Breakfast in America

We’ve been to Price, Utah so many times that I thought there was no breakfast place could surprise me enough to write about it. During this trip, we went back to the Balance Rock Cafe (reviewed previously) and while the food was good – as before – the service was dreadfully slow. So slow, that I’ve decided it’s not quite worth a return trip on future visits to the area.

Then, we stumbled up Café Ricardo’s at the Greenwell Inn & Convention Center in Price just a few hundred yards from the Best Western Carriage House where we were staying. We were heading south to Zion National Park and we wanted to start off our day with a good breakfast. My aunt recommended Ricardo’s (so not exactly a “stumble upon”).

Ricardo’s specializes in coffee drinks so it was Skinny Mochas and Americanos all around (except for me of course – a breakfast lover who doesn’t like coffee.) Both traditional and south-of-the-border flavors are available on this menu.

My husband enjoyed his mushroom and ham omelet, but ruined his hashbrowns with the cheap ketchup offering on the table – Ketchup is nothing to skimp on, folks. My daughter ordered a short stack of pancakes which appeared large and fluffly, but tasted dense and gummy. My son had no complaints as his scramble was loaded with diced ham. Mr.Meat was happy indeed.

I suppose I was happiest of the bunch as I decided to venture into the unknown. I ordered the Machaca Con Huevos – a Mexican omelet with shredded beef and Pico de Gallo. It was tasty, indeed. Be warned – this baby packs some heat!

Spendy Scale: $

Coffee Rating: 4.5

Other Offerings

• Lunch & Dinner
• Full Bar

Contact Information

655 East Main
Price, UT 84501

Hours

Local Attractions

• CEU Prehistoric Museum
• Western Mining and Railroad Museum
• Nine Mile Canyon

The Egg Shell

After being on the road for a week eating at diner after diner after diner where traditional breakfast is prepared in not-too-different ways, it’s an absolutely pleasure to visit an establishment where “traditional” is turned upside down.

The Egg Shell is in the heart of the Cherry Creek shopping district in Denver, CO. Indoors (and outdoors) the place was hopping and I expect never more so than during the Cherry Creek Art Festival which was going on the day I visited.

I was about to type The Egg Shell’s specialty dish, but a second glance at this To Drool For menu has me rethinking my approach. EVERYTHING they do is their specialty. Clearly Benedicts are something they do well with their house made hollandaise sauce. However, I’m sure you can’t go wrong with their omelets, scrambles and French Toast.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

Our party of three went for two of those choices. The youngest of our trio went for the Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast (“of doom” – Kaethe’s little addition to the name of the dish). What a gorgeous presentation! Three slices of Texas Toast dipped in batter and folded over a decadent layer of cream cheese and fresh strawberries – the only thing doomed here was the meal. I seem to recall that not a bite was left…

Granola French Toast

I went for the Granola French Toast. This is a croissant, dipped in batter,  rolled in Granola and grilled. It arrived flat as a pancake, which is what I thought this was at first. It was delicious and in the perfect portion size for someone who had been eating out for a week – straight! I ordered a side of bacon to balance out my carb/protein mix. NICE bacon – meaty with not too much fat.

Vegetable Star Skillet

The third of our group went for the healthiest choice – a Vegetable Star. This is an egg white scramble loaded with fresh vegatables  – visibly fresh veggies. My high school buddy, Doug, seemed to enjoy his meal tremendously. I found that he was an excellent Breakfast Blog companion when he described his coffee: Smooth, but intense. Not quite smokey, but close. He got the hang of my gig very quickly. I love sharing my breakfast adventures with friends.

Spendy Scale: $$

Coffee Rating: 4 (Illy)

Other Offerings

• Lunch
• Breakfast Cocktails
• Catering

Contact Information

Hours

Local Attractions

• Parks Galore
• Cherry Creek Shopping Center

Naples Country Cafe

When a “google” fails to turn up a decent place to eat, I always turn to the locals for advice. Thankfully, I was visiting family in Vernal and being locals, they knew just where to go to get a good breakfast.

