Casa de Luz Review (North Park)

MuseumGirl and I tried Casa de Luz today for lunch before pickup. ("Plant-based cuisine" on Univ. Ave at 30th).

Wanted to go with another friend last week.  However, there's one tricky thing about it.  They only have one entree choice per meal, and they only announce it a few hours in advance! I was set to go after reading yummy lentil or squash entrees, and just before I went to meet my friend I saw it would be "bed of cabbage" with shitake mushrooms. Yuk/not filling for a not cheap meal!

MuseumGirl and I confirmed that the menu looked good so went today.

ATMOSPHERE: Light and airy meets former warehouse. Lots of communal tables and smaller tables. Kind of fun.

SERVICE: Order at the counter. It's not super-organized. But the staff seemed friendly. It's confusing to have a cafeteria line but you do your order for many things only at the end.

Today's menu was

Soups:


Miso
Sweet potato



Salads:

Carrot, broccoli & daikon

Beet, cabbage & cucumber

Mixed greens with a miso tahini dressing



Entree:

Roasted kabucha squash stuffed with white beans, collard greens, onion, garlic & bojito olives

With red quinoa & Italian seasoning, zucchini ribbons, lemon & parsley



SOUP : I chose sweet potato (with floating broccoli). $5.  Very tasty and healthy-tasting.

SALAD; MG choose the beet, cabbage and cucumber. She was crazy for it; I thought it was tasty too but was glad I chose the soup. $5

ENTREE:  Mixed bag. Good overall; I cleaned the plate. But considering that they're only making one dish a day, and they bring it straight from the kitchen when it's ready, the temp. should have been better.  Some components were hot and others lukewarm.  Liked the zucchini ribbons section best. Quinoa was good but not hot. Squash portion was kind of strange and kind of tasty. 

I wouldn't necessarily return, but MG decided we should stay to caffeinate. That brought us to the best part of the meal....

COFFEE! They have some badass French press. Yum. And it comes with coconut sugar and almond milk. But it was so tasty it was good black.

DESSERT: I got a choco. ganache cheesecake (it's vegan of course like everything here, so cashew-based). Delish! ($3.95-ish).  MG got a lavendar lemonade cookie ($1.95ish) that she didn't like as much.

WINE: Not a huge selection, and MG"s wine (a Chilean) was kind of nasty.

On the basis of the atmosphere, great coffee and dessert, would come again.  But this place could be a whole lot better if the food were hot and the menu was less unpredictable!