Restaurant Review: Homegrown Cafe in Newark, DE

One of the advantages to living near a college town is that you get a chance to experience all of the innovative, hip places that college students frequent on a regular basis. That is what my fiancé and I love about the town of Newark, Delaware, specifically Main St. Because this street is in the very center of the University of Delaware campus, it is filled with great little restaurants, coffee houses, bars, record stores and boutiques.

Main St. is where, on any given night, you can have a great, inexpensive meal, dance the night away to records spun by an unknown, talented DJ, and discover the next great American band, all at once. The energy in the air is always so thick with art, music, and politics, one is almost pulled by an invisible force, and it is nearly impossible to have a bad time. It was one a night that my fiancé and I were looking for a fun time that I discovered my new, favorite restaurant, Homegrown Café.

It is strange entering Homegrown Café, because before you enter, you hardly even know it is there since it is covered by trees strewn with white Christmas lights, but once you enter, the surprises just keep on coming. Homegrown Café has a foyer, and in it is a beautifully lit jewelry case filled with unbelievably gorgeous, handmade creations, fashioned by local artisans, a woman's dream.

But the décor is even more surprising. Homegrown Café looks as if it had been ripped out of the center of Greenwich Village in New York; the décor in this place is really hip. Toffee colored pleather booths are lit with colorful hanging lights, and the barstools have famous faces on their backs. The ambiance, coupled with the oh-so-stylish clientele, gives you a feeling of 1960's New York City, Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Baraka.

Of course, the most important part of any restaurant is the food, and Homegrown Café definitely does not disappoint here. The restaurant offers tasty gourmet salads, freshly made soups, and innovative seafood and steak dishes, plus a wide variety of vegetarian meals, which have won the restaurant awards every year since 2002.