By Hannah Young, Sun Correspondent
LOWELL -- From the street, it looks like an everyday office building. Yet the brick-fronted entryway of Merrimack Street's Lowell Place is home to one of the city's most affordable eateries. The Brown Bag Cafe is a well-hidden haven, designed for a low-key lunch or quick bite to go.
The street's hoopla and ruckus seems far off upon entering the calm and quiet lobby, which serves as a passageway for attorneys and lawyers, musicians and business professionals who work upstairs. Two informal tables and a few chairs line one wall, offering comfortable seating with a detached view of the hectic street.
The breakfast menu of muffins, bagels, egg sandwiches and coffee is basic but recession proof. A variety of salads, paninis, subs, and wraps are listed on a dry erase board. Daily soups such as shrimp and corn bisque, $2 for a cup, $3 for a bowl, and specials like salami and brie panini $5, rotate daily. The cafe is small, but the fare is fresh and priced right.
"This is not a big place, you know, but now we have paninis," said owner John Bertos, a Lowell resident and former owner of Giovanni's Restaurante Italiano, the Gorham Street eatery now home to Pizza Hazel.
"Everything's fresh and our prices are very, very good," said Bertos of his tiny sandwich shop. "The panini that we make, at another restaurant it would cost $8, here it's only $5." Made fresh and cooked to order, the paninis are made with special sauces that you don't find everywhere. The chipotle chicken is marinated to make it super spicy. It's served on Italian bread and topped with cranberry, avocado and Monterey Jack cheese. Then it's grill-pressed to panini perfection.
Within the next few weeks, Bertos plans on kicking off the warm weather by adding cool treats to his menu. Soft-serve ice cream and a juice bar will be up and running soon. "Stop by and have one of our paninis and a small soup," he said. " I know you'll love it."
Brown Bag Cafe
144 Merrimack St., Lowell
HOURS: Monday - Friday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
PRICES:
Salads $4 - $5,
hot dogs $1.50,
paninis $4.50 - $5,
subs and wraps $4 - $5,
hot and iced coffee $1 - $1.50,
soda $1,
breakfast sandwiches (bacon, sausage, or ham egg and cheese) $3,
English muffins, bagels and muffins $1.
BEST BITES: Chicken salad sub or wrap (also available on white or wheat) $4,
roast beef panini made with special sauce $5,
Greek salad $5.
This story appeared in the Lowell Sun on Thursday, April 23, 2009