Another vegetarian café is always a good thing, especially when it's locally owned and operated.  That was my mindset when I went to the Red Oak Café.  Little did I know how locally owned it was.

Many Carnegie Mellon students enjoy the wraps, sandwiches, and entrees of Ginger's Deli.  Three years ago, it was the best lunch venue on campus.  I didn't make the connection right away, but when I recognized and spoke to one of the workers from Ginger's, I was told an interesting tale.  Carnegie Mellon is not a particularly stable place to own a restaurant, especially with the high turnover rate with the on campus restaurants, so the team behind Ginger's expanded to the Red Oak Café in Oakland. 

Is the food better than Ginger's?  I'd say yes, but not by a lot.  The menu is appetizing; it contains a full array of intriguing sandwiches, soups, and salads, plus a daily hot entrée and vegetarian "Grains, beans, and veggies" option.  They also serve a wide selection of drinks, including the usual cold drinks, coffee and tea, smoothies, and a yogurt-oatmeal-tea mix cleverly called "yoatmeal."  Our friend from Ginger's let us try the yoatmeal, which tasted like thin oatmeal or bizarre chunky tea.

Breakfast, served all day, consists of eggs with toppings of your choice or breakfast sandwiches.  The latter are named "The Galileo", "The Bach", "The Michelangelo", "The Hot Shakespeare", and "The Dippy."  Four famous people and "the dippy"?  Curious. 

I ordered the daily "Blue Plate Special": Jambalaya with cheddar grits and green beans.  The flavors were good, and I liked the texture of the grits.  It wasn't particularly hot, which I attributed to the fact that we arrived right before they closed, and it was all served on a tacky black plastic tray.  As I ate my meal, I could not help but feel like it wasn't worth $7.50.  My companion chose the Oak Club, which also felt a bit overpriced at $7.50.  Tack on a drink (or a yoatmeal) and you've got a pretty pricey lunch that doesn't feel like anything special.

Despite this, I wanted to like the Red Oak Café.  The dining room is clean and welcoming, with warm colors.  As mentioned earlier, they are locally owned and friendly.  And it's always nice to have more vegetarian options.  I'd only go to the Red Oak café for the occasional lunch, unless I had the kind of job that would let me spend $10 for lunch. 

And one more thing: on the walk back to Carnegie Mellon, we figured out the names of the breakfast sandwiches.
 

Details for the Red Oak Café:
Food style: sandwiches, soups, and salads
Price range for an entrée: $6-8
Location: 3610 Forbes Avenue, Oakland.
Website: http://www.redoakusa.com

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