Best Thing We Ate This Week: Working Lunch at Zuma

I have a lot of working lunches, whether that means eating leftovers over my computer or meeting with community members at various Birmingham hotspots.

But when it's time to work with colleagues, no place combines space, power outlets, caffeine and good food quite like .

For Wednesday's working lunch, I went with a quick favorite: a bagel sandwich with a raspberry Italian soda.

Since college, bagel sandwiches have been one of my favorite kinds of sandwiches, and Zuma's brought me back to 8 a.m. class and afternoons on the quad: a plain bagel, cream cheese, lettuce, turkey and tomato. Seriously, do you need anything else? It was an extra bonus that the bagel was warm — something that was always missing from my collegiate bagel sandwiches.

Zuma's prices are reasonable for lunch, particularly since the baristas make everything on the spot from fresh ingredients. The wait is never long, though, and you can always sip your refreshing raspberry Italian soda while you wait.