The spot: Visiting Uptown's Cafe Too gives you two ways to feel good about yourself: First, you're supporting a project of the Inspiration Corporation, which helps those in need gain culinary skills and experience. Second, you're eating fresh, reasonably healthy food. A Saturday prix-fixe menu is a steal at just $16. The meal starts off with an appetizer such as green bean tempura with sweet Thai chili and soy sauce, or spicy chicken and pine nut wontons, then moves into entrees like teriyaki-glazed salmon or spicy vegetable tofu stir-fry. Finish off with dessert such as housemade cheesecake. In addition to a comfortable, green, yellow and brick-walled indoor space, Cafe Too offers sidewalk seating.
The bottle: Wine store pickings in the area are a little slim. Head a bit north to In Fine Spirits, where the service is friendly and the selection is solid. Owner Shane Kissack recommends a bottle of Marco Real Rose, a Grenache-based wine with hints of strawberry and raspberry sweetness, making it good for both a summer day and a dish with some spice to it. And priced at 10 bucks a bottle, it's another steal. --Allison Knab
There's a mini restaurant/bar boom on North Broadway. We already told you about El Mariachi, which opened last week, but we can't wait until Finley Mahony's opens just a few blocks south on the corner of Waveland Avenue and Broadway. Owner Dominc O'Mahony -- who named the pub after his 5-month old -- is working his butt off this weekend to open by next week. Here's how it looked as of Wednesday.