were in there. I don't know if that was because of the time of day or because of the quality of the food, but since they've been open so long I guess they're doing something right.

Anyway, we get there and take a seat at a table next to a koi pond. The decor is rather basic, but not too shabby, and there are plenty of tables there. Plus the place has a little bar that diners can sit and eat their food at if they so wish. The menu reminded me a lot of the menu from Royston's Italian Garden, which I reviewed a few months back (and has unfortunately closed since then). In fact, there wasn't much difference at all, as both places served Greek and Italian dinners, traditional American dishes like hamburgers and steaks, and a variety of subs. The waitress took our drink orders, and I asked for Dr. Pepper but I was told that they were out. Well, I found that a bit odd, but I just ordered a Mountain Dew instead, while Dickson ordered some pink lemonade. Once I got a look at the menu, I decided on ordering Spaghetti a la Venus, which basically was a giant bowl of spaghetti topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese, along with sliced peppers, onions, and mushrooms. The dish came with a side salad and some garlic bread. Dickson ordered the chicken Parmesan dish, which I actually almost ordered before settling on my choice.

The salad came rather quickly, and came with two slices of tomato and a green chili pepper. Normally, the salad also would come with cucumbers, but they were out of that as well. Since I don't like cucumbers, I did not mind too much, but still it was a little odd. The salad was decent enough, and unlike other places, at least the lettuce looked clean and tasted somewhat fresh. After that, our meal came, and I was surprised at just how big my bowl of food was. It was quite a generous portion of spaghetti, I must say. The meal was really just ok, as the sauce wasn't very flavorful and it was a bit runny. Other than that it was all right. Dickson really didn't say much about his food, but from what I could tell he wasn't very fond of it. I will say that our waitress was quite attentive and friendly, so that's a positive.

Afterwards, we were bored so we decided to walk over to the Lavonia Antique Mall to see what kind of stuff they had in there. It was packed was stuff, most of which I would have no idea what it's worth or what to do with it, but it had a little bit of everything. After a half an hour or so, I ended up by a book (Billyball, by Billy Martin with Phil Pepe) and two comic books from the X-Factor series from 1987. Dickson purchased a giant aquamarine change bank so he can keep his change and fight his enemies with. Well, that's my version of things anyway.

Overall, if you're in the mood for eating out and are limited to staying in Lavonia, well there are worst choices than the Downtown Cafe. It's not too bad, and I suppose I would go again if somebody I was with wanted to go there, but it's rather mediocre I would say. Overall, I'll give the place a 4.6 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas for future reviews, than send them over to me at KtheC2001@gmail.com. Tommorow, I think I'll watch and review Starrcade 1994, so that should be excruciating for me, but it could be entertaining, so we will see.

Downtown Cafe & Pizzeria on Urbanspoon

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