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Nordstrom's Cafe
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Riverside, California
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I wish I had been able to experience the department store
dining rooms as they were in the 50's & 60's. Back then shopping and dining were an occasion to get dressed up for. Department store cafes are now nearly extinct. Although it's not as fancy as the department stores of the past, Nordstrom's in Riverside's Tyler Mall has a cafe on the 3rd floor. It's not grand, but it's nice and the food is great! They've recently been given an "Award of Recognition" for the year 2001 from the County of Riverside Health Department for consistent scores in every category of 95% and above during their inspections. I look forward to treating myself here, usually ordering one of their wonderful salads, which keeps me light on my feet. Their delicious Bleu Cheese & Pear Salad with a champagne vinaigrette and candied walnuts, first sold me on this place. I ordered this several times before trying anything else. Finally venturing out I found myself equally impressed with the Mixed Berry Chicken Salad with fresh raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, strips of chicken breasts, bleu cheese, candied walnuts and a blackberry dressing. They've bottled up their dressings for purchase, and let me tell you they are a far cry from anything you'll find in the grocery store. The Chicken Lime Cilantro Salad with romaine and baby lettuce, corn, chicken, jack cheese and pumpkin seeds all tossed in a tasty dressing which didn't taste anything like the chipotle dressing they described was fantastic. Their menu offers nearly a dozen salads and sandwiches, a few pasta selections as well as gourmet soups made fresh daily. You can't go wrong with the Clam Chowder which was creamy and flavorful with tinier bits of clams and potatoes than usual. They make the best chicken sandwich, the Chicken Caprice with moist slices of roasted chicken, chopped tomato, pesto mayonnaise on a soft herbed focaccia, oh it so wonderful! If nothing else a cup of latte and something sweet, makes for a nice little rest stop. The New York Cheesecake had great flavor, but was pretty thick (you know the kind that sticks to the top of your mouth?), the three-layer Carrot Cake, though, was the stuff. Nordstrom's Cafe is a refreshing change from the usual "food courts". It's for those who appreciate good food. A place like this elevates shopping from a chore to an outing.
Located in the Tyler Mall in Riverside
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