Luna Bakery and Cafe

As Michelle and I prepared for our trip to Chicago to attend BlogHer'13, we met for lunch at Luna Bakery and Café to talk through our travel plans and the conference sessions and tips.

I didn't realize that it was so close to Mad Greek, and that I had been right by it so many times. Since it's tucked just around a bend in the street, it can be hard to miss if you're not looking for it. But it has a great little patio dining area out front, and signage that was hard to miss once I knew to be looking for it. Parking was free in the lot behind the strip of buildings. When you enter the restaurant, you're met with a counter full of sweet and savory treats...like these s'mores bars that was teasing us from the moment we laid eyes on them.

The menu may not be large, but it features enough appetizing panini sandwiches, salads, soup, and crepes. I was thrilled to see their combo options, and decided to do a half sandwich/half soup combo so that I could sample two dishes on my first visit.

Since it was a hot summer day, the fresh mozzarella sandwich with tomato and basil pesto sounded good to me. I paired it with the soup of the day, a strawberry concoction with mint and yogurt.

The panini was served hot, and the cheese had melted into a delicious gooey treat. This would be so easy to recreate at home. Now, the chilled strawberry soup was just too sweet for me to enjoy. It tasted like eating a melted popsicle. The mint and yogurt could have been kicked up a notch to help balance the sweetness of the strawberries. After about a quarter of the bowl, I had to quit.

The sweets were just too tempting to deny, so I sampled a Salty Caramel Macaroon during my meal. It was a good macaroon, but I got very little "salty" or "caramel" flavor from it. I also took home a Crepe Cake with layers of crepe and rich, dark chocolate for "R" to enjoy later. I may or may not have stolen some bites, and it was simply heavenly. I hear that the red velvet cupcakes and croissants are not to be missed.

I was also surprised at how much seating the restaurant had, with a separate room providing plenty of space in addition to the patio and main café area.

Have you been to Luna Bakery and Café? It was a great little find in the Cedar-Fairmount area.

Luna Bakery and Café
2482 Fairmount Boulevard
Cleveland Heights, OH 44106
216-231-8585