Restaurant Spotlight: Frona Mae Dessert Cafe

You’ve had your dinner, you’ve seen your game/movie/concert/play, but you’re not ready to head home. Now what?

If you’re downtown, you might want to check out Frona Mae Dessert Cafe. This quaint little eatery sits right off Monument Circle, on Washington Street between Meridian and Pennsylvania, and it’s open late.

The place has an atmosphere that feels elegant, but comfortable. I visited the cafe on a rather “blah” weekday afternoon between meetings, but it still somehow felt special. The cafe specializes in desserts, as its name indicates, but weekday afternoon visitors like myself can indulge in a light lunch as well.

The cafe offers soups, salads and sandwiches. It’s nothing too fancy — I had a chicken salad sandwich on white bread, and it was exactly how I’d expect a chicken salad on white bread to taste. Other sandwich options include egg salad and BLT. The salad choices include Frona’s salad, with romaine lettuce, blue cheese, hard-boiled egg and cherry tomato, and Rebecca’s Old Fashioned Salad, which is a spinach-kale blend with carrots, cranberries, walnuts and bacon. The soups change daily.

The real fun begins when you start looking for drinks and desserts. The menu includes a few types of coffee drinks, hot chocolate, beer, wine, champagne and more. For desserts, you can choose from a wide variety of cakes, pies, cookies, brownies, milkshakes, ice cream cones and various other pastries. The cafe’s website notes the offerings change daily, and the chalkboard menu at the cafe backed up that statement.

I was kind of overwhelmed by all the dessert options, because I have a major sweet tooth. I asked the man who took my order for a recommendation; noting the frigid temps, he suggested the warm bread pudding with a fruit and red wine reduction and whipped cream. I don’t remember ever being a big fan of bread pudding, and it probably would have been close to my last choice, but I tried it anyway. It was delicious, and if my close-to-last choice was that good, I would bet my favorites — like cheesecake and brownies — would blow my mind.

The customer service was great from start to finish; I was greeted as soon as I came in the door, I was helped promptly but not rushed, and I was thanked sincerely for spending my time and money there.

One caveat about Frona Mae: it was pricey. My sandwich and bread pudding ran me $15. I had water to drink, and there were no sides included with my sandwich. I think that’s pretty steep for lunch. However, this cafe doesn’t seem like it’s trying to become a place known for lunch. Instead, it’s more like that special place you take your date after the curtain drops at the theater for some intimate conversation, a cup of coffee and a slice of pie.

If the cafe wasn’t packed this past Valentine’s Day, I’m sure it’ll be the place to be come Valentine’s Day 2017.