Café '36 — Restaurant in Kalamazoo

Right now, this is the first restaurant I suggest to people in Kalamazoo. I believe Café 36 is the top restaurant when considering service and food. The ambiance is wonderful. The mix of black booths and white chairs makes the room look clean and modern. The place settings are white mats and black napkins. The ying yang of simple contesting colors is soothing and elegant. The neatness calms you has soon as you walk in. It might be the low ceiling or other insolation, but this restaurant is more quiet than other restaurants in Kalamazoo—you can interact with your dining partners without fear of losing your voice the next day.

But there is one potential downside to being above a grocery store and you experience can be different depending on your mood and where you sit. We sat over looking the grocery store which places you just above the commercial neon lighting. On a bad day this could easily give someone a migraine. Fortunately, our party of four adjusted quickly and we enjoyed overlooking the isles and making jokes about the isle marker for local honey and wondering which isle is stocked with honey from Vermont. Another note about the atmosphere

The gently manner of the of the setting is mirror in the friendless and grace of its staff. Everyone we interacted with is welcoming and excited about what they do. On my first visit the chef walking through the restaurant was easily pulled aside by a server to explain the intricacies shrimp sticks and their dipping sauce (which are fantastic btw).

The food we had at Café 36 was wonderful. I have a special for the week, a beef tenderloin with blue cheese sauce, garlic potatoes, and asparagus. The meat was cooked to a perfect pink medium rare and the blue cheese on top added a salty tang. The grilled asparagus gave the dish a smoky element and was cooked to the point where it still had an al dente snap. My wife and mother in-law had the other weekly special: beef cheeks with pasta and a cream sauce. I don’t remember all the components, but I ate of their plates as much as I tried to keep them from eating mine. My father in-law had the hanger steak with fries. Again, the steak was cooked perfectly, and the Moroccan spices paired well with this flavorful cut of meat.

Overall, Café 36 is a great fine dining experience and one you can have while still being casual. The staff is dressed up, but I don’t think I say one customer with a jacket and only a few with a button up shirt. The food and the staff aren’t pretentious. They just seem to love what they do and that means I love what they do. And I will be back to share in...

I've been excited to try the Cafe 36 for quite some time now and finally had my chance to dine here. I was in a group of 7 people.

The restaurant is very interesting. It is perched above Sawall's Health food store and overlooks the aisles of goods while shoppers browse. It is not a huge area but a cozy area to dine and visit with friends.

We started with drinks and the charcuterie board. I highly recommend this as it was plentiful and varied with cheeses, fruits, meats, olives, etc. Very tasty. The bread was a rosemary seasoned pita-like bread that was warm and quite delicious. We also had shrimp sticks which are fried spring rolls with a sauce that is to die for!

I ordered the short ribs. Large portion of meat atop mashed potatoes accompanied by sauteed root vegetables and garnished with some type of sprouts. The flavor was magnificent and the meat was not too fatty as can often occur with short ribs. My colleague ordered the Chicken pot pie. This dish came out and its preparation was finished table side. The server poured steaming gravy from a boat over the bowl and then added a large piece of puff pastry and then finished off the rest of the gravy over that. It looked amazing. Other guests ordered the Mussels, Wild caught sockeye salmon, Atlantic Char and Filet mignon. All the entrees looked outstanding and not one complaint was heard from this writer as we dined.

The dessert menu looked great and they also had a selection of Tawney Port wines to choose from as well. We did not order dessert as we were stuffed from the dinner.

My only complaint is the noise level. The area is open and with high ceilings, the floor is concrete and there is a lot of echos of other diners voices, chairs moving across the floor etc, etc. It made it hard for all of us to talk and hear each other...

Cafe 36

Interesting view of sawalls(grocery store) downstairs over the over hang. Decor was very "fancy?" But made a homie and comfortable environment. The low light actually helped quite a bit considering all the bright lights in the store. The individual table lights were also a nice touch.

Waiter: energetic but very open eared(listens well) and enthusiastic(in good way)(seems to enjoy working here)

Food: steak: was surprised by the order of fries for the side considering the price of 38 and the steak size was a bit underwhelming(around 6 to 8 ounces). Tasted great though! Fries very well seasoned. The best part of the steak(other than taste) was that it aged well over time: Lots of restaurants get this wrong! Stayed fresh and didn't feel overwhelming at the end but stayed filling. The appetizer bread was great! After 20 minutes, did get a bit soft. No harm considering this would most likely be eaten by multiple people in around 5 minutes.

Drinks: all handmade drinks(Manhattan and margarita) were very well balanced and made. Very alcoholic! 1 will make your night. Especially the Manhattan so be warned!(All...