The Hill Cafe

I hate to admit it, but I have become one of those crotchety old dykes who openly dreads the return of the VCU student from their summer vacations. It doesn’t matter that I went to school there at one time, and was one of them…. The way I see it, they take up space at restaurants I want to eat at… bars I want to drink at, and intersections I’m trying to drive through.

Saturday morning we had set out to take the kids to brunch before they left for 2 weeks in NoVA. We had our hearts set on 821 Bakery Café, where visions of fancy grits and spinach omlets wafted ethereally through our heads. “What the %&#$!!!” I sputtered, as we turned onto Cary St and spotted a small horde of trendy hair-dos and studded belt types sprawled on the sidewalk in front of 821, and spilling out the screen door. Then I saw the “Move In Day” signs outside Gladding Hall. Time for Plan B. I hadn’t really thought up a Plan B, but K thought we should head for Church Hill- “As far away from VCU as possible.”

And that’s how my 821 Bakery Café review turned into a Hill Café review.

The first thing we noticed when we walked into the Hill Café, was that there were lots of empty tables. The second thing we noticed was that there was no brunch menu. We suspected a connection. We also decided to suck it up and just have lunch.

K and I ordered Bloody Marys- which were large, but had to be some of the blandest Bloodys I’ve ever had. Mine required half a small bottle of Tabasco sauce and a portion of the pepper shaker to be drinkable. Now this sounds weird, and I’ve never had much opinion about soda, but M’s Coke was one of the best Cokes I’ve ever tasted. It had the perfect syrup-to-soda ratio, and since the waitstaff was so good about keeping the kids’ soda glasses full, they didn’t mind that I kept stealing sips. Normally they put up a howl about it, because I don’t usually give them soda unless we’re out and they want it all for themselves.

K and I ordered the Oyster PoBoys. We got them with the shoestring style fries (which the kids declared "the best fries EVER.”) The PoBoy comes with a dill sauce, and tomatoes, and the oysters are fried to crispy perfection. It’s a very good sandwich.

The girl had a chicken Caesar salad, which consisted of romaine, croutons, parmesan, topped with a grilled chicken breast. It looked good, and she was very pleased with it. My eyeball assessment was that it was nothing extraordinary, but it looked fresh and well prepared. The Boy’s fruit & cheese plate fell into the same category- There were a bunch of butterfly crackers, lots of grapes, a few strawberries and a variety of cheese- I spotted gouda, swiss, and a semisoft white cheese that looked like Fontina. He was very happy and had enough left over to bring home and have a hefty snack later.

The Hill allows smoking and has a full bar. Although it’s not somewhere I’d go for any kind of special, exotic or fancy cuisine, the food we had was good, and we will be back at some point, I am sure. And it’s my unsolicited opinion that a Saturday brunch menu would bring a lot of folks in… of course then there wouldn’t be anywhere for me to sit.

The Hill Cafe
2800 E. Broad St
804-648-0360