SOUP’S ON: WHERE I LOVE TO LUNCH LATELY

It isn’t super-frigid yet, but fall is definitely in the air and that’s been causing me to have daily cravings for a bowl of hot soup. (I’m kind of known as a soup connoisseur and tend to bypass green salads or french fries if there’s a tasty soup on the menu.)

And for the past two days, I’ve had lunch at one of my favorite soup spots: 5TH AVENUE DELI.

Here’s what I wrote for On the Menu back in December 2006:

These days, the real-feel temperature seems to be hovering right around ridiculously cold, which means it’s time to fill yourself with food that fights the frostbite.
And that means it’s time to make a visit to the 5th Avenue Deli, a place that rekindles memories of those chilly afternoons when your mom would greet you at the door with a steamy bowl of soup. (Even if this never happened to you, just imagine how warm and fuzzy it’d make you feel.)
A simple shop with a straightforward menu — not to mention decor that blends wooden lattice, watercolor paintings and vintage vinyl records — the 5th Avenue Deli is the perfect place to sit down and thaw out over one of the best lunch combos ever invented: soup and sandwich.
Here, you grab a tray and move cafeteria-style through the sandwich station — choices include turkey, roast beef, a Reuben, French dip, club, bacon with avocado and cream cheese, and even peanut butter — then on to the self-serve salad and soup bar.
Every day there are potato, macaroni and Italian pasta salads plus a specialty salad of the day. Daily soup selections vary, but during a recent trip the offerings included chicken gumbo, cheddar and broccoli, and beef stew.
Once you’ve got your food, take a seat by the window, select a book from the adjacent lending library — make sure to ask about the policies regarding borrowing or exchanging books — and settle in as the rest of the world goes by.

RECOMMENDED MEAL: The $5 lunch special. It gets you half a sandwich of the day and an eight-ounce bowl of soup or salad.
However, if beef stew or clam chowder are on the menu, you might want to consider getting a big bowl ($2.90 for 12-ounce and $3.50 for 16-ounce) and pairing it with some cornbread (95 cents).

• The 5th Avenue Deli is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays at 415 W. Walnut Ave. Call 452-2332. (For those in a hurry, phone orders are welcome.)

— Kim Nowacki

The Yellow Church Café

The vibrant Yellow Church Café stands out like a beacon of the Lord’s light on an otherwise underwhelming block of Pearl Street just south of downtown Ellensburg.

The cafe — owned by two preacher’s kids — is, in fact, a church built by German Lutherans in 1923. The small dining area is cozy beneath a sky blue ceiling and walls of warm orange and red. And if you want to be above the crowd, sit in the natural light-illuminated loft and look down on your fellow diners and the adjacent open kitchen.

The Yellow Church Café serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with everything from Thai to Greek. Items range from the more traditional Sunrise Scrambler with eggs and red potatoes to the inventive Cathy’s Creation Casserole, which includes eggs, feta, artichokes and cashews.

The church theme runs throughout the menu with Praiseworthy Breakfasts, Heavenly Loafs and the nightly dinner special, the Last Supper (there’s even a replica of da Vinci’s painting in the entryway).

RECOMMENDED ITEM: Anything with the Heavenly Loaf. With cheese, butter and garlic fresh-baked into the dough, this aptly titled bread can be requested as the bun on any sandwich or burger or ordered on the side for $3.

RECOMMEND DRINK: Lindemans’ Framboise Lambic on tap. This elegant, colorful raspberry beer is hard to find outside of its traditional 750 ml bottle. You could also give one of many fine local wines a try.

• The Yellow Church Café is at 111 S. Pearl St. in Ellensburg. Breakfast is served from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; lunch is from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and 2 p.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Dinner is served beginning at 5 p.m. daily. Call 933-2233 or visit www.yellowchurchcafe.com.

The Drift Inn Restaurant

It’s dinnertime and you’re hungry, but you don’t want a burger and fries, or a burrito and chips and salsa.

Nope, you have a hankering for hashbrowns, bacon and eggs. Pancakes sound good, too. So do biscuits and gravy.

Some days — or nights — you just have to have breakfast for lunch or dinner. And you don’t want to do the cooking.

On those afternoons or evenings, we suggest hopping on U.S. Highway 12, driving about a dozen miles from Yakima to Naches, and drifting in to The Drift Inn Restaurant, where breakfast — chicken-fried steak and eggs, waffles, French toast, pancakes, even oatmeal — is served all day, every day.

The restaurant — clean, comfortable and friendly — also has burgers and sandwiches, fish and chips, liver and onions, mashed potatoes, fettuccini, shrimp skewers, nachos, onion rings, salads and steaks.

But if it’s 5 p.m. and you feel like an omelet, this is the place to go. They won’t look at you weird. And refills are free.

