Café shells out breakfast foods

A new restaurant serving multi-cultural cuisine opened on Main Street this month and the owner hopes his restaurant’s menu and set-up will be comfortable and appealing for college students.

Over Easy Café, which opened on April 2 and is located across the street from Pomeroy Station, serves a menu containing breakfast and brunch items throughout the day, according to Ketu Patel, owner of the restaurant.

“We want it to feel like you’re eating breakfast at home, especially for college students,” Patel said. “The environment is very easy-going and relaxed, and you get more than what you expected when you walk in here.”

The restaurant’s seating arrangement includes one family-style table and individual seating including sofas and single arm chairs, a setup the owner planned to promote comfort. The café also includes swinging birdcage chairs and grass-like carpets.

 “Some of our customers that come in tell us that it looks like a furniture store,” Patel said.

The restaurant serves as international-based cuisines, including French and Caribbean dishes, along with more traditional American foods. Patel said the menu includes macaroni and cheese, Paneer, an Indian cheese and “pop-ums,” small pancake bites filled with blueberries.     Patel also said most menu items are vegetarian-friendly.

“Our menu is very open and we cook our food differently,” he said.

Michael Fortner, development planner for the Downtown Newark Partnership, said department officials try to maintain a diverse selection of businesses when recruiting new owners to the area.

“We want to see downtown succeed as a business community,” he said.

Patel said he hopes the interior décor and soul food will appeal to both college students and locals.

“The environment is very important to us,” Patel said. “Because we are on Main Street, we need to bring a new flare.”

Several other numerous restaurants are slated to open on Main Street this spring, including Boardwalk Burgers and Fries and Taverna, an Italian-style restaurant located at the former site of the Learning Station.

Marlen Currington, manager of IHOP on Main Street, said the opening of the new restaurant won’t affect his business.

“IHOP is one of the No. 1 companies out there,” Currington said. “We fight to maintain our good quality, that’s why people keep returning.”

Junior Muriel Palanca said she thinks the restaurant appears pleasant but thinks it should have more seating for customers and its location is not easily visible for university students.

Palanca also said the menu looks appetizing, but individual items cost more than she would prefer them to.

“As a college student with limited financial recourses, it’s priced a little higher than I would have expected,” Palanca said.

Sophomore Priyanka Khushal said she thinks the restaurant is not easily accessible for many students, but thinks the prices are reasonable.

Kushal said she thinks the café will be popular with those who want to sit down for a meal instead of picking up food to go.

“It seems kind of far, but I think it would be convenient for brunch and not so much for breakfast because college students are always on the go for breakfast, trying to get to classes,” Priyanka said.