Who Needs 7-Eleven When You've Got Bagel Heaven?

Whenever I think of where to go for my next post, I automatically think of food first. So, without further ado, I’d like to present Bagel Street Deli, the best fast food shop in Athens.

During class on Wednesday, my stomach was hankering for a tasty, toasted bagel sandwich, or “bagelwich.” I’d been waiting to go to Bagel Street for days but never had the chance.

  Class was over; the time had come.

My friend Jess and I headed from Scripps to Court Street. Bagel Street came into sight and my mouth began to water at the thought. What shall I get this time? I pondered.

Jess and I pulled open the glass door and excitedly walked into the narrow, dimly lit restaurant that smells like toast. The red brick walls are covered in aluminum foil figures and the chalk signatures of loyal customers.

We continued down the thin hallway to the ordering counter. To my left hung two gigantic chalkboards with their signature selections sorted into categories: Breakfast Served Anytime, Originals, Carnivorous Cravers, Poultry Pursuers and Veggie Delights.

Each of these creations is served on your choice of bagel (There are 22 to choose from!).

My typical Bagel Street experience involves me getting a Tom’s Turkey with an Oweo for dessert. Wednesday was my lucky day because Tom’s Turkey was the special of the day for only $3.25.

Once we ordered and received our bagels, we ate at a table created with Naked Juice lids.

I carefully unwrapped the warm aluminum foil, suddenly smelling the aroma that was being concealed by the foil. I took a large bite, getting a taste of everything (sun-dried tomato bagel, American cheese, mayo, tomato, lettuce and turkey). Within 10 minutes, I devoured the entire thing, without one crumb to spare. Jess did the same with her OU Bagel (a wheat bagel with cream cheese and bacon). I think we finished our sandwiches so fast because we knew what was coming for dessert.

The Oweo. A delectable, gooey mess made of two, fist-sized chocolate chip cookies with cream cheese in the middle. The sandwich is then steamed, which brings out the flavors. The two of us split one of these delicious treats, and that too was gone within minutes. 

Although it took us literally fifteen minutes to eat, the uniqueness of the place kept us there chatting for about an hour, which was probably the best hour of my day.

An Athens-Themed Weekend

Every week, I show you to a different business in Athens and attempt to describe the feel of each place in two blog posts.  But with this week’s second post, I’m stepping slightly out of topic.  Only slightly.  Instead of another post on Athens Underground, I want to take you through my Athens-themed weekend with my parents.

Ohio University has quite a few weekends each year dedicated to the family visiting—Parents Weekend, Sibs Weekend, Moms Weekend and Dads Weekend. Not only do our families have an excuse to visit us and check out the town and our lives as students, but we also have the opportunity to bring money to local businesses in Athens.  But does it really bring money to the little shops, or does it just provide more business for Applebee’s or Bob Evans?

In my attempts to stick it to the “corporate” man, I took Mom and Dad to the little Athens wonders, which I’m in love with. During the 27 hours they were with me, we jumped from place to place, starting with the Athens Farmers Market, an outdoor market located on East State Street, where local producers and businesses sell fresh produce, fruit, breads, pastries, salsas, jellies, flavored coffee and so much more.

At the AFM, Mom and Dad bought me necessities to get me through the next four weeks—pumpkin spice coffee, pineapple hot salsa and Fuji apples. After roaming through the crowds for a bit and getting me a blueberry muffin for breakfast, we left to get any remaining food items from Kroger (OK, I didn’t completely stick it to the corporate man, but you get the point). 

From there, we hopped to Brennan’s for a soup-and-sandwich lunch and some chatting. Then to Donkey for some hot, non-fat vanilla chai drinking, some Pastimes board game playing and chatting (I had to take Dad to Donkey since he’s never been there).  Because of the hours of chatting, we were hungry again, so we left for Casa Nueva, where we ate our share of local veggies with a Mexican kick and did some more, you guessed it, chatting. Sorry, no habanero salsa this time.

We finished up the rest of yesterday by sitting in the lobby of my dorm playing 500 Rummy, and … chatting.

This morning after church, we traveled to the Village Bakery on East State Street to feed our appetite for healthy, local foods yet again. Sitting on high stools next to the window, we enjoyed our slices of quiche Lorraine and fresh, sweet apples and pears. Oh, and we did more chatting.

