Beautiful restaurant a hidden gem in Gainesville and was really impressed. I ordered the Moroccan Barbecue Sandwich with fries for $12.25. It was delicious and so tender. The sandwich breakdown:beef braised in Moroccan spices and served on a Kaiser Roll w/tomato, onion and goat cheese. The fries were good but maybe would make them smaller so they can cook evenly. I think what they may need to work on is service just being more attentive. Food came out fast but to get the check took a while.

Looking for a good brunch spot on a rainy Saturday morning in Gainesville. I found a great one here. My Cajun Fritata was amazing - made fresh w andouille sausage, peppers and onions it had just the right amount of kick. The grits are not to be missed as well - don't add any butter or pepper to them until you have tried them. They don't need a thing. I'll be back. I expect that there would be a big crowd on a game weekend so come early.

Civilization I love you a brunch! Civilization is a fantastic place to eat brunch! Up to the caliber of Kiki's and Peach Valley if not more. This place is cash only but on the bright side they have an atm inside! So there's no excuse you can't eat here and they do have vegan options. It's also dog-friendly! The staff is super knowledgeable about the menu and good brunch combinations. The menu did not disappoint. There were so many options from sweet, savory and even spicy! When I asked the waiter how long they've been opened he only said a couple years but the cool part is that they don't do any promotions about this place exists! It's all word of mouth and you can definitely tell they've succeeded! My only problem is that they have a small parking lot so if you're coming with a large party, I recommend car pooling. The prices are your average brunch price ranging from $9.50 to 12.50 dollars I had the breakfast croissant with the home fries and the buttery flakiness and the egg with white cheddar had a harmonious balance that made my taste buds sing with every bite! I also had the lemon ricotta beignets and they made me audibly gasp at how delectable they were. Granted, it was my first beignet ever but they set the bar high whenever I try another one again. Even just writing this makes me wish I could eat some again this instant. Civilization is by far such a wholesome restaurant with delicious food and a very Florida vibe! If you get the chance to go, I highly recommend it!

4 Stars for a great Gainesville breakfast cafe that features some really inventive dishes! First off-- This place gets busy! But luckily, the wait wasn't too long for a table of three and we had great weather while we waited out front. The menu is impressive for what I thought would be a typical breakfast/brunch spot. All of the classic staples were re-imagined with inventive ingredients and, like most Gville restaurants, there is a substantial vegan offering. My boyfriend and I decided to go the salty/sweet route and share some dishes when we last visited Civilization. We split the following: - Lemon Ricotta Beignets with organic raspberry puree. Oh man, I'd recommend ordering these for the table and savoring every last bite. These little dough balls are perfectly soft in the middle and the lemon makes it feel light (despite it not being light on calories). - Florida Cakes (organic multigrain pancakes made with shredded zucchini, orange zest and candied pecans. Served with hot blueberry compote and real maple syrup). I loved this take on the regular diner pancake. The zucchini shone through as the star, along with the tart orange zest. Another big win! - Southwestern Black Beans & Rice (topped with two poached eggs, white cheddar and avocado, and served with fried tortillas). This was the only disappointment of the meal. To begin with, the poached eggs were overcooked, so they didn't run at all when you pierced them. One, or even two overcooked poached eggs can be chalked up to a mistake, but our friend had two poached eggs on his dish and both of them were fully cooked through as well... This was a big bummer. Besides the sad eggs, the rice and beans lacked flavor and felt pretty generic. I'd give this dish a skip. Overall, the space was open, airy, and had a lovely atmosphere and the food was, for the most part, inventive and delicious. I'd definitely return!

I've waited a while to submit this review. How do I put into words a place that I consider to be one of my favorites of all time? Well, it's time that I take a stab at this. Civilization is my favorite brunch in GNV. This isn't earth shattering news; this spot is known as a tried & true Gainesville classic. With an abundance of vegan & vegetarian options, it's no surprise that folks flock to Civilization for a meal. I've never eaten at Civilization for a non-brunch meal, but I've heard nothing but incredible things for any other time of day. Some of my favorites include the vegan French toast (& I'm absolutely not vegan), the challah French toast, and the swamp eggs. Beignets are really good, but I wouldn't call them "beignets"; they're less airy and more dense, but still delicious!

