Newburgh Review: Cafe Newburgh

Having been at Tin Fish just down the street many times, and we decided to travel a bit further down the street to Cafe Newburgh. We first tried to go on Monday, only to find out that they were closed on Mondays, so we returned on Wednesday.

The building initially appeared small, but going in, it opened up into 3 small rooms, as well as a back porch. There is definitely old charm to Cafe Newburgh with its original brick walls, dark wood floors, and high ceilings (that seemed to be covered in wallpaper). I definitely was enjoying that charm, but wish the tables had fit in more. They seemed to be just the standard “cheap eats” table covered with a white plastic tablecloth.

We were told to choose our seat, and were quickly presented with a menu. It wasn’t entirely what I expected: the 3 main categories that took up the vast majority of the menu were grinders, sandwiches, and hot dogs. Sandwiches & grinders all seemed to be the basic variety, choices of turkey, ham, roast beef, salami, etc. The hot dogs were slightly more different, ranging from the traditional to German/Austria style. There seemed to be very few other choices in terms of salad, burgers, and more.

I ordered a chicken salad sandwich on wheat, and it came served with chips and a pickle. I couldn’t figure out what an unpleasant sweet taste was. I thought at first that it was juice in the chicken salad, but later settled that it was a strong tasting honey-wheat bread. Once I focused on the flavor of the chicken salad, it was entirely bland without a hint of flavor. He tried one of the hot dogs, the Gourmet Dog, that was topped with fried onions, lettuce, and sour cream and substituted the potato fries instead of chips. He said his was alright, but we both had one complaint. The hot dog, while huge and thick, had a very thick bright red natural casing that snapped loudly with each bite. I guess some people like this, but we thought it should have been removed. Had I ordered a hot dog and it came out like this, I wouldn’t have eaten it for the life of me. We ordered a chocolate-chocolate chip cookie, which came out large, thick, and hot. It was the saving grace of our lunch.

Overall, it was completely different from what I had expected, but not a pleasant surprise. The food was nothing I couldn’t make at home, and mine had no flavor. Although the cookie and old charm was nice, I won’t be going back there just for that.

Cafe Newburgh is located at 17 W Jenning Street. (812) 842-2991. Tues-Sun, lunch & dinner.