Morning Due Cafe Serves Up Old Comfort, Tasty Treats

By Sarah Mcdonald

Light streams in through windowpanes painted with a green leaf at the Morning Due Cafe. The small coffeehouse-turned-eatery has a quiet, clean, relaxed feel to it. On a Sunday afternoon, the restaurant is busy but not crowded, populated by brunch-goers, families, and people with laptops. Customers linger over lattes and omelets, chatting with each other and the staff.

“We have established a sense of community here,” said owner Joel Haddad, who opened Morning Due as a coffee shop in the mid-1990s. He couldn’t remember the exact year, but thought it was around the time his wife was pregnant with their daughter, Seja. The name Morning Due came from Haddad’s wife, Reham, which means “morning dew” in Arabic.

Morning Due predates neighboring locales Maxfield’s and Dolores Park Cafe. “It was totally different than it is right now,” Haddad said, saying how Mission High students used to come in because there was little else around.

Two years ago, Haddad gave Morning Due a facelift, converting it into a full restaurant. They now serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, and their menu includes omelets, sandwiches, salads, pastas, and soup. In January, they started offering rotisserie chicken from their new sister restaurant, Due Drop Inn, which offers takeout next door. The full menu is available in both locations.

“[Almost] everything here is homemade,” said Haddad, who tries to keep the menu as vegetarian friendly and socially responsible as possible, offering several vegetarian options, free range chicken and eggs, and organic coffee.

“We try to be closer to good things,” he said.

Lisa Redmur, who works at Morning Due, said their lentil burgers are quite popular. “All the vegetarians love that burger,” she said.

The restaurant maintains a coffeeshop atmosphere, with customers ordering and paying at the counter. Many linger over laptops and books, and Haddad said the cafe is popular among college students.

Nicole Hsiang is a graduate student at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and said she comes to Morning Due often to study. “Ever since I started school it’s all I do,” she said.
Hsiang said she loved the food, particularly the macaroni and cheese and garden burgers and appreciated the free Wi-Fi and relaxed atmosphere. “Usually I can find a space,” she said. “It’s not too crowded.”

Haddad said he works hard to maintain a safe, friendly environment. “You come to a nice family place, you respect it,” he said. “If you don’t go by the rules, you’re out of here.”

Morning Due hosts a number of community events, ranging from a small weekly knitting circle to a large Passover potluck that takes over the space every year.

“It’s wonderful and people have a blast,” said Haddad.

He stressed the importance community plays in his business. “We know everyone who comes in here,” he said. “We know their name, and the name of their cat.”

“Everyone’s a regular here,” said Redmur. “It’s a very community-oriented space.”

Morning Due Cafe is located at 3698 17th St. at Church and the Due Drop Inn is located at 489 Church St.

Copyright 2010 Castro Courier