By Brittney Bruner
For a few short hours between 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, you can sit with your best girls around a lime green gingham-dressed table, sip on the tea of the day, and choose from a somewhat feminine menu of soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts.
This little place at 1327 Bardstown Rd. is known as the Butterfly Garden Cafe.
When you first open the doors of the quaint two-story house, you will see that it is not only a luncheon restaurant, but also home to the White Linen Tea Company—a small boutique selling everything from purses to teacups to birthday cards.
However, after trying their olive nut sandwich or their chilled blackberry soup, or even their pear and gorgonzola salad, you might have trouble remembering the store you initially entered. And at prices from $4 to $7 for individual items, lunch at the cafe won’t exhaust your wallet.
With a number of other entrees and sides to offer, the Butterfly Garden Cafe welcomes you to try something new every time you come, or to continue enjoying your favorite items. Their two-item and three-item combos allow you to combine any of the soup, salad and sandwich options at a very low price.
While recently dining there, I ordered one of these low-priced three-item combos, with two halves of a warm ham and brie sandwich and a cup of chilled strawberry soup. I also ordered the tea of the day: raspberry. The warm ham and brie was perfectly filling, with a touch of caramelized onions on Panini bread. The chilled strawberry soup was surprisingly delightful, and different from any soup I had tried before. Many people might be turned away by the fact it was chilled, but to me it tasted more akin to a smoothie with spoon.
Because I went there for my birthday lunch, we had a fairly large group. We received our own room, as well as especially speedy (and welcoming) service.
Some of the entrees my friends ordered included the mixed greens salad, the turkey breast sandwich and the tomato basil soup. They seemed to be pleasantly surprised with their choices, especially considering how different they all were. I had been raving about the place for weeks, so they had high expectations. But from the reactions to their meals, I could tell the Butterfly Garden Cafe had exceeded their hopes.
The atmosphere at the cafe is also very inviting. With outdoor seating in the front of the restaurant, on the patio, in the back garden, and in a well-lit sunroom, the cafe does quite well at living up to its engaging name.
