M. Suzanne Terry

Seven Mile Cafe is where I send people who don’t know Denton very well and are looking for a good breakfast or lunch.

• It’s easy to find (basically, turn east on Congress from Carroll, and in a few blocks, you’re there).
• It has ample parking.  If the lot is full, there are plenty of places to park on the street.
• Its menu starts with the coffee offerings, as all good menus do.

(Also, its cups are really cute.)

First, let’s talk about the food.  The food is good and hearty.  It took me two meals to eat the hamburger, and I can put away some grub.  I have had almost all of the Benedicts, as that is usually my breakfast-out of choice, and I like them all.  The pancakes and cinnamon rolls are good, and they can make the cinnamon roll vegan, which means I can eat it without scraping off the icing.  In fact, see all those green leaves on the menu?  Those are the vegan items.  For a restaurant in Texas, this is a pretty impressive selection.

But my favorite thing to eat here?  The loaded potatoes.  In fact, I just purred out loud thinking of them.  I might have to go get some right after I finish this post.  I know they’re not hard to make, but it’s the end of the semester, and my kitchen and I are tired.

Also, when you get the potatoes at Seven Mile, you can get them with this:

(Big ass bottomless French Press.  Maggie – sadly – not included)

The bottomless coffee is strong and plentiful, and it’s roasted right next door at Seven Mile Coffee Co.  Triple win.

(Again with the cute cups)

Seven Mile Coffee Co. doesn’t just roast the coffee.  It is a full coffee bar with coffee-shop style seating and its own coffee menu, and from 8a-3p, you can order anything from the menu at Seven Mile Cafe, and they’ll bring it over to you. Basically, they let you choose your own atmosphere.

This is the greatest idea.

This allows me to go during the lunch rush and avoid the crowded cafe.  I can cozy down in an armchair, sip my coffee, eat my potatoes, and read my book, enjoying a blessed hour of quiet before I go back to work.

Also, when you order coffee at Seven Mile Coffee Co., the people making it know what they’re doing and will talk to you about it.  Some customers might not like this, but those customers are wrong.  One should prefer to buy coffee from people who know it well and can articulate this knowledge. They also offer Stumptown coffee, which is one of my top three non-local favorite coffee companies. I usually get the coffee that is roasted in-house, but I appreciate the offer.

So if you’re driving through Denton and you need sustenance, Seven Mile Cafe and Seven Mile Coffee Co. are worth a quick venture into the middle of town.