Azalea’s Café great for garlic lovers

By Sharon Bell

Enter into a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the style of a European café where the decorating motifs are anything to do with garlic, local artwork and the intentional mismatched tacky theme of the table cloths and dishes.

Azalea’s Café, established in 1996, is located at 4 Aviles St. and prides itself on being the home of great food and groovy people. With the slogan “say it with garlic” printed on the window, one can immediately tell that this is not the average restaurant. Azalea’s serves breakfast all day, ranging from traditional eggs, bacon, grits and pancakes to various omelets with extremely unique combinations. The most unusual, but still mouth-watering has to be the shrimp, sun dried tomato, caramelized onion and smoked gouda omelet.

For lunch the café offers numerous one-of-a-kind salads including an Asian salad, Middle Eastern salad, and a chicken and avocado salad. The most popular choices on the menu seem to be sandwiches — served with your choice of bread and side — and are available in just about any meat or vegetable combination imaginable. Finally, there is a selection of soups and pastas to choose from, as well as their famous homemade hummus. However, Azalea’s asks their guests to be patient for meal preparation and prints “This ain’t Mc Donald’s!” on the menu.

Other than the outstanding food, perhaps what makes Azalea’s so impressive is the friendly staff and selection of local artwork on the walls. There are many paintings and mixed media pieces involving different styles such as oriental, abstract, and beach related — all of which are for sale. The artsy atmosphere is a great place to enjoy a casual and affordable meal — especially for garlic lovers!