Here's to good food, friendly staff, and eating lunch with Mom at Civilization and being full for the remainder of the day! Civilization has high quality food that's bursting with flavor! I had the shrimp and grits and the cheesy grits and side of greens sent me UP --SO tasty! The also make a pretty good latte, art included. Mom had the Swamp Eggs and they're also a great entree choice. The drive-up and dirt parking lot isn't all that appealing, but once you reach the patio and set food inside, a different story is told. The only had two issues at Civilization: One was the slow kitchen. We ordered promptly, but receiving our entrees at lunch took a while. We took notice as after our entrees we wanted to try (and ordered) the beignets, but had to cancel the order after reaching 15 minutes of waiting. Secondly, my missing the note about this restaurant being cash only. I had to use their in-house ATM, and pay the service fee to keep from washing dishes. The prices are very reasonable and the portions are perfect. We'll definitely return (with cash in hand) as it's more than worth the repeat visit.

I was highly suspect as we drove up to this restaurant. I felt like, "Oh boy--what have I gotten myself into." But I am clearly a fan and I like when this happens. The service was excellent. It has a light and lively atmosphere about it. The food had a unique flare and it was very tasty. We had brunch (Swamp eggs and Shrimp and Grits) and it exceeded my expectations and turned out to be lovely. The best part is I didn't get hungry for the rest of the day. The kicker is I didn't know it was a cash only restaurant and had l known this on the front end, I would have selected lunch items for the amount of cash that I had in my purse.

Let me preface this entire post with the fact that I am a professional bruncher. Brunch is my sport, I live for brunch. I brunch once a week and prepare mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially in order to support my hobby. This post is coming from a brunch die hard who is a little picky about the brunch experience from atmosphere, food, drinks, and overall vibes. Civilization has been on my list for a while but I have been deterred for one reason: CASH ONLY. I never carry around cash and honestly I always worry when I go somewhere about if I have enough. Cash is a foreign concept to me but they have an ATM inside so I was able to make due with a $2 fee! I decided to go to brunch with a friend around 10:45am on a Sunday. Please note date and time, as I'm sure this smaller restaurant can get pretty busy most other times and days. Or maybe we got lucky since it was summer? I was also with one of my great friends and the company I'm sure helped. We were seated around 11:00am (15 min wait, not too bad). We sat inside and it is preferable to the Gainesville heat. The inside of the restaurant is eclectic and hipster chic. It's the kind of place with distressed furniture but you aren't turned off by it and find it charming. Our server was nice. They were super patient with us since my friend and I are talkers (more on this later). They were quick and came around just enough to check on if we needed anything. I also appreciated their advice and making sure we understood the menu. My friend and I split a carafe of their hibiscus ginger mimosas. It cost $20 and had about 6 glasses. This is a pretty decent deal. HOWEVER, would have preferred bottomless because OMG this was the best mimosa I have had! The hibiscus ginger tea blends well with champagne and it's a beautiful pink color. It was a delicious drink that was (thankfully) not super sweet and let the champagne cover that. I don't think I will go back to a regular orange juice mimosa, I mean how can I? This was half the calories and tasted much better. Shout out to our server because both my friend and I totally disregarded the menu and decided to do our own thing (LOL). For brunch I ordered the ALT (avocado, lettuce, tomato sandwich) and added bacon and poached eggs. When I say this sandwich was amazing, I'm not lying. There was an explosion of flavors and while the bacon and egg did not originally come on it, it balanced and made it even more remarkable. They can probably just add this to the menu and name it the Christine. Everything was cooked to perfection, especially the poached eggs! They were the most beautiful poached eggs I have ever seen. The yolk was runny and good. I would suggest a little salt and pepper just to make it more tasty. My friend got the southwest bowl but essentially only wanted the rice and black beans and put her own poached egg over the top. Overall the food was amazing and this professional bruncher will be back! I loved the vibe and cannot stress enough how good their food was. It was a little pricey but for a place like this you shouldn't be expecting to pay like you would at iHOP. This is a Gainesville must do and I want everyone to know it.