Located on Monroe Street in downtown Grand Rapids, right across the street from Madcap Coffee, a cozy cafe sits awaiting hungry customers. Little Bird not only filled my stomach, but it filled my expectations as well.

On a sunny Thursday afternoon, one of my closest friends and I made the smooth trip on the highway to have an enjoyable lunch at Little Bird. Due to the location being in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, parking was limited. Although luckily for us, there were multiple affordable parking garages within walking distance from the welcoming cafe.

After a short, sunny walk, our moods were high due to the sun shining in the dead of winter, but once we entered the cafe, my mood only got better.

The cafe was small and inviting with multiple customers sitting at tables and a bar that stretched the length of the restaurant. Snippets of conversations filled my ear as the aroma of food swaddled me as if I was in a blanket.

The waiter graciously sat us—very close to another customer—as soon as we walked into the door. The cafe was littered with modern, aesthetically pleasing wood tables made for two or four people. The large window at the front of the restaurant allowed sunlight to illuminate the snug cafe as people ate happily.

Although my friend and I were placed too close to our neighboring customer, that feeling slowing diminished as we began to become entranced in our own conversation, the cafe dissipating behind us.

Our waiter was more than patient with us as we struggled to decide what we wanted to order off the extremely affordable, two-page menu. As I ordered french toast off the breakfast menu, which they served until 2:30 p.m., my friend ordered a cheeseburger off the lunch menu. After selecting our meals, we noticed that Little Bird made their own specialty sodas that ranged from celery soda to vanilla soda. We couldn’t help but feed our curiosity by ordering a vanilla soda to try out.

In no time at all, our meals were happily delivered to us by the more-than-polite waiter. My french toast went beyond my expectations. It had a layer of cherries and cherry sauce across the three enormous pieces of french toast, syrup drizzled with a glob of sweet cream cheese placed in the center; the french toast not only tasted divine, but the sight of it made my stomach rumble like a thunderstorm.

As we graciously ate our food, I couldn’t help but fawn over how affordable the meal was—most meals ranging in the low teens—and how delightful and exquisite the food was.

Along with the soda, which turned out to be extremely carbonated and lacking flavor, the foods offered were unique and unlike any cafe I had been to. Both the breakfast menu and lunch menu ranged with various foods I had never heard of before, but to my advantage, there was a description under every option.

I felt as if I was in an extremely high-end restaurant, but in reality, it was just as affordable as any other place I would normally go but with better food.

As our stomachs were filled, we barely made a dent into our meals, but we happily left the cafe into the sunshine of February with our smiles large and appetites gone.

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