mmm-yoso!!! is the blog written by Kirk and Friends. As you all know, Kirk and His Missus are on vacation and Cathy is your blogger.
Hello. Hope you aren’t too traumatized that Kirk is away from San Diego for a little while. I am just trying to keep the blog going, with talks of food I ate.
The Mister and I got a gift card from a friend for Christmas and the other night we were hungry and didn’t want to spend any cash, so we ventured into "downtown" Santee and went to Mimi’s, a nationwide chain. We had never been and had not heard anything bad about it, and quite a few people had told us they liked it here. We wanted to try everything on the menu, and decided on a variety of things to share. 
Almost as soon as we sat down, a basket of warm, fresh crusty white bread and some slices of warm date nut bread and a serving of butter were placed on our table. We tasted as we perused the menu.
The bread is excellent, as is the date nut loaf. Both very fresh. The date nut loaf is moist and the nuts are crispy and the dates are not sticky.
I noticed the other tables also had mismatched colors of plates, but the silverware did all match…unlike some other restaurants we have been to. 
I wasn’t sure what to order and the soup and petite salad "Small Bite" looked good ($9.39) It came with a choice of freshly baked muffin, so a carrot raisin nut muffin was ordered. It came out fresh from the oven, had good, deep flavor, a crispy crust (I like crusts and edges of breads, casseroles, and just about everything I eat).
It was also..um..huge.
I chose the French Onion Soup , because I could smell the cooked onions when I walked in the door of the restaurant and suddenly had a craving for it. 
The broth was deep and rich and tasted as if it had been simmered for days to get every last taste of beef from a bone.
It was topped with a nutty tasting Gruyere cheese that was melted and burned so perfectly. Of course under the cheese and on top of the soup was a nicely toasted slice of bread that stayed crispy for a while until it absorbed some broth. This was an excellent soup.
We ordered the golden fried calamari "fritti" style ($ 8.49) which you will note is not on a current menu since the menu changes "seasonally", which, near as I can tell, is every six weeks or so. Fried calamari tossed with garlic butter, green onions and sliced cherry and banana peppers. It was served with a citrus based remoulade and was very, very good. If it is on the menu when you go, do try it.
The Mister got the Half Pound Burger ($7.79) with optional onion rings for an additional 50¢ as the side. He asked for it to be cooked medium rare, and it was! (There has been much frustration when we ask for medium rare and the meat is never cooked that way)
Served with lettuce,tomato, pickle and a thousand island sauce, on a fresh toasted hearty, nicely chewy white bread bun, it was excellent.
The salad I chose was the Bleu cheese and walnut salad, which had dried cranberries, bacon, tomatoes and strawberries in it. It was tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette and though it looked small, was very filling.
Last week I went to lunch with a friend (Mrs. L) and ordered the Pot Roast sandwich for lunch ($8.99). Warm pot roast served on a warm sourdough baguette simply made with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. Excellent flavors! I opted for the 50¢ extra onion rings, which were batter fried crispy and had excellent flavor. Sweet onions…
Mrs. L is so kind and thoughtful and decided I needed dessert…but to share, you know, and she let me pick. So as soon as I saw Bananas Foster Mud Pie ($5) listed, I smiled…
Oh yes, it is as large as it looks- more than 6 inches high at its peak. Banana-vanilla swirl ice cream, with sliced bananas in it; caramelized pecans, a graham cracker crust, served with a sliced fresh banana, real whipped cream and carmel sauce. Excellent. We could not finish it all, although I did finish up the bananas and whipped cream…
All in all, the food here has been excellent, fresh and has an attention to detail. I do not consider it to be "Sysco-ised" at all and have liked everything I have tried. Many people tell me they come here for a sit down breakfast (it opens at 6 a.m.) and I do know it is a french roast coffee served. I will return and won’t be afraid.
Mimi’s Cafe website