Lela's Cafe Review
Lela's Cafe and Bistro was visited on two separate trips to Ashland, once on 2006-06-17 and once on 2008-04-26.
There was no original announcement. As part of organizing a trip to Oregon's Shakespeare Festival, I did much research via chowhound and other web sites on good restaurants in Ashland.
On Saturday morning, I was busy participating in the qualifying around of the World Puzzle Championship. However, I gave my friends a short list of recommended restaurants for brunch/lunch, and they ended up at a place called Lela's Cafe.
2006-06-17 Review
Sadly, as I missed eating at Lela's Cafe ( http://www.lelascafe.com/ ), I cannot write a review. But nearly everyone raved to me, publicly or privately, when I saw them later in the day about how good the meal was. It was surprising; after people praised the restaurant in a group, a few later came to me and repeated the praise and emphasized that they really meant it. Some choice quotes I managed to jot down:
"Possibly the best sandwiches I've ever had." -Ojan
"I don't think I can look at paninis in the same way again." -Di Yin
Comments from Other Attendees
Two of the paninis stood out: the barbeque chicken panini, and the Italian panini. The barbeque chicken was juicy and well spiced, with sauce that dripped pleasantly down the sides of the sandwich itself. The italian sandwich contained a generous variety of spiced and smoked meats, greens, and pickles that balanced each other admirably.
Jodie and Nishat didn't like the coffee, but the waitress overworked herself to satisfy our litany of demands.
-Di Yin
Having heard how great Lela's was during our last visit, I knew I had to go during this visit to see if it lives up to my friends' hype.
http://www.lelascafe.com/
2008-04-26 Review
Given all the positive comments I heard, I didn't think it was possible that Lela's would live up to its reputation. I was wrong.
My barbecue chicken panini was terrific. It included "roasted chicken, barbeque sauce, blue cheese, pepperoncinis, spinach, red onions, melted meunster, and aioli." It was a spicy, sweet, hot, gooery, crunchy, simply wonderful combination of flavors. I can't remember the last time I'd had a sandwich this good.
The accompanying salad was fresh, and the balsamic dressing, of exactly the right sweetness, was in just the right quantity to complement but not overwhelm the greens.
I could've stopped, satisfactorily full, well before finishing the whole sandwich, perhaps even at half a sandwich. Yet, I figured I didn't know when I'd get another sandwich this tasty--there was no reason to be an ascetic here.
Lela's unremarkable facade is located a few blocks off Ashland's main street. This is not an area where tourists tend to wander.
The decor is comfortable and informal, though not entirely casual. "Cafe and bistro" feels like an apt description.
For lunch, in addition to paninis, Lela's also offers salads and pizza.
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