Garden or cafe, still a rainbow

So the Rainbow Café is pink. Who cares? You're hungry. The french fries are screaming your name. The carrot cake is calling your number. Less than a block away from the I-can't-believe-we-paid-to-eat-this Yale Dining Halls lies this popular, if frilly, restaurant, which has been serving lunch, dinner, and big weekend brunch entrees to generations of Yalies. The eatery has recently come under new ownership, and changed its name from Rainbow Gardens. But, as we discovered on a recent visit, the restaurant is still serving the same quality fare that makes it a favorite among students.

Rainbow Café dwells on Chapel Street, where its cotton-candy walls and casual dining atmosphere foster a friendly and relaxed food-centric environment (but bring a sweater--it's nippy in there.) The food is moderately priced, with sandwiches ranging from $5 to $8 and entrees between $7 and $12. The restaurant offers a wide variety of cuisine, with items calculated to appeal to both the health-conscious and the beef-eaters. However, Rainbow Café is not open late. Think early-bird special and make sure you eat before 8 p.m. "It's the first place I'd think of going if my grandmother came to visit," Liz Woyke, MC '00, said.

The decor, in keeping with the grandmotherly theme, is rosy pink, seafoam green, and teal blue. The walls are adorned with murals of daisies and sunshines, as well as Little Orphan Annie quotes like "Laughter is brightest where food is best." One sophomore described Rainbow Café as "fluffy, flowery, and very pink," while yet another upperclassperson commented that the interior "looks like Laura Ashley threw up." Yet both students frequent it often, which suggest that the gender-biased atmosphere is not overwhelming.

Rainbow Café's cuisine is not incredibly unique, but what the restaurant makes, it makes well. The menu has the requisite sandwiches, hamburgers, and turkeyburgers, chicken specialties, pastas, and salads. Nightly specials tend to be more creative, so if you're willing to fork over extra dough, check out that option. For the most part, the food is not greasy and the vegetables are fresh, but if you're looking for spice, you may have to scour the menu a little harder than otherwise. Most of the food served is tasty, but fairly bland.

Particularly of note is the twice-baked potato, which is worth the $3.25 (or 13 quarters worth of laundry). It's filled with mashed potato stuffing and a touch of parmesan cheese and topped off with melted mozzarella, scallions, and broccoli for a few cents extra. Also try the Healthful Vegetable Stir-Fry, which is a far cry from an authentic ethnic version but will leave you without an MSG-induced, painfully full feeling in the pit of your stomach. Rainbow Café also offers a large selection of salads with unique dressings and slices of big red tomatoes. The Greek Salad, with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, olives, and feta cheese, is an excellent alternative to dining hall staples like sandwiches and pasta. For the sweet-tooth, there is no shortage of desserts at Rainbow Café. On display, the chocolate cake and strawberry shortcake are enough to make you skip your meal and head straight for the sugar.

If you find yourself having trouble abandoning your favorite dining hall, don't fret. Rainbow Café has an innovative system of pseudo-self-service; you still get to bus your own dishes after eating and just as in the dining halls, you don't have to tip, so leave your TI-85 in the dorm. Further, you pay at the counter when ordering, and the food comes promptly to the table."It's a great place to go on a first date," Saira Mohammed, MC'00, opined,"because the food comes fast, so you can make a quick escape if conversation lags."

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