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The Financial District can be a forbidding land for culinary quests, marked as it is with overpriced, noisy establishments that often feel as corporate as its office refugees. Merchants NY Café is a welcome alternative. The modern-cool furnishings consist of strangely medical, perforated plastic white chairs and faux-wood tables in a narrow interior, with a dark mirror that reflects both the full bar and steel pendant lamps hanging over a black-and-white tile floor. The flames of a wood-fired pizza oven light the small open kitchen. The cafe's original uptown counterpart, Merchants NY, serves palatable, if not spectacular fare, and Merchants Café is no different, tentatively borrowing from Middle Eastern, Italian, and Thai cuisines for appetizers (like grilled lamb merguez) but sticking squarely with American entrees—salmon, salads, sandwiches, and burgers—that pleasantly fill, but don’t dazzle. The wide sidewalk seating area, with heat lamps and long, low-lit white couches, makes for a fine, casual weeknight outing in mild weather, and drinks like the Key Lime Pie martini liven up the bar selection. Local professionals usually opt for pick-up, making the corner a veritable parade of the majestic, well-groomed, large dogs they walk after a long day at the office. — Laurel A. Fantauzzo

Sat.—Sun., 11:30 a.m.—4 p.m.

Char-Broiled Burger, $11.95