PURE Cafe is a pretty unique place and nothing like a typical cafe. There are actually three businesses in one if you will, with the cafe being one of the three components of the business. As soon as you walk into the cafe, you will notice that the counter area where you place your order shares space with the second concept of the business, a Pro-shop that sells sportswear and athletic equipment. The third part of the business is called "The Bottle Club" which offers locker rentals inside a cooler for storage of beer and other alcohol.
The seating area in the back consists of just a handful of small bar tables but it walks out to a gorgeous patio. Because the weather was so nice, R. and I decided to take advantage of the patio seating which overlooks a serene heavily wooded area. There wasn't anyone else around, so we were able to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and the peaceful chirps of the wild birds. It felt like we were having a picnic at a park, only with food made for and brought to us.
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| Outdoor Patio at Pure Cafe |
The patio is also outfitted with several large-screen TVs and heat lamps, so would serve as a great setting for parties as well, especially for watching sports. (Indeed, it appears you can reserve this space for events.)
Not surprisingly, being associated with a fitness facility, PURE Cafe's menu also caters to gym-goers, as reflected in their selection of healthy salads, wraps, paninis, and crepes (OK, that last one may be a tad less healthy), as well as a large selection of smoothies with boosters like "Energy" or "Whey Protein." Aiming for something light, I decided to try the Veggie Lover's Wrap, with romaine lettuce, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese, in a sesame ginger dressing and a roasted red pepper wrap. It was a pretty standard combination of veggies, which was not particularly mind-blowing (not that I expected it at a cafe inside a gym), but everything from the veggies to the wrap itself was fresh and the dressing was an excellent complement to the veggies. As I said, PURE Cafe is a place for a cheap and quick bite, and for $4.50, this is exactly what you get, and it is of much higher quality than fast food.
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| Veggie Lover's Wrap ($4.50) |
Because I can never say no to crepes (health priming be damned!), R. and I shared a Hazelberry-Anna Crepe for dessert. It comes with strawberries, bananas, Nutella, and topped with whipped cream. Again, pretty standard but pretty decent.
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| Hazelberry-Anna Crepe ($4.95) |
The one thing I probably should have tried but didn't was their smoothies. Given their massive selection of no less than 25 flavors of smoothies, it seems like something they are probably good at. There is always next time, I guess! On another note, PURE Cafe has a drive-thru window, which seems a bit ironic considering it is at a gym, but I do appreciate the convenience, and the cafe does serve fresh brewed coffee and iced tea so I can imagine that the drive-thru window would come in handy for some. In sum, I liked PURE Cafe. It is simple, fresh, healthy, inexpensive, and the setting is beautiful. I can see myself bringing my Kindle here next time and read while I "picnic" on their patio.
Restaurant info:
Pure Cafe
119 Neely School Rd, Wexford, PA 15090
(724)935-1515
On the web: http://www.pureathletex.com
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/purecafewexford
On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/PureCafeWexford
