Cafe Surfas

Surfas is a restaurant supply warehouse that is open to the public. If you have never been, and you are in the Culver City neighborhood, it’s definitely worth your time. What used to be primarily a commercial restaurant equipment store has grown over the past few years into Culver City’s premier gourmet market. They hold cooking classes, demonstrations, and seminars, and the aisles of specialty ingredients keep me entertained far longer than any normal grocery shopping trip should. Near the front entrance is a new cheese counter – one of the best I’ve seen anywhere.

But this post isn’t about the store. It’s about the cafe at the front of the store. In a rather genius move, Surfas opened a short order counter with a menu that prominently features all of the gourmet ingredients available for purchase inside the store.

I love to order a whole bunch of small salads (including their homemade pickles, which are awesome) and graze. In addition to a cold case filled with countless panini choices and to-go salads and beverages, there are a handful of other hot dishes that can be ordered from the chalkboard menu that hangs on the wall. The Lobster Club Panino is delicious, and even though I think it’s cheating when a chef puts lobster on anything (I feel the same about truffles), there is no denying that this sandwich tastes really good. Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Buffalo Burger. Buffalo meat is tricky because it is so lean, and most restaurants that attempt this burger overcook it, so it turns out dry and tough. No so at Cafe Surfas. The Buffalo Burger is served like the other panini, so it feel more like a sandwich than a hamburger (I know, I know – a burger is a sandwich. Let’s not argue about details.).

Right next to the lunch counter is a full-service coffee bar. Since I don’t drink coffee, I can’t report on its quality. But I can say that the complimentary jug of ice water that sits on the corner of the bar is usually filled with lemons and mint and makes for a tasty refreshment. I rarely bother ordering anything to drink since the water is so nice.

Online ordering is available via Cafe Surfas’s website, and cash and credit cards are accepted at the counter. Plenty of free parking is available in Surfas’s ample parking lot.