Rating: A+
If you’re looking for a little slice of heaven — or at least a little slice of home — look no further than Stone Sparrow Café in Veazie.
I came across Stone Sparrow Café almost by accident. I have been writing restaurant reviews for some time now, so I asked my friends for some recommendations. Stone Sparrow Café came with virtually no context, only “my roommate says it’s really good.”
Stone Sparrow Café looks very small from the outside. It’s covered in large, grey stones on the outside (hence the “Stone” in “Stone Sparrow Café”). It’s cute and quaint, but it’s not too exciting to look at. If you drive too fast down State Street, you could easily miss it. In fact, I had to ask Siri how to get there.
I arrived at Stone Sparrow twice; the first time, I was too late, they had closed for the day. It was the mystery of what awaited me inside that made me return. I was greeted by a kind server — she looked about my age. I asked if I could sit anywhere and she pointed me to a table in the corner.
No table is a bad table at Stone Sparrow, mind you. There are only eight tables in the whole restaurant.
The restaurant is as small as it seems from the outside, but that only furthered the feeling of visiting my great-grandmother that I was already getting from the décor. Each table had a different sugar bowl, for example and the whole place smelled like wicker furniture and memories of my childhood.
I sat down in the farthest bench seat, close by a window. A placemat and proper silverware were placed in front of me, which is something I think shows character.
I ordered lunch from a one page menu: half a BLT on oatmeal bread, a cup of cream of tomato and dill soup, apple cole slaw and unsweetened iced tea. On top of all that, the prices were awesome. With all this stuff, the slice of cake I’ll talk about in a minute and the tip for the server, I spent a grand total of only $20 and I had enough food left over for lunch the next day.
There were six other patrons in the restaurant, all much older than my server and I and every one of them was incredibly sweet. They chatted with one another about politics, my server’s upcoming trip to Ireland and what it’s like to be married to someone else for 60 years. From the doilies on the counter to the conversation in the restaurant, I definitely felt like a little kid visiting grandma again and I certainly didn’t mind.
From what I could tell, there were four employees working: two servers and two cooks, though one cook was sitting at a table in deep conversation with some patrons. One element I feel I cannot stress enough is this: between the four employees and the six patrons, the restaurant seemed like a family get-together, a sweet and unexpected feeling.
My food arrived promptly and I enjoyed it so deeply. The BLT tasted like any other BLT (still delicious, I could tell the ingredients were fresh), but the home-brewed iced tea, the soup and the apple slaw blew my mind. The slaw was fragrant and gave off a scent of fresh apples and a tinge of vinegar, which is exactly how it tasted on tongue. The warm and smooth cream of tomato and dill soup left me wanting more.
The hefty slice of chocolate peanut butter cake that I took home with me really sealed the deal. The cake was moist; the peanut butter frosting wasn’t too sweet.
The whole experience was delectable and I highly recommend Stone Sparrow Café as your next breakfast or lunch destination. They’ll take care of you there. You’ll relax there. And perhaps, you’ll even feel at home there.
