Rao's Cafe and Bakery, II

I love Rao's Cafe and Bakery. There is something very calming about being there. The decor is very Italian. Even the names on the bathroom doors are written in Italian. The music which plays overhead is very Italian. I hear Deano and Frankie and Rosemary singing to me as I relax and enjoy myself.
They are well-known for their sweets. Seriously--YU-UU-UUUMM! I don't even want to begin listing them cos I'd be here 'til about midnight. You can; however, check out the following links to their menus.
The regular menu is here. The dessert menu is here, and the catering menu is here.
They have various cakes, muffins, cookies. In fact, they even have cookies made for dogs! They are shaped like dog bones! How cool is that? They also have a H-U-G-E variety of ice cream gelato-type yummies. I haven't tried any of them cos I tend to like cake-y stuff more than ice cream-esque edibles. However, what I HAVE eaten was amazingly delicious.
However, before you eat the dessert, you oughta check out the REAL food. They have a multiplicity of choices of both breads and the stuff they put in the breads. I've had both tuna and chicken salad on Focaccia bread. I'm afraid to say that I highly doubt that I'll be writing any follow-up blogs about how good the other breads cos I think that the foccaccio bread is A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y delicious. I mean--WOW! It is like every delicious thing you've ever eaten in your life, all rolled up in one. I enjoyed the chicken salad the tiniest bit better than the tuna, but they were both pretty great. Both of the above-mentioned menu items are about $ 6.00 and come with a bag of chips. The tea goes for about $2.00 and the desserts go for about $5.00 (although some of them are a little less and some of them are a little more.)
And, as I'm sure you already know, I think the iced tea is always fantastic. They have a little ice cream dish full of fresh mint leaves for the tea. It does add just the right little extra. When you eat there, make sure you grab a couple of leaves and roll them in your hands for a few seconds before putting them in your tea. Rolling/smushing the leaves releases the mint-y oil and allows the flavors to disperse into whatever you are drinking. However, in case you're not a fan of tea, make sure you check out the menu carefully. They have a large variety of coffees, some unique teas and some unique specialty drinks. Everything they offer is full of variety. I imagine you could go once a week for about three years and never have the same thing twice.
One really great thing about Rao's is that they have free wi-fi. You can bring the old computer, work on a project, all the while eating a tasty sandwich and some fabulous desserts. I could spend all day there if I need to do so. Y'all really oughta check it out.




The chicken salad sandwich with chips and a drink.
















The wait-staff is really great. Very friendly, knowledgeable, and the young men are all very flirty. Ya gotta like that--at least if you are a 41-year-old woman! ;-P Janelle is pictured here, posing with my cake. :)