Downtown office workers close to the Shell Building should raise a cup of coffee to the return of a cafe on the building’s ground floor. Abby’s Shell Corner Cafe opened last week at 1221 Locust St., next door to Sen Thai Bistro, on the corner of Locust and 13th Streets. The cafe, formerly called Shell Corner Cafe, had closed briefly until Abby Hernandez and Ammie Maminta-McSwain stepped in as the new operators of the breakfast and lunch spot.
Hernandez and Maminta-McSwain are an aunt-niece team with a Filipino heritage. Thus, while patrons in search of a quick bite will find American breakfast and lunch options, they will also be able to taste classic Filipino fare in the form of daily lunch specials. Hernandez learned to prepare Filipino food while living on her native Polillo Island off the northeast coast of the Philippine mainland.
The initial menu at Abby’s is abbreviated. Breakfast options are: a hot trio (choice of pancakes or hash browns; a sausage patty, sausage links or bacon; and toast) or croissant breakfast sandwiches. Quick lunch grabs include sandwiches bearing meats from Eovaldi’s Deli served on Fazio’s bread, as well as vegetarian and meat-filled wraps. All sandwiches and wraps (priced at $6.50) are accompanied by two house-made side dishes (choices are potato salad, cole slaw, sweet potato fries and home-style fries). When Filipino specials hit the menu on Monday, September 24, look for lumpia (Filipino egg rolls), pancit canton (a noodle dish with vegetables, pork, chicken and shrimp), tapsilog (fried beef jerky with fried rice and a fried egg) and halo halo for dessert-lovers. On the beverage side, Abby’s offers hot coffee espresso drinks, smoothies and sodas.
The cafe is open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and offers free delivery with a $10 minimum purchase. A website, Facebook page and Twitter handle are coming soon, but customers can reach Abby’s by calling 314.241.2422.
This article appears in September 2012.