Lunch Break: Wishful Thinking
I clicked my heels three times and ended up back in Englewood at the Home Sweet Home Cafe. There truly is no place like the quaint and quiet restaurant hidden in a sea of Englewood's expansive parking lots and plazas.
Although Englewood has some unsightly retro plaza fixtures, much like our eyesore on West Main St. in Tipp City, they make the best out of them, with gems hidden inside. The Home Sweet Home Cafe is an adorable little spot to dine when you’re looking for a quiet afternoon and a bite to eat.
The menu is loaded with lunchtime wraps, sandwiches, burgers, and more. Although the special pineapple chicken or chicken and dumpling soup looked enticing, I decided to try the chicken bacon ranch wrap. The wrap was phenomenal, with the perfect meat-to-lettuce ratio and a zing of the zesty ranch. However, I also noticed a new condiment I'd never tried while grabbing ketchup for my deliciously golden crinkle fires. Home Sweet Home has Tabasco brand sriracha at each of the tables, and I think that after trying it, I will stop at nothing to get my hands on it again. The spicy and tangy sauce was perfect when drizzled on my wrap, and the second half of my meal was pure bliss. If anything, I’d like to thank Home Sweet Home Cafe for introducing me to this condiment masterpiece, and I'll have to return just for the chicken, bacon, ranch sriracha combo. And yes, this sriracha was substantially superior to the name brand. Sorry, not sorry.
The small restaurant is also decorated head to toe with art from local artists, wood carvers, crafters, and more. There was artwork for all tastes. Watercolors, galaxies, pet portraits, and even fun earrings and other trinkets. Although the menu is reasonably priced, I could see myself overspending on the crafts alone. Not to mention the staff were more than just kind. I popped in for a late lunch, so I was the only customer for a little while. Instead of ignoring me (although I know that many of my generation prefer that), they offered up a conversation about where I go to school and what I do. I felt like I was having lunch with a friend, even though I had traveled alone.
As I was taking it all in, I realized that there wasn’t a better name for the diner. It truly feels as though everyone featured on the walls and every customer who walks through the door has a place at Home Sweet Home Cafe. I did, however, wonder if Tipp City had a small deli or business like Home Sweet Home, apart from a chain that inhabited the ghost town that once was an overpriced grocery store, maybe the old plaza wouldn’t be the homely building it is.
Home Sweet Home cafe, 320 West National Road Ste. 6, Englewood