Best of 2001: Best Waffle Sunday Brunch

Caffe Italia
1704 India Street,
Little Italy
619-234-6767

There's something about Little Italy on a Sunday morning. All the faithful pour out of Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic church into the sunshine and make their way to India Street, where the cafés await them. Trattoria Fantastica, Café Zucchero, Mona Lisa, Filippi's, Caffe Italia. On most days Caffe Italia is just a coffee shop with cakes, but Sundays they set up a stall with waffle irons. The choices are fairly standard: The Basic (three waffles with butter and syrup); the Strawberry or the Blueberry, with fruit and whipped cream; The Lowfat Granola, with raisins, almonds, and bananas, and honey instead of syrup; The Apple, with cinnamon and walnuts; and the Banana Walnut. The waffles are crisp and generous, the fruit's great, and the coffee's good, but what makes it a great place is the atmosphere. The table tops are zinc, a mural of monks on a checkered piazza feels Venetian. The barristas shout orders, while some customers chat and call to each in Sicilian.