Culinary skills clearly run in the family for Cafe Mediterra owner Mutaz Abdullah. Inspired by his "old man," as he says, who operates Hyde Park's Cedars of Lebanon, and his brother's Chicago Sultan's Market chainlet, Abdullah recently opened his own resto-coffeehouse hybrid. Cafe Mediterra resides in the South Loop's former Gourmand space, a coffee shop beloved by the neighborhood, but Abdullah's thoughtfully designed shop and menu seem eager (and ready) to fill Gourmand's shoes.

Typical American fare and Turkish-inflected dishes peacefully coexist on the extensive, well-priced menu of breakfast, lunch and dinner options. Start the day with a Grecian omelet filled with spinach, onion, green peppers, tomatoes and feta cheese or the syrupy brioche French toast. Plenty of salads and sandwiches, all less than $10, populate the menu, and heartier dinners, such as Mediterranean skirt steak and spicy grilled shrimp kebab, hover around $15 and come served with rice of-the-day. Though you order at the counter, staffers deliver your meal to the table and will even check back to refill water glasses. As an added bonus, Cafe Mediterra is BYOB and has no plans to apply for a liquor license, putting it on the short list of cheap date places in SoLo.

If studying and sipping suits you better than wining and dining, Cafe Mediterra is happy to oblige. Pale olive-green and burnt-sienna walls and unobtrusive track lighting create an earthy, calm vibe in the dining room, which seats about 100. Tea, coffee and juice smoothies all vie to be your drink of choice, and the cafe offers free wi-fi. So settle in with your laptop and stay a while. The lovebirds getting cozy over kebabs at the next table promise to keep canoodling to a minimum.

Centerstage Reviewer: Elisabeth Kilpatrick