I'd been told by many people (including my mother) that I had to visit Cafe d'Marie. I'd tried to get in on a previous weekend, but gave up early due to parking being hard. This was a bit of a silly reason to not visit somewhere, so I brushed up on my parallel parking skills, found a spot right in front of the place, and made my way in.

The place looks like it used to be a house, and indeed it was prior to the cafe's opening in 2009. There's still a stairway leading upstairs to the right of the entrance and along the main hallway into the interior, benches are set up for those waiting on a table. After getting polite direction to wait in the hallway, I sat for about 20 minutes waiting for a table to open.

The interior of Cafe d'Marie continues the ambiance of being a Cafe created inside someone's former home as you walk through the main dining area. There's a Christmas tree and decorations in a corner, books and family photographs along a shelf in another room, all with tables and chairs spaced throughout. The floors are solid hardwood throughout all the spaces, with lighting supplied by what appears to also be existing fixtures for when the place was still a house, with only some added accent strips in the prep area. It's all warm and inviting - you're in pretty close quarters with everyone else, conversation melding with the quiet music playing in the background. It's a small, intimate cafe space.

I ordered a hot white tea to begin and a muffaletta with chips for meal. The tea is some of the best I've had anywhere in the Quad Cities! It was a Mandarin Citrus flavored tea and was enjoyable through the whole cup. While it was still hot, I enjoyed just sitting and smelling the strong citrus aroma from it for several minutes before it cooled down. Truly great, I'd come back just for this!

The sandwich was similarly fantastic! It wasn't a huge muffaletta like one would expect from Louisiana - this came as a small panini with a few slices of ham and salami, a small spread of olive salad, some spinach, and a little cheese. Between the sandwich and chips, however, it was the perfect amount of food for a quick Sunday afternoon lunch. It tasted great throughout the entire sandwich and I was satisfied without being bloated or too full at the end.

While paying at the register, I chatted a bit with one of the servers, who asked if I'd been here before. After telling them I hadn't visited the cafe before today, they gave me a free cookie. This was really nice, both in the gesture and the cookie itself (it was delicious).

I really want to come back here in the warmer months when the back patio is opened. It's a really special place and if you haven't been here yet, you need to come try it. Thanks, Cafe d'Marie!