If you haven’t noticed, we do a lot of eating and chatting.

Although my throat is still a tad bit dry from all the chatting I did this weekend, I wouldn’t have traded that time for anything.

Undergrounding Photos

We took these photos before the employees yelled at us for taking pictures in the store.

I wanted to be a part of the Red Hat Society.

Leah and I felt like wearing all the old-fashioned hats.

Jess is pretending to be a cowgirl.

I found a copy of Life Magazine from 1942 dated Dec. 14, my birthday. 

Welcome to Vintage Heaven

Now that Halloween is only nine days away, the vintage and costume shops in Athens are buzzing with prospective customers searching for the perfect outfit to wear around Court Street next Saturday. If you’re planning at all to walk around on Halloween, you are required to have a costume.

  Like most Ohio University students, I’ve had my costume planned since last Halloween. Next Saturday, I’ll be sporting the old-fashioned movie star look by dressing as Audrey Hepburn’s character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. And thanks to a trip to Court Street yesterday, I found my remaining piece, a fake cigarette holder.

The search for the cheap cigarette holder took me to one of my favorite places in Athens, Athens Underground. And since I could not take photos inside the shop, I captured shots of my walk from Read Hall to Athens Underground.

I arrived at the store around 1:45 p.m. and walked down the narrow, concrete staircase to the Underground, located at 90 Court St. I slowly turned the tiny, delicate doorknob and pulled open the wooden door. As I entered, the musty smell of old clothing instantly smacked me in the face (the scent reminded me of my grandma’s basement filled with old knick-knacks, boxes and the ever-present mothballs).

I was overwhelmed, as usual. Everywhere I turned my head, a new vintage item came into sight. In my immediate view, I noticed an array of glasses, ranging from 1950s “cat” glasses to aviator sunglasses. Through the doorway next to the glasses was a single-dorm-room sized room filled with shoes and undergarments, including old-fashioned lingerie (some resemble armor).  Sorry, but I don’t see how this would be sexy.

The next room was busting with dresses—from 50s style June Cleaver dresses, to 70s sequined dresses, to 80s shoulder-pad-filled prom dresses. The next, with men’s formalwear. The one after, with vests, scarves and hats. Now, back to the main room.

The main room consists of collections of records, books, magazines, sheet music, postcards, Playbills, *insert breath* formal hats, prom-style clutches, broaches, rings, necklaces, China dishes, linens … I can’t think of anything else right now, but you get the idea. Athens Underground has everything.

OK, almost everything. The shop doesn’t carry cigarette holders (I found mine at the costume store down the street), which was the initial purpose of this venture. However, although it didn’t have what I was looking for, my “trip through time” made it worthwhile.

The Whole Enchilada

Like many of the shops in Athens, Casa Nueva Restaurant, Cantina and Bodega has a rich history of community involvement and business expansion.

Environment

The Restaurant proudly uses the “reduce, reuse, recycle” method by recycling plastic, paper, newsprint, cardboard, clear and brown glass, aluminum and steel. The kitchen also has buckets for food composting. These buckets carry all vegetable and fruit waste products, and at the end of each day, community members can take the waste products to use on their compost piles.

Community

Members of the Casa family helped to write Ohio’s cooperative business law in 2003 and they host forums concerning educational and political issues in the area, according to a 2003 article by Karen Thomas.

The Restaurant also supports local farmers and producers by purchasing their fresh, organic produce.

Co-op

Casa is not only unique for its locally-grown food options and commitment to the community and environment, but the restaurant is a worker-owned cooperative. (I had no idea what a worker-owned co-op was until this blog post. I guess you learn something new everyday.)

Thanks to USLegal.com, I found the definition. “A worker-owned cooperative is a business that is commonly owned and managed by its workers. By organizing a business as a cooperative, the owner/employees make the initial investment in the enterprise, work for its success, and reap any benefits,” states the Web site.

“At Casa, we feel that our efforts are part of a larger movement in which owners can provide direction and vision to create a workplace in which all individuals are treated with equality, respect and compassion,” states the Casa Nueva Web site.

