You’re on campus and it’s lunchtime. You’ve got an hour to kill until your next class. You mull over your options—Sage, the Commons, or the Union. Before you decide that you’re sick of all three and head back to your room for some Ramen, consider this: It takes, at most, 20 minutes to walk up to campus from downtown Troy, and even less time to get down there.
There are at least a dozen solid choices for lunch within three to four blocks of the Approach, most of which can get you fed, and fed well, in plenty of time for you to get to that class. One of the closest of these is Francesca’s, at the corner of 5th and Broadway in the site formerly occupied by the Escape Cafe.
Francesca’s is a cozy little establishment, with tables against one long wall and the other dominated by the counter and the large handwritten menu. The interior is comfortably dim, and probably fairly cool during the summer. They serve both breakfast and lunch; unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to sample their breakfast offerings yet.
My wife and I stopped in for lunch one weekday afternoon around 1:00. Apparently, Francesca’s is quite popular among the workers of downtown Troy—always a good sign. Most of the folks coming in appeared to be in “grab and go” mode, but nearly every table was full as well. In fact, we placed our order at the counter, sat down at a table, got up to grab drinks from the refrigerator, and our table was already in use by someone else by the time we came back!
Fortunately, we were able to grab another table and keep it when our food was ready. Most of the lunch menu involves soup and sandwiches, with several options for bread, dressing, veggies, etc. We went the sandwich route—my wife ordered roast beef, and I opted for the Collar City, one of their specialty sandwiches. Both were quite sizable, and very tasty—lots of meat, fresh veggies, and enough but not too much dressing. One caveat, though: The plain iced tea in the refrigerator case is unsweetened and very strong—most folks will want to try something else.
The fare is nothing extraordinary, but it’s affordable (sandwiches and drinks came to $13 for the two of us), it’s not the Commons (which to be fair, isn’t all that bad), it gets you off campus (something most of us could do more often), and it’s fast enough to get you back to class on time. And if you’re a bit late... it was probably worth it anyway.
To get to Francesca’s, walk down the Approach. Go around the hotel in front of you and you’ll be looking across 6th Ave. at Broadway. Go one block west on Broadway, and Francesca’s is on the far left corner, directly across from the Troy Record.
