After working most of his life in the restaurant business, Simon Taylor knew he wanted to run his own place. In 2010, his dream became reality with the opening of Café Rista in the Grovenor neighbourhood of Edmonton. Even though he thought he was ready, nothing could prepare him for running a small business. “There was a pretty steep learning curve,” says Simon. “The big thing was learning how much of your own personal time you have to put into it. It’s not like you punch a clock and go home. It’s a 24/7/365 thing.”
Whether you just want to chat with friends over local artisan-roasted coffee, enjoy a bagel or breakfast wrap at the start of your day or grab a deli sandwich and homemade soup for lunch, Café Rista is designed to suit an eclectic range of customers. “Our attitude is that I own this place but in a way it’s not mine; it’s whatever the customers want it to be,” says Simon. “It’s hard to say this is what the café is because every person that comes in here contributes to what its definition is. It’s about them making the space theirs and using it for whatever purpose they want.”
Lunch Salads
Add chicken or smoked salmon for $5.50
Spinach Salad
With nuts, berries, goat cheese, citrus vinaigrette
Mixed Greens
With tomato, cucumber, red onion, basil vinaigrette
Caprese Salad
Caesar Salad
Lunch Sandwiches
Italian Grill Sandwich
Prosciutto, genoa, mozzarella, tomato on ciabatta
Vegetarian Grill Sandwich
Roast peppers, artichokes, olives, bocconcini, pesto on ciabatta
Ham Sandwich
With Havarti on sunflower bread with caper aioli
Turkey Monterey Cranberry Sandwich
With Monterey Jack, cranberry chutney on whole wheat
Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich
With swiss cheese on rye
Reuben on Marble Rye Sandwich
Beef on Pretzel Bun Sandwich
With lettuce, horseradish, tomato, swiss
Chicken Sandwich
Brie, apple, cranberry on ciabatta
Lunch Wraps
Chicken Roast Artichoke & Asiago Wrap
Chicken Caesar Wrap
Vegetarian Wrap
Grilled Chicken Burrito Wrap
Lunch Quesadillas
Served with green salad
Chicken Quesadilla
Vegetarian Quesadilla
Lunch Flatbreads
Served with green salad
Margherita Flatbread
Spicy Italian Flatbread
Vegetarian Flatbread
Chicken Pesto Flatbread
DRINKS
Think your friends might be familiar with this business? Ask your friends on Facebook to see what they think.