I went to Cafe Benne in the late morning for coffee and an egg sandwich. The shop was crowded, but the line was short and I waited only about five minutes for my food. Both egg sandwich and coffee were good. They did initially make a mistake with my food order, but they immediately corrected it, so it wasn't a big deal. So they seem on their way to working out the kinks.
I'm all about patronizing small businesses, and I will continue to go to Espresso 77, but I do think that Cafe Benne serves a need. Specifically, for those (like me) who sometimes bring a laptop or work to coffee shops, this place is a welcome alternative to Starbucks, as the food offerings and ambiance are much better, and I think overall there is slightly more seating. Espresso 77 is great, but they don't allow laptops on the weekends, and they limit where you can sit with a computer, etc. This isn't a criticism- I understand the need to limit computers in such a small space so as to encourage turnover- but there are lots of students, professors, and freelancers etc in the neighborhood who are left with Starbucks as the only "coffice" option.
Having only tried the ham and cheese on an English muffin (which, again, was good) I can't comment extensively on the menu, but I plan to go back and try more...
