Little Too Much "Yellow" at This Hip Cafe

Yellow Dog Cafe
905 U.S. Highway 1
Malabar, FL USA 32950

www.yellowdogcafe.com

Where is it?

From the maitre d' table: Go into the dining room, towards the stairs leading to the lower level. But before you get to the stairs, take a left (into the restaurant's second dining room) and head towards the kitchen. Once you do, you'll face-to-face come with a bar area set up around a chef's station. Go past that and into the hallway just beyond. The toilets are there.

What's it like?

This is a hip little eatery found on the outskirts of Melbourne. The interior is filled with folk art and pictures of dogs, and the menu wears its modern gourmet American influences like a badge of honor. The food here is imaginatively prepared and tasty, albeit a bit too rich for a casual night out and drenched in various sauces, it seems. The highlights are the salads, which are creative and tantalizing.

Likewise, the bathrooms are cozy, clean and cool, filled with offbeat pictures, dark wood highlights, funky old-fashioned wall paper, classy fixtures and REAL TOWELS! Funky and functional, to say the least.

Except that the person who used the toilet before me had not flushed -- and instead of a funky clean bathroom I was greeted by a toilet filled with someone else's pee and toilet paper. This, of course, made me wonder what the "Yellow" in "Yellow Dog Cafe" really referred too..... which in turn led to a night of horrific paranoia. Ick.

Marks out of 10:

7. Would have been higher were it not for the unflushed toilet.

Comments to the Management:

While you may have a hip, sophisticated, fun environment on your hand and a creative menu, your clientele (or staff?) clearly isn't as sophisticated as you might believe they are. Perhaps it's time to start screening people at the door. Before they enter, ask: "Do you flush the toilet after going to the bathroom?" If they say "No" or appear hesitant, refuse them entry!