Life > October 9, 2008

By Olivia Boyce | Contributing writer

Simplyummy is an artsy, eclectic café and coffeehouse located just off campus in Reynolda Village. Simplyummy is an artsy, eclectic café and coffeehouse located just off campus in Reynolda Village. Three friends and I made the short drive to the café for a Saturday afternoon lunch and were not disappointed.

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The ambiance inside Simplyummy, despite the café’s kitshy name, is cute and creative without being cliché. The restaurant housed in the historic Reynolda farms blacksmith shop. A big, brick fireplace is nestled into one corner while a beautiful, round window takes up the majority of the café’s main wall.

The rest of the walls are covered with artwork from a variety of local artists who Simplyummy prides itself on supporting. The artwork is changed out every few months so there are always new works to admire.

Seating options include high chairs at the coffee bar, comfy leather couches, an outdoor patio or art-covered tabletops surrounded by wooden benches and chairs.

Walking inside, my friends and I grabbed a menu printed on assorted brightly colored paper and sat down to make a food decision.

As quickly noticed by my meat and potato loving Irish boyfriend, the café’s food choices are definitely on the lighter side. The lunch menu includes swanky sandwiches, soups and salads made with local, organic ingredients. The combinations were more sophisticated than your typical lunch joint, however, the upscale organic menu was a bit pricey.

After perusing the menu, our table’s choices were as followed: old-school American grilled-cheese sandwich with tomato soup and brown sugar mashed sweet potatoes, marinated and grilled portabello sandwich with a veggie platter with hummus, the salad of the week, an avocado and bacon sandwich with pasta salad, and the lemon, thyme and rosemary chicken salad.

We went to the bar to order our food and pay, and the dishes were fairly quickly brought to our table. Everyone enjoyed their meals and agreed that this high end, fresh food was much more satisfying than that of the Fresh Food Company on campus.

While the entrées were good, our favorite part of the meal was yet to come. Above the coffeebar, Simplyummy displays a huge listing of assorted teas and coffees. Our table ordered a regular coffee and a pot of English breakfast tea, both of which were delicious. For those of you more adventurous in your warm, caffeinated beverage consumption, they had a number of chai, latte and espresso choices.

As we ordered our drinks we couldn’t help but notice the assortment of fancy desserts on display.

Choosing a butterscotch blondie, a mocha brownie, an oatmeal and butterscotch cookie and a huge slice of chocolate cake with butter cream frosting, we returned to the table to split our bounty. All of the desserts were amazing, and our group couldn’t come to a consensus on which dish was the best. Dessert is a definite if you are visiting Simplyummy, so make sure to save room! After leaving Reynolda Village, my group discussed that the desserts, coffee and tea were definitely worth coming back for. The eclectic feel of the place provided a refreshing change from Starbucks.

Be forewarned, the hours at Simplyummy are not college student friendly.

They are only open until 5 p.m. on weekdays, and 3 p.m. on Saturdays. With those hours I think Simplyummy would be more ideal for when your mom is in town and you need to meet her for lunch between your classes and her exploration of Reynolda Village.