RECOMMENDED BREAKFAST-FOR-DINNER: Omelets range in price from $7.50 to $8.95. We suggest building your own for $8.95 for up to four ingredients and 50 cents for each additional item. We like bacon, mushrooms, cheddar cheese and tomatoes. You can choose from ham, sausage, onions, green peppers, Swiss or American cheese — the list goes on. Breakfast comes with your choice of hashbrowns, country-fried potatoes or a short stack of pancakes, AND your choice of toast, biscuit or one pancake.

RECOMMENDED DESSERT: Homemade pie or cobbler is $5 a serving; add on another buck for á la mode. Milkshakes are $3.50.

• The Drift Inn Restaurant, located at 10450 U.S. Highway 12 in Naches, is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. Call 653-1741.

Mucho Yummy

Bienvenidos deliciousness!

That’s what we say when our lunch — steaming hot and topped with melting cheese — arrives at the popular,  family-run Villaseñor Mexican & American Restaurant.

We say popular because the parking lot — as well as the dining room — is packed when we arrive on a recent weekday just past noon. No bother. We park a block down the street. The extra few steps make us appreciate our food even more.

The menu is extensive; there’s a variety of enchiladas, tostadas, burritos and combination plates. And prices are reasonable. A special lunch menu features a variety of combinations, served with rice and beans, ranging from $6.95 to $7.25.

We suggest ordering some fresh guacamole to snack on — with a basket of complimentary, warm tortilla chips — while you decide. There’s also the house salsa — mild or hot, two portions per person. (Additional servings cost 50 cents each.)

On the regular menu, house specials — from carnitas rancheros and chile verde to crab and shrimp relleno — cost $11.75 to $13.25. Plus, there are 25 large and small combination plates from $8.75 to $10.50.

Not sure about an item? Villaseñor has conveniently located a vocabulary list on the back of its menu in case non-Spanish speakers need help.

Portions are generous. If you want to split an entrée, extra plates are $1.

Or, box up the leftovers for dinner tonight: Double deliciousness!

RECOMMENDED APPETIZER: A dish of fresh guacamole, made with avocados, tomatoes, cilantro, onion and spices. $3.25 on the lunch menu, 10 cents more on the regular menu.

RECOMMENDED LUNCH: Combo No. 10, one tamale and one enchilada, topped with melted cheese, for $7.25. Comes with rice and beans.

RECOMMENDED DRINK: The $1.99 lime margarita, blended or on the rocks.

RECOMMENDED DESSERT: Homemade flan for $2.75, or deep-fried ice cream — the menu boasts a “secret recipe” — for $3.75.

• Villaseñor has two locations: in Yakima, at 601 Fruitvale Blvd., and in Toppenish, at 225 S. Toppenish Ave. Hours are the same for both: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. In Yakima, call 454-3293. In Toppenish, call 865-4707.

The Market Street Café & Grocery

This On the Menu is a day trip.

It starts with a scenic drive south to work up an appetite. Head to Mabton, and just keep going for another 24 miles.

And you’d better fuel up; that stretch of road to the “Bluebird Capital of the World” doesn’t include a gas station.

It does, however, feature rolling hills and wildflowers, and it’s lined with fence posts topped with wooden birdhouses. Watch out for those low-
flying bluebirds. Thousands nest in the area.

But after arriving in Bickleton, 60 miles or so south of Yakima, it’s not quite time to eat yet. Continue to work up hunger with a visit to the new Alder Creek Pioneer Association Carousel Museum, which opened in early May. The main attraction: the town’s 24 beloved, hand-carved, Armitage Herschell/Herschell Spillman carousel horses. Believed to have been built around 1900, they have been part of this community of about 100 residents since 1929.

After the museum, it’s finally time for lunch at the nearby Market Street Café & Grocery, where regulars gather at the long, wooden table in the middle of the joint, help themselves to the pot of coffee on the counter, and discuss everything from wind power to politics, like who’s going to run for the local school board this year.

The menu features American fare — burgers and fries, sandwiches and pies — at prices that won’t break the bank. The most expensive lunch item is the $7 “Pirate Burger,” piled high with bacon, ham and cheese.

There’s plenty of reading material laying around, and a table in the corner is covered with children’s toys just waiting to be picked up and played with.

Photographs and news clippings on the walls depict Bickleton’s claim to fame: its abundance of bluebirds and birdhouses. In fact, shelves are lined with blue-roofed, white, wooden boxes for sale for $15.

Might want to grab a Bickleton birdhouse to go.

RECOMMENDED LUNCH: Grilled ham and cheese on your choice of bread — we chose sourdough — with a salad for $5.

• The Market Street Café & Grocery, 106 E. Market St., is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. It’s closed Sunday and Wednesday, and has shortened hours from January through March. Call 896-2671.

• The Alder Creek Pioneer Association Carousel Museum, 4 E. Market St., is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday from April 1 to Oct. 1. Admission is $4 for adults, $1 per child, or $10 per family. Annual dues are $50 a year. Call 896-2007.