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Saturday, December 17, 2016, I spent all morning doing volunteer work with the radio club I belong to, the Western Placer Amateur Radio Club, along with the Lincoln Lions Club. Volunteer work makes a person hungry, especially when breakfast has only been a cup of coffee and a donut. By the time my work was finished, I was hungry, and a cheeseburger seemed like a good idea for this chilly early December afternoon. Karen's Little Café had been on my list for a long time, and since it was only a couple miles away, today seemed like a perfect day to pay Karen a visit. As with all of my reviews, I have no affiliation with the restaurant reviewed, and there is no monetary gain on my part, as I am simply a person who likes to eat, and I love to write-up, and publish my dining experiences.
Photo: Karen's Little Café is located in a small strip mall, on Nicolaus Road, west of downtown Lincoln. Today, I'd been working with the Lincoln Lions Club passing out Christmas food to needy families, so by the time we finished for the day, my stomach felt the need for food. I had originally thought of visiting a new-for-me taqueria, but instead, I settled on Karen's, as I knew I was in the mood for a burger.
Photo: The view of Karen's compact dining room as you enter from the front door. Booths like the walls and tables are in the middle. It's 12:05 on this early afternoon, December 17, 2016.
Photo: The photo is a bit washed out, but the sign above the open kitchen advertises the various custom coffee, espresso, mochas and more that are available for your enjoyment. The white board at the left advertises the daily specials. Karen's Little Café is open for breakfast and lunch; closed for dinner. There are many wonderful things about this restaurant, and one of them is that anything on the menu is available anytime the restaurant is open. Why don't more restaurants offer that option? I almost went with breakfast, as I'd only had coffee and a donut, but a cheeseburger won me over.
Photo: Meet Kara, one of the friendly hostesses that make this wonderful restaurant so special.
Photo: I looked over the breakfast menu, and liked what I saw, but I quickly turned a couple of pages in search of the "Hamburger" section. My eyes stopped on the "Cheeseburger" and didn't go any farther...
Photo: If you peek behind the counter, you can get a look into the mostly open kitchen, and watch the staff at work.
Photo: My lovely server, Heidi, brings my lunch to me with a smile. Such a nice person! She was very friendly, helpful and efficient, but not at all intrusive. From the time I placed my order until my lunch arrived, the time frame was only about 10 minutes. That's fast! I've been to "fast food" restaurants where I've been forced to stand and wait for my food much longer than that.
Photo: Thanks Heidi for snapping my photo, as I'm set to enjoy a wonderful cheeseburger. The basket beside me had ketchup, but no mustard, and Heidi cheerfully brought mustard, as I love to garnish my burger with mustard. The kid in me poured ketchup on my plate to dip the perfectly cook fries in. The fries were perfect, but I love ketchup with my fries. Karen's Little Café does not offer beer or wine, so that made the choice easy for me, since I was driving.
Photo: I looked over the extensive breakfast menu, but my eyes sort of stopped when I came to the burger section of the menu. It's been a couple of weeks since I've enjoyed a good burger, and I figured it was time to indulge myself. I settled on the "Cheeseburger," which is a relative restaurant bargain at $7.25. You get your choice of fries or soup-of-the-day, and your choice of several varieties of cheese. As per my usual protocol, as asked for "everything," that that's what I got, including lettuce pickle slices onion and a small slice of tomato. My choice in sides was fries, and my choice in cheese was pepper jack.
Photo: Close-up of an excellent burger! The meat was cooked medium, which is just the way I like it, and pepper jack cheese was my choice of cheese. The lettuce, onion, pickle slices and tomato were really fresh; ditto with the bun, the meat was cooked perfectly, and the cheese was melted. As shown in the photo, the cheeseburger was served open face, which makes for good photography, and makes it easy to add mustard. Friends, this was a great burger! Karen's Little Café is truly a gem of a restaurant. The food is delicious, reasonably priced, the portions are "just right," the staff is friendly, and the service is fast and efficient. When you're in the mood for a delicious breakfast or lunch, you owe it to yourself to pay a visit to Karen's Little Café. Karen's Little Café Copyright(c) 2016 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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