A BLT and lentil salad at the Blue Door Cafe in Draper. Photo by Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times.

By Laura Krisch | Special to The Roanoke Times

The last time I was in Draper, my food experience consisted of a giant gas station pickle.

The Blue Door Cafe, a fairly recent addition to the handsomely renovated Draper Mercantile, offers far superior dining options. Inside the cafe’s namesake blue doors, stalls of local merchants’ wares line one side and cafe tables the other.

I persuaded some friends to come along with me on a recent Friday. Friday is pie day at the cafe, featuring fruit pies ($2.95), nut pies ($3.25), and quiche ($3.25); whole pies, including pre-requests, are available from $12.95. Orders placed with a friendly server at the back counter, we wandered the merchants’ area until our food arrived.

Two of us ordered the tuna salad sandwich ($6.95). We agreed it was good but ordinary. A begged bite of BLT ($6.95) from my neighbor’s plate, however, was perfection. Crispy strips of smoky bacon overlapped thick sourdough slices, with just the right ratio of lettuce and tomato.

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Blue Door Cafe
3054 Greenbriar Road, Draper
1-888-399-1210