One of my favorite restaurants on San Juan Island is the Cheesecake Cafe and Bakery in Friday Harbor.  They have a variety of fresh food in a lovely location just by the docks.  You can eat inside or outside on a deck shared with Fish and Brew.

The Cheesecake Cafe and Bakery just opened in Friday Harbor in May.  Previously the cafe was located in the ferry terminal in Anacortes.  The owner, Margie Aipopo, lost the concessionaire contract in a required open bidding contest.  So she sold her house and moved her home and her cafe to Friday Harbor.  Anacortes’ loss is our gain!

Cheesecake Cafe is a good place to go when you are tired of the fried fish with french fries and slaw that you get at most other “faster” places on the island.  Like Fridays Crabhouse, you order at the counter and then they bring you your food.  We really like the Flat Iron sandwiches.  The salads are fresh and don’t have too many weird ingredients.  The clam chowder is homemade and has potatoes in it.

But the best thing about the Cheesecake Cafe is the baked goods.  The cheesecakes look delicious, but when I can choose between a cookie or a piece of cheesecake, I will always choose the cookie.  Tom really likes the chocolate chip cookies.  I really like the peanut butter cookies with a whole Reese’s Cup stuck in the middle.  One day I got one of these cookies to eat later and stuck it in the car while we walked around.  When we got home a couple of hours later, the Reese’s cup had melted and it was an ooey, gooey, delicious mess!

Margie always has samples of her baked goods to try.  Last week she made raspberry scones which were buttery and wonderful.  My favorite is the raspberry muffins – big enough to be breakfast.  We have also tried the chocolate chip banana muffins and the shortbread cookies.  Everything Margie bakes is super tasty.

We often eat at the Cheesecake Cafe and enjoy going there with other people.  The good sandwiches and delicious baked goods will bring us back as long as we are on the island.