
We make virtually everything by hand at the Branch Cafe & Market… even our soysage patties, veggie burgers, burger buns, sourdough and gluten-free bread. Whenever possible, we use organic and locally grown products that support sustainable agriculture. Our eggs and meat proteins are natural as well: free-range, hormone and drug free and wild caught. You won’t find GMOs, high-fructose corn syrup and styrofoam in our business. We’re keeping it real.
Neighborhood cafe & bakery serving fair-trade coffee drinks plus eclectic eats & pastries.
Address and Contact Information
Address: 100 E Jackson St, Carbondale, IL 62901
Phone: (618) 529-4488
Website: https://www.branchcafeandmarket.com/
Menu Photos
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Reviews
There are places in Southern Illinois that don’t merely serve food, they serve eras. For those of us of a certain vintage, the patchouli clouded ghost of The Long Branch still clings to the windows of what is now, in its reincarnated and considerably more self-assured form, The Branch Café. Call it nostalgia, call it denial, call it what you will: the old name remains tattooed on the collective memory of This year 2000 SIU School of Law law school graduate like a beloved, if slightly disreputable uncle.
But the new Branch Café? Reader, it sings.
The Baroness (Sarah) and I arrived for brunch and ordered the Southwestern Griddle: beef chorizo, eggs scrambled to a soft sunrise, black beans, crisp-edged potatoes, and three salsas arranged like a flight of controlled substances behind a diner-legal disclaimer. It came out steaming and unapologetically aromatic … an edible declaration of intent. In the photograph I took before devouring it, the dish looks like it’s plotting a coup. And frankly, it might.
The flavors were bold without being reckless; confident in that way a place becomes after a few decades of reinvention, like a middle-aged poet who finally figured out how to pay the rent. The chorizo had that perfect Thompsonian swagger, seasoned, a little wild, and possibly armed. And the salsas? A tricolor spectrum ranging from friendly warmth to you should have thought this through.
A blueberry muffin followed, soft as a confession. A Will’s Cuban rounded out the meal, cutting through the richness with that bright Havana-by-way-Illinois tang. Say what you will about fusion cuisine sometimes it works, especially when the chef knows exactly what they’re fusing and why.
The atmosphere remains as I remember it in the early ’90s: the place where a teenager could feel dangerously intellectual, the kind of café where one could imagine ordering a martini at 17 and reading a physics book upside down to look impressive. It still has that strange electricity. Only now it’s cleaner, brighter, better, and it no longer feels like a dare.
In a moment of impulsivity (or journalistic rigor, depending on your view), we stole a menu. This was partly nostalgia, partly evidence gathering, and partly because we fully intend to order takeout with the frequency of a developing addiction.
In short, The Branch Café is not merely good. it is compulsory. If you haven’t been yet, your life choices require immediate reconsideration. Get in your car. Go. Order the Southwestern Griddle. Feel the gratitude of a person who unexpectedly dodged a tragedy of their own making.
We will be back many times.
A bakery, resturant, shop all in one.
Enjoying life 1 sip, 1 bite and 1 small town at a time. Explore everything!
(Returned to Longbranch this morning after our initial visit ~5 months ago and now that we live in Carbondale — we enjoyed breakfast & takeout this time! )
Just as pleased, if not more so, with this meal/purchase! Our favorite item was the freshly baked sourdough — I know 10 dollars for a loaf is steeper than most but it was well worth it and we will surely buy again. Our breakfast of comfort bowl and burrito were both hardy, tasty, and included excellent potatoes. Their soysage is also awesome, order something with it. Finally, the pecan roll was an excellent sweet treat and we can’t wait to try more food from Longbranch.
We sipped Americanos this time, no complaints there either — they have a wonderfully wide range of coffee/beverages!
P.s. can we talk about the drawing on their brown bags? I love simple yet effective artistic detail like this.