Milktooth: Hard to Not Like

We hit Milktooth, 534 Virginia Avenue for a late breakfast on a Saturday.  It is NOT in a strip mall (PRAISE THE LORD!) but in what used to be an auto repair garage.  It is very nicely decorated inside, and they have a few outdoor tables, too.  The place has a kind of hipster/yuppie kind of vibe, and being the more plebeian working-class guy I consider myself to be, I didn't want to like it.  The parking lot is kind of small (there is street parking out on Virginia) but luckily we were able to navigate past all the Subaru Crosstreks and Mercedes G420s and find a space for our Dodge.  And that is almost the last negative thing I can say about the place:  Despite being busy, they seated us promptly, waited on us promptly, and brought our food much sooner than "promptly".  I had the Red Coarse-ground Appalachian Grits with Bacon ($9) and TLW had a Pecan Sticky Bun ($7). I had coffee, of which they had several blends available ($3 to $5).  Everything was very, very good... what there was of it.  My bowl of grits was smaller than any cereal bowl we have at home, although it was garnished with a fair amount of green onions (or were they chives?) and the bits of applewood bacon were thick cut and delicious.  The Pecan Sticky Bun was smaller than your average Cinnabon but was almost as thick and had a nice amount of pecans.  It was baked perfectly, was very tasty, and was almost worth the $7.  The coffee was excellent, too.  All in all it was very tasty, so I guess I can recommend you eat there... and if you're still hungry when you leave, you can always go down the block to The Peppy Grill for a heaping mess of greasy spoon diner food.... Thus sayeth the Old Fat Guy!

9 Lives Cat Cafe: A Cafe for Cats? No... and Yes

I won't go so far as to say 9 Lives Cat Cafe at the corner of Shelby and Orange Streets is unique, but it is a very unusual place. From the name I wasn't sure exactly what sort of establishment it was, until a brave colleague went there and came back with intelligence that it might be a sort of coffee shop, which for me is a great thing, since almost none of the numerous houses of food and drink in Fountain Square open before Lunch. Apparently most hipsters are not morning people. My Pathfinder said it also involved cats, which is the reason for the enigmatic name.  "How does it involve cats?" I asked, to which the reply was "Go and see!"

Okay, suspense over: The space is one long, narrow store front, one side of which is a fairly standard coffee shop that also serves pastries and light fare.  The other side is what looks like a long living room, with couches, easy chairs to sit in as well as various towers, shelves, and scratching posts for the bunch of cats that inhabit that room.  The cats are up for adoption, and if you're in the market for one, you can be admitted to the room to interact with the feline princes and princesses, if any of them deign to notice you, and allow yourself to be adopted by one of them.  There is a long row of windows in the wall that separates the two sides, with a counter and stools on the coffee side so you can sit and watch the cats do what they do while you sip your coffee.  It really is quite mesmerizing, and very relaxing as well.  As oddball as it seems, I think they're onto something there.

I couldn't stay long so I ordered my large coffee and an eclair to go, and it was FIVE dollars and some change!  My shock and horror abated somewhat, however, when the eclair arrived. It was HUGE, enough for like 3 people (though of course I ate it all), filled with French cream and very tasty.  I was just about to leave but had to pause and watch a big tuxedo cat climb a set of shelves along the opposite wall which were arranged like steps.  He reached the top and looked down.... Was he/she going to pounce on one of the humans below?  Slip off and fall to an ignominious impact with the couch?  I just had to see....