Tasty Beach Cafe

• Cuisine(s): Deli
  Hours: Sun 8:30am-3pm, Mon-Thu 7:30am-4pm, Fri 7:30am-3pm
  Price: $$
  Payment Types: MasterCard, Visa
• Attire: Casual
  Features: Smoking, Patio/Sidewalk Dining, Takeout, Delivery, Vegetarian Friendly
  Serving: Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch
  Alcohol: None
• Reservations: Not Accepted
  Parking: Lot Available, Street

Description

Look around at what's on the tables of the hordes who pack tiny Tasti, and it's a cinch to see that ersatz junk food is not the main draw. The most popular plates are salads -- and no wonder; the produce isn't wilted salad-bar stuff, but wonderfully fresh. Especially appealing is the Garden D-Lite, which comes in two sizes for $5.95 and $3.49. This signature salad features vine-ripe tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, red and green pepper strips, a big crescent of creamy avocado, and a sprinkling of pine nuts. There are salads that add fairly low-fat protein to the produce: a light though intensely herbed tuna; a binder-free egg. And some sandwiches are really just the café's salads on its very good bread; the reinterpreted buffalo mozzarella, tomato, and basil salad, for instance. It's also possible, for only $2 extra, to add a "small house salad," in fact a Garden D-Lite for $1.49 less, to a sizable slice of Tasti's quiche of the day, a cup of hearty homemade soup, or one of three pastas.