Miss Cordelia's

Miss Cordelia's
737 Harbor Bend Rd
526-4772

Miss Cordelia's is a frequent lunch stop for me. I'm particularly fond of their grab-n-go cooler which features sushi made fresh and delivered by Umai each day. I thought that when I finally took the monkeys (Satchel, 6, and Jiro, 4) to eat there that it would be during a Saturday or Sunday afternoon stroll along the river, but we found ourselves there at 6:00pm on a Saturday night. It was Warren's birthday and we'd spent all day relaxing and lost track of time. We were headed to Maria Montessori School for a special Glitches/Ultra Cats performance at 7:00pm and decided to just grab something quick.

Jiro, who had been fighting a nap all day, fell asleep in the car on our way over. I was able to wake him up, but unable to interest him in eating anything other than chips. The kids' menu features two sandwiches--peanut butter and banana and ham and cheese. Jiro likes PB&B but insisted he wasn't hungry. I couldn't even interest him in sushi. Satchel has been really into sandwiches lately, but couldn't pass up an opportunity to eat a bowl of potato leak soup (his favorite). Warren seemed a little overwhelmed by the options and was looking to me for direction. I told him that the Soprano and the Red, White, & Bleu were my favorites before taking off after the monkeys. They were being pulled away from the deli by the lure of the Goldfish & Cheezit lined aisles in the grocery store. (Now deprived of regular Target trips, the grocery store is their main arena for "getting stuff.")

To get them re-focused on dinner, I let the monkeys each pick a drink--OJ for Satchel and red Gatorade for Jiro--and then calmly led them back to the deli. Warren was sitting at a table staring at the sandwich board. "I'll have a Soprano," he said.

I ordered for us, which proved to be more difficult than expected. The guy taking my order looked like he usually worked in the kitchen (he had on a chef jacket) and had a hard time getting my order right. I spoke slowly and clearly and finally it was done. Even with Jiro opting not to eat our tab was $22, which surprised me.

I got a drink for Warren and I to share and joined the boys at a table. The monkeys were happily eating chips and drinking their drinks. Our friends, and concert hosts, the Dixons, came in and said hello. They too were going to the concert and were in search of food. We chatted for a bit and they went up to place their order.

I heard my name and went to grab our sandwiches and soup. There were two sandwiches, but no soup. I asked about it and the woman said, "Hold on."

Just then Shannon got her sandwich. She asked if it had any condiments on it and the woman said "Just mayo." Shannon had specifically ordered it sans mayo so she handed it back.

"I think the evening crew is a little less organized than the day crew," I commented to Shannon.

"I don't know," she said. "We come after school a lot and it's always a little spotty."

The woman behind the counter informed me that I wasn't charged for soup, but she would give it to me anyway. "Are you sure?" I asked. I was finding it hard to believe that two sandwiches, two bags of chips, and three drinks was $22. I went back and looked at my receipt. Sure enough, I wasn't charged for the soup, even after repeating my order at least three times.

Regardless, we all had food now and were happily eating. I offered to do halfsies with Warren and he obliged. While we were eating we saw two other people we knew (one going to the concert, one just getting groceries). It was nice to have a neighborly thing going on. (I imagine sitting out on the patio was even nicer and more neighborly since the weather was just perfect.)

Before leaving I took the monkeys on a bathroom run. (There's a unisex bathroom next to the grocery check-out.) We had to break through a long line of people checking out as well as several racks of candy. This made the trip a little more treacherous. I nearly had to tackle Jiro on the way back to meet Warren in order to get him to unhand a pack of orange Tic-Tacs!

All in all it was a nice experience despite the ordering difficulties. I'd recommend reading the menu online before going, or even ordering ahead if you are in a rush. That's what I usually do at lunch (unless I plan to eat sushi).

As a side note, Warren noticed Cordelia's sells both wine and beer. How is that possible? Is it because Cordelia's has a restaurant status? Also how do they sell alcohol so close to a school? Just curious...

And finally, I was happy to see that Miss Cordelia's is working towards Project Green Fork certification. There's a lot of unnecessary plastic going on in there!