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Krystal’s Café
It takes a Village
BY TRICIA LONG

  PREVIOUS COLUMNS

Nestled among the brownstones of Bay Village, an unassuming corner café offers big taste despite its tiny size. Krystal’s Café seats only four, but it draws a steady stream of diners during its breakfast and lunch hours. And the family-run café is eager to please. Owner Andrew Woods mans the grill, satisfying the needs of a hungry crowd of regulars with the help of his wife, Deborah. Their nine-year-old daughter lends her name to the corner store.

The café’s extensive menu is its biggest surprise. Made-to-order omelets ($3.50) ooze with melted American cheese and fresh fixings (25 cents–$1) of your choice. The pint-size kitchen serves up as many as 50 breakfast sandwiches on a typical morning. (A word of warning: try to avoid the 7–7:30 a.m. crunch, when high-school students overflow Krystal’s tight quarters.)

Specialty and wrap sandwiches, salads, and some hot entrées are available at lunch. The chicken-caesar-salad wrap ($4.39), a 12-inch flavored tortilla stuffed with fresh caesar salad and grilled chicken, is a favorite, and its quality and price easily rival those offered at full-service shops in nearby Back Bay. The roast-beef-and-chutney sandwich ($6.95) offers rare roast beef paired with mango chutney, garlic-herb spread, and tomato on marble bread. The muffins ($1.45) — particularly the French vanilla — are great for breakfast eaters on the go. And chocolate-chip cookies as big as the palm of your hand ($1.35) are baked on the premises. Krystal’s also offers corporate catering for breakfast and lunch.

Bostonians unfamiliar with Bay Village can swing by Krystal’s for a full meal, or simply pick up a cup of fresh-brewed coffee and meander through the streets of one of the city’s coziest neighborhoods. There’s lots of history, and some great food, too.

Krystal’s Cafe, located at 12 Church Street, in Boston, is open Monday through Thursday, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; on Friday, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and on Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call (617) 348-0012.

Issue Date: November 14 - 21, 2002
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