Jax V.
Yelp
Finding unique restaurants outside a metro area isn't always easy: suburbs and small towns are generally full of chains or places that might as well be chains, considering their lack of fresh ingredients and scratch cooking. Gustaf's was a welcome change from those problems.
The historic Victorian brick home makes for a charming setting for a relaxing meal. Customers place orders at the counter in the front room and have several rooms with a few small tables in which to dine. The breakfast/brunch/lunch menu isn't overly expansive, with about half a dozen apiece of breakfast options, entrees, and salads, plus a few soups and desserts, but it's well curated and its limited scope means you're not dealing with frozen, processed, or aging ingredients. Everything we tried was fresh and tasty.
The standouts were the amazing tomato bisque, the apple pie, and two truly delicious cups of apparently locally roasted coffee. Helena's Salad (spinach, feta, blueberries, nuts, and a raspberry dressing) and the Gold Rush (a great chicken salad on a croissant with a pickle and potato chips) were both good and, if anything, perhaps overly generous in their portions. The avocado toast was good, if typical. When it comes to the quality of the food or the service, there were no lowlights: the staff was very helpful and friendly, and even the dishes that we didn't consider highlights were perfectly good.
Having water available only available for purchase by the bottle rather than complimentary was a mildly disappointing surprise, but not nearly enough of a drawback to count as a complaint.
Not being local, we regret not being able to easily stop in to test out a few more items. But if we're in the area again, Gustaf's will be on the agenda for breakfast, lunch, or even an afternoon snack of ice cream and coffee.