A bar-coffee-shop-Internet café-ice-cream-parlor-sandwich-place. Acoustic Café, 505 S. Barstow St., acts as an eclectic mix of all of these, making it a great place to go with that group of friends that never seems to come to an agreement.
For three-and-a-half years I have lived in Eau Claire and, despite Acoustic Café’s appeal to college students, I had never gone there. Now that I tried it out, I’m a little sad to think that I only have five months left to take advantage of this cute restaurant.
Being a college student, and this semester already a little too busy, I decided to get two sandwiches to-go. I ordered off of Acoustic’s hoagie menu.
Acoustic bakes their hoagie buns fresh daily, and the sandwich is served warm. Customers can choose from a variety of types: cheese, corned beef, ham, roast beef, salami, tuna, turkey or a combo.
It seems like a standard sandwich, but when I got home I was delightfully surprised. They top the hoagies with provolone and swiss cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomato, onions, mild yellow peppers and their ‘special sauce.’ The unique flavor did make me agree – it is a special sauce.
Hoagies come in a third,half or whole sizes. For two third-sized hoagies, the total was $6.52. Not too shabby. If you don’t want just plain old bread, they also sell pitas, and you can get either with soup.
While waiting for my hoagies to be made, I took a peek around at the restaurant. It has a calming décor, definitely that of a coffee shop. Dark stained tables and booths fill the dining area. At 4 p.m., a few tables were occupied and a couple laptops were in use. Acoustic also offers free wireless Internet access. Score!
The different colors on the menu pop out at you, making it fun to read.
I was very intrigued to see beer, wine, coffee and tea all offered there. I had always known it was a coffee shop, but never had I thought I could go to Acoustic to get a buzz. A beer cost $3 for domestics – not too bad of a cost. And the wine is $2.99 a glass. Now let’s just hope its better than Boones Farm.
They also offer a wide variety of teas: organic, chai, and anything in between. The variety of coffees and cappuccino lattes offered makes it almost a regular old Starbucks – although I am not a coffee drinker so I guess I’m not one to judge.
Acoustic also has a counter full of baked-fresh desserts, from scones to muffins to gigantic cookies. And something they call Betty Bars, which appeared to be a large peanut butter rice-krispie bar with chocolate melted on top.
What might bring me back? Acoustic sells hand dipped ice cream for $1.49 a scoop. I am an ice cream addict, and this place is a five-minute walk from my house. I just might wipe them clean of the stuff.
