JD’s Café a welcome addition to downtown

Name of restaurant: JD’s Café

Why are we reviewing this restaurant?: The restaurant recently opened in the former Java Jazz space in the Sun Trust Building in downtown Bradenton.

What’s on the menu?: The restaurant serves breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday. The breakfast menu includes everything from The Executive — two eggs cooked to order with toast and choice of home fries or grits with Applewood bacon, maple sausage links or sausage patty for $6.95 — to specialty omelets. Omelet choices include a couple of surprise combinations, including Portobello and Brie ($7.25) and on Thursdays the restaurant features a blue crab and asparagus omelet with Hollandaise.

The lunch menu offers a mix of salads, hot and cold sandwiches and hamburgers. Salads include a grilled chicken and spinach salad with mozzarella cheese, roasted red peppers, egg and bacon on a bed of spinach topped with a homemade vinaigrette ($8.95 half/$10.95 whole). Other salads include JD’s Café salad, a Mediterranean platter, and Greek, Caesar and chef salads. You can add grilled chicken or a shrimp skewer for $3.

Hot sandwiches include JD’s Signature Fresh Carver Sandwich, which features either turkey or ham that is fresh roasted daily ($8.95). Cold sandwiches served on a choice of St. Armands bread or wrapped in a tortilla include Tarragon chicken salad ($6.75), tuna salad ($6.75), Portobello mushroom topped with sliced tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil vinaigrette ($6.75). All sandwiches are served with a choice of homemade kettle chips or cole slaw and a pickle. You can substitute fresh fruit for $1.

Burgers are 1/3 pound USDA beef cooked to order. A cheeseburger is ($7.95). You can add grilled onions or mushrooms for 75 cents and bacon for $1.

JD’s also serves a wide variety of fresh-brewed coffee, frozen drinks, espresso and teas.

What did you eat?: I confess, I’ve never been inside JD’s Café, but I’ve sampled most of the menu over the past few months by ordering for delivery. Their convenient location makes it easy for those of us stuck at our desks to eat a fulfilling lunch without having to brave the afternoon heat.

Each Monday, the restaurant e-mails a list of their daily specials for the week. A sample day might include chicken and sausage gumbo; bacon, onion and cheddar quiche and a cappicola, Provolone, tomato and banana pepper panini. Better than average delivery options, I would say.

I usually order a bowl of soup and half a salad, because their homemade soups are really the star of the menu. My favorite is cream of wild mushroom soup ($3.25 cup/$4.50 bowl). Never fear, this soup does not resemble the canned variety in any manner. A selection of wild mushrooms are combined in a flavorful, creamy broth studded with thyme. It’s earthy and rich without being overly thick. Other soups I’ve sampled and loved include the tomato bisque, the above-mentioned gumbo with mild sausage chunks and plenty of okra and the beef barley.