Moondoggie Cafe wraps it up

Moondoggie Cafe is one of Princeton's best-kept secrets for those in need of a quick bite to eat. Located on Witherspoon Street upstairs from Kinko's, Moondoggie Cafe, which opened in April, is just a little bit off the beaten Nassau Street restaurant path.

Moondoggie offers an array of sandwiches, wraps and huge salads that easily qualify as filling meals. The café is equipped with a full espresso bar, and juice and smoothie bar, and also serves soft ice cream and Columbo frozen yogurt.

The decor is vibrant and energetic, brightly lit with Hawaiian-inspired decorations. Though all of the cafe's offerings are available to go, there are several small tables and a wraparound counter overlooking Witherspoon Street for guests preferring to dinein.

Recently, a friend and I had dinner at Moondoggie Cafe. Our eyes swam for a moment as we stood in front of the counter and considered the vast possibilities the menu offered. We finally decided to split a sandwich and each order a salad, all of which were made to order.

My Greek Salad was a pleasant mix of tomatoes, red onions, kalamata olives and feta cheese atop leafy romaine lettuce. Enhanced by Moondoggie's homemade balsamic vinaigrette, my salad had just the right combination of pungency and flavor. It came in a convenient plastic container so that it was easy to take home the leftovers — an important consideration for dormroom living.

My friend's Insalata Italiana was generously laden with roasted red peppers, spiral pasta, smoked turkey and fresh mozzarella — to the extent that the lettuce was somewhat weighed down. She was appreciative of the abundance of quality toppings and pronounced her salad "a montage of fresh ingredients" that complemented each other well.

The sandwich we shared, a Moondoggie Munch, was the most memorable part of the meal. Moondoggie uses thickly sliced French bread from Witherspoon Bread Company. With its softness and complex flavor, it was a wonderful addition to the sandwich.

Between the pieces of fragrantly-fresh bread were slices of fresh mozzarella, flavorful roasted peppers, fresh basil leaves, lettuce and a drizzling of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We opted to have our sandwich made without sopressata, a type of Italian salami, that it usually comes with.

After eating, I talked with Moondoggie Cafe co-owner John Beninati, who prides his restaurant on its high-quality ingredients, such as the homemade roasted peppers and the gourmet sopressata. He mentioned special features offered by Moondoggie Cafe — such as a 10-percent discount for students and live jazz performances on Thursday evenings.

My one gripe about Moondoggie Cafd was that the service was slow, apparently because of understaffing. This could prove a drawback for a place that aims at offering quick fare, as hungry impatient customers may not be drawn back for a repeat visit.

Offering fresh, quality ingredients at inexpensive prices qualifies Moondoggie Cafe as a sure winner. No matter how loyal to Olive's the Princeton campus may be, this place is definitely worth a try.