Verbena Cafe

This breakfast/lunch place in Norton Commons (physically located between Karem's Grill and Big Ben Cafe) opened earlier this week, but had chance to eat there for first time this morning.

Layout and decor are both spacious and detailed.

Menu is far ranging for breakfast, including items like omelets, traditional breakfasts with eggs, meat and bread, as well as items like skillets, etc.

My wife had a nice oatmeal with fresh fruit and banana bread, and I had Lemon, honey and cream cheese crepes. Both were excellent and turned around quickly.

Service was attentive and best thing of all (which I cannot say about most breakfast places in this town), there was NO wait. Maybe that is due to place being new, but welcome change from the 30 minutes to hour at many places loitering and reading the paper.

Have not tried lunch yet, but looks to be mostly sandwiches and salads, though with some flair (Curry Chicken Salad looked real good from menu description).

Anyhow, I would say a very welcome addition to East End food with a very Wild Eggs'ish feel.

Hey Ron, Went to Verbena cafe for lunch on Thurs, seeing as I live right across the street I was curious to see what was on the menu.

I had the Patty melt, they use local beef for their patties, and the onions were carmelized just right.
All on lightly toasted rye with beautifully melted swiss cheese. You have a choice of a side i.e. fries, fruit, soup, or tossed salad. I chose the minestrone soup. Delish. The dish was $9.45 a little pricey, but hey its. Norton Commons. Iced tea , rich, and also very good. $2.25. My son had the "waffle platter"
two "rosette" waffles, with scrambled egg, perfectly cooked. You can get a side of bacon or sausage, however, he opted for an extra egg in the scramble. $8 something for that one.

The owner and I had discussed what today (Saturday) might bring as far as business. The farmers market is out here, and there was a "walk" for Spina Bifida too. Saw tons of cars here this morning so hopefully they were able to draw from that crowd.

I say that future reviews will be positive, all in all, the food is good, and the decor is homey.
A winner in my book.

Yay! Based on what I've seen, I'd be surprised if all reviews are not fantastic. The owners are wonderful people, the plates are pretty, and the recipes well crafted. The chef/KM is one of the better balanced and experienced ones in the business. These people know what they're doing.

We drive by, walk by. Didn't realize that it is open now but we're usually there in the evening - hence missing their business hours. We'll have to check it out next weekend.
The Big Ben Cafe had a lot of people there on Thursday night with a band outside and maybe drink specials.
We love walking at Norton's Commons. We try to image that we're at Seaside and the hum of I71 is the gulf. Still looking for Bud & Alleys. With Homearama there next year, the restaurants and shops should get more business.
We went to Proof for breakfast again this morning, put the leftovers in the cooler in our car then walked Main Street afterwards and admired the new arena.

I've been to Verbena's three times now. Two fabulous breakfasts (waffles, eggs and bacon combo one time and omelet the other) and one OK lunch (burger and fries - OK but too pricey - can do much better with Shady Lane burger). I can't say enough about how good the breakfasts were. Well-trained servers and pretty facility. Highly recommended.

We went for the first time this morning and had a wonderful brunch! The place itself has a very comfortable feel and our service was very well done. The food itself was great but it took us a while to decide what to have because of their extensive menu. My wife decided to have the pancake platter with scrambled eggs and bacon. The pancakes were light buttermilk with a nice was a very good syrup accompanying it. The eggs weren't fluffy and the bacon was perfectly crunchy. I had the corned beef hash with lightly poached eggs on top. It's certainly the best hash I have found locally and the eggs were cooked perfectly. The artistian bread served with it is baked in the house and so good putting butter on it wouldn't be appropriate. We both had coffee which was strong but not acidy or bitter.

A good experience overall that I'm sure we will be repeating many times in the future.

Mark, I Love Verbena, and glad you found that you were able to get in without any obstructions!

Mark, I Love Verbena, and glad you found that you were able to get in without any obstructions!

Yes the restaurant itself is very accessible. Parking was kind of an issue but worked out OK. The biggest problem I saw is there's no way I can cross the streets except at intersections so it makes browsing a little difficult.

Had brunch there again today <sigh>. We've been meaning to try Wild Eggs for it seems like forever but with Verbena around, why fight the crowds at "Eggs". Verbena Cafe has an awesome-awesome menu, relaxing decor, great service, wonderful execution in the kitchen...It's a "10" in our book.

BTW...Karem's Pub around the corner from Verbena has the best Bloody Mary we've had since moving here.

Had brunch there again today <sigh>

You have to quit punish yourself like that Steve

BTW...Karem's Pub around the corner from Verbena has the best Bloody Mary we've had since moving here.

+1

Bloody Mary? Really, I did not know that, and I live across the street!
Thanks for the info Steve!

We went yesterday for breakfast and it was very good. It's quite the drive from our J-town home but well worth it. Nice bright and airy space with really fresh and well prepared food.

As we are want to do on those Sundays I am fortunate to have off, Suzi and I went out for breakfast. We had discussed earlier in the week where to go. We've been to Wild Eggs out East and J. Gumbo's on Frankfort recently, both good. A post on LHB popped up about Verbena in Norton Commons and we decided to make the trek from Old Louisville out to the far east end.

Not Disappointed. We arrived and were seated immediately, having beat most of the morning rush, although I never saw anyone really waiting during the time we were there. The five page menu was three pages of breakfast and two for lunch. Our waiter was very good at keeping my coffee cup filled, but did not hover or rush us to make up our minds on breakfast. Suzi got hot tea and was offered a large selection of teas, both the regular and several special ones.

Suzi's selection for breakfast was Eggs Benediction - Florentine. Sauteed Spinach, Tomato and crumbled Gorganzola Cheese (7.95). It was accompanied by Verbena Browns - their take on fried "taters". This is chunked and shredded potatoes fried with some crispiness but not overly done. The tomato on the Benedict had been grilled and Suzi said that was a nice touch. Besides the Browns you can choose Fresh Seasonal Fruit with most of the breakfast selections. She rated the plate as very good, although she said that the Gorgonzola was sparse.

I looked at the omlets and thought I would get the Butcher Shop which allowed me to choose ingredients. I read that and re-read the discription of the Corned Beef Verbena Hash in the Egg Specialties area. Finally I decided on the Corned Beef breakfast (9.45). Excellent choice. The Verbena Potatoes were mixed with home cooked and cut Corned Beef. The hash alone would make a nice plate. On top of it came two perfectly cooked fresh eggs. Fried medium - runny yolks whites done solid. Accompanied by two pieces of artisian BREAD. This was a really good meal for breakfast. I was full when done but not overly so.

I am a country boy. I grew up learning to cook at an early age. I am doing my best to not be stuck on what breakfast foods are or should be. TOAST comes with breakfast is how I grew up. It is really hard for me have my meal placed on the table and see bread on my plate. But, I am really working on not requesting I get white bread toasted lightly with butter when I have breakfast out. It was a good decision today. The Artisian bread is baked in house and was very good. The individual butter containers were butter, but not real spreadable. Suzi said it was probably MLHD requiring it be cold.

The coffee was really good. Smooth and very drinkable sans cream and sugar. It was never old coffee put in my cup.

We both recommend you enjoy a breakfast here soon.

I think we will be making the trek back out for lunch soon. Two items caught my eye: Cozumel Burger, which is Pepper Jack Cheese topped with Corn Relish and Cholula Salsa on a tosted bun; and, a Classic Ruben with either Shaved Corned Beef or Roasted Turkey on grilled Rye with Swiss Cheese, Sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing. The second really interest me in my quest for the perfect or near perfect Ruben. I long for the Old Cunningham's and the Ruben there.