Expansion

In 1993, the cooperative expanded the restaurant to include the Cantina, a full-service bar with a D-6 liquor license. The Cantina also serves as a waiting area, where guests can purchase appetizers while they await seating. The Bodega was recently added as an extension to provide “a ‘quick’ daytime deli kitchen and a nighttime appetizer kitchen,” according to the Casa Web site.

Can't take the heat?

One thing I’ve noticed since starting this blog. It has triggered massive cravings. I apologize, but I just can’t help myself.

Now, with that said, I ventured to Casa Nueva (right off Court Street) this week. I felt the need for non-dining hall food.

I sent out a mass text to my friends Wednesday morning about my urge to go to Casa, and three of them agreed. (You’ll get to watch them eat in the video.)  Since I formulated the plan to dine there, I squirmed with anticipation all day, and I even knew exactly what I was going to order. Filling my head were daydreams of fresh, local veggies combined with a splendor of smoked jalapeños and garlic… Mmm…

Anyway, the time arrived at last. I met with Alec, Alex and Vince, and we strolled the 10 minutes from Read Hall to Casa.  Little did the guys know, I had been plotting to make them try the habanero salsa, Casa’s spiciest salsa, and capture the moment on video. (I did finally caution them before trying it though.)

I ordered a basket of chips and two different salsas, habanero and black bean, as an appetizer.

Here’s what happened:

According to the menu, Casa’s habanero salsa is “A flavorful infusion of citrus followed by the intense heat of habanero peppers.”

The definition is dead on. The slight citrus tang complements the fresh, juicy tomatoes.  But as soon as you taste the citrus and tomatoes, an extreme burning sensation fills your mouth, tongue and throat. It’s almost painful, and I can take really spicy foods. I can eat a dozen hot wings from Buffalo Wild Wings without breaking a sweat. This was different.

Thankfully, I also ordered the black bean salsa to ease the pain of the habanero salsa. (The black bean salsa was gone within minutes.)

Now, on with the main entrée, my Enchilada Roja, which is an enchilada stuffed with Monterey jack cheese, veggies of the day, tomatoes, onions and in my case, chicken. Customers can choose between black beans, tofu, jasmine rice, pork, Puerco Pibil, beef or chicken.  Chipotle salsa is smothered over the enchilada, with shredded lettuce and carrots stacked on top of the salsa. Sigh…

Although I didn’t get to taste-test any of the special autumn desserts, I know I’ll be back in the near future.

Addition of Social Media

For this post, I wanted to provide a transcription of an interview with the owner of the Athens Book Center; however, I apologize, that will not be happening because I cannot get a hold of him. So, instead, here’s a run-down of the new social media this used bookstore is utilizing to help business.

When speaking with Book Center employee Justin Kendrick, a fifth-year Ohio University student studying creative writing, he told me some of the new marketing plans they hope to use to spread the word of their existence.

In fact, I was speaking to one of my friends two nights ago, and I told her about my excursion to the Book Center, to which she replied, “I never knew that existed.” I was shocked. I had no idea that students had never heard of the Athens Book Center before.

Hopefully, that will change.

After doing some Googling, I discovered the Athens Book Center does have a Web site. (Justin didn’t know the store has a Web site, so either there is poor communication with the owner, or the Web site is simply, really new. I’m choosing to believe the latter.)

Regardless of whether or not the Web site is new, it contains a book directory, a book search and a link for purchasing books from the store. To purchase a book from the online catalog, you must submit your e-mail address and shipping and billing information.

After discovering the Web site, I also noticed on my google search that the Athens Book Center has a Facebook page. I immediately logged in on Facebook and became a fan. I think the bookstore is doing a great job with the social networking even if it doesn’t have a huge following (OK, a very small following). My friends and I make up five of the 54 fans, which to me, is both a happy and a sad thought. Happy because my friends and I love the place, and sad because there are only 54 fans.

But anyway, the Facebook statuses try to engage the viewer and communicate by asking questions and pushing for comments. It keeps fans updated on current happenings and promotions, such as the new smoothies, which according to employee Justin Kendrick, are 100 percent fruit. Hooray for health! I haven’t tried one yet, but I plan on it for the next time I’m there.