Nordstrom Cafe

Washington Square Mall

We had a late lunch / early dinner at the Nordstrom Cafe at Washington Square Mall yesterday afternoon. There is a row of windows that face out into the mall (above). We've eaten there several times over the last few months and I'm always impressed by this view. It's like the interior of a palace from someone's fantasy, clean, well lit, polished marble floors, well finished storefronts, and no vagrants or bums. I must admit there wasn't anyone dressed like royalty either.

A place like this must cost a pretty penny, but as long as everyone is well behaved it could last forever, or at least until fashion dictates that it's time for a change. It's privately owned, so anyone who misbehaves can be ejected, so you need to have people charged with security on hand. They do a pretty good job, I think I saw one car patrolling the parking lot. Not like the train stations in Paris where they have soldiers with machine guns scattered about.

The food is decent. They have, as you might expect, all kinds of foo-foo (salads and such), but they also have real meat, like beef, though nothing as American as a cheeseburger. The prices are a little warm, about $15 for a sandwich, but that seems to be about the going rate for lunch at any kind of sit-down restaurant these days. The business is streamlined, you order and pay at the entrance, but after that the service is just like a regular restaurant. They bring the food to your table and if you need anything else like drink refills or a take-away box, they handle that as well. Since the server (I was going to say waitress, but I think at least once the role was filled by a guy) doesn't have to deal with taking your order, which can take forever if you have a foodie who wants to discuss every little detail of the meal, I think you might be justified in leaving a smaller than usual tip, say 10% instead of 15.