My cousins introduced me to Naples Cafe just off Highway 40 as you head east out of town. If you’re not careful, you can almost miss the place as you zoom your way to the Colorado border.

In a converted industrial warehouse looking thing, Valerie, the owner, has converted vast space into a comfy country diner with room for large parties. Except for the scrambled eggs, everything we ordered was fresh-tasting and pleasant in appearance. It arrive quickly and was consumed with enthusiasm. My son rejoiced at his “better breakfast” which put him in a much better mood than the day before.

Great Biscuits and Gravy

I usually leave behind a little bit of food on my plate, but the home fries were so perfectly prepared with the right amount ofcrispy, I ate them like an addict. The bacon was gorgeous! It looked great and tasted even better. The country gravy was flavorful with the right amount of pepper.

Waffles...and I think, eggs

Everything at the Naples Cafe is homemade right down to the delicious homemade boysenberry  jam. A stop here is a great place to start a travel-filled day or a romp around dinosaur country.

Spendy Scale: $$

Coffee Rating: 3.5

Other Offerings

• Lunch and dinner
• Space for large parties

Contact Information

1010 S 1500
Vernal, UT 84078-8611

Hours

Pending

Local Attractions

• Dinaland Golf Course
• Dinosaur National Monument
• Steinaker State Park
• Red Fleet State Park
• Ashley National Forest

Betty's Cafe

My choice for this day was a hotel complimentary breakfast (don’t you just love those waffles, folks?) or a random pick of restaurant found via Trip Advisor.

I chose Betty’s Cafe as it seemed to be the only one that advertised breakfast. I wrote down the address, noting how remarkably close it was to the Best Western Antlers Hotel where we were staying. My son and I had a bit of a giggle when we looked across the street and there it was – right in front of us. Aren’t we clever!?

The restaurant appears to have taken over an old fast food establishment. It had the same fast food furniture, but with the added touch of red white and blue curtains, country decor – roosters and all. The place was hopping and the servers did a great job keeping people happy.

Waffle - Good! Bacon - Not so Good.

Betty’s turned out to be one of those mixed bag experiences. Some great – some not-so-great. I went for the highly-recommend waffle – it was perfect. Just the right amount of crispy on the outside. However, I had only generic cold syrup to complete the dish. My side of bacon was tasty – at least the part I was able to strip away from the fat.

Betty's Skillet

My son ordered Betty’s Skillet which consists of a grilled pork chop, eggs, potatoes, and country gravy. His high hopes were dashed when it arrived in a food stack with everything covered in probably some of the worst gravy I’ve ever tasted. A watery, floury, flavorless concoction that dominated his meal. Thank goodness for his toast and the delicious homemade raspberry freezer jam – just the thing to keep the breakfast blues away.

Spendy Scale: $ – very inexpensive

Coffee Rating: not reviewed

Other Offerings

• Lunch
• Beer and Wine
• Take Out/Drive Thru Window
• Homemade Pies
• Breakfast Served All Day

Contact Information

416 West Main Street
Vernal, UT 84078-2510

Hours

Pending

Local Attractions

• Utah Field House Natural History Museum
• Dinosaur National Monument
• Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area

So here we are again, back on the road with most of the Hatton family. This time we are tackling the Western States with short stays in Utah and Colorado.

The first leg of our journey is more about getting to a Utah destination and with one driver for the first half of the trip, we’ve broken up the road into smaller portions. I am, after all, traveling with kids – great travelers, my kids, but there are times… Well let me just say I’m thankful for hotel pools to wear the darlings out.

The Sunridge

Today, we ate at the Best Western Hotel restaurant – The Sunridge – “The place to eat” (their slogan) when the place you intended to eat at is closed (my little addition to that slogan). We intended to go to the Baker Bistro on Washington, but sadly it was closed. Will someone let me know what we missed?

Continental Breakfast

The Sunridge is a friendly coffee shop type place. I wouldn’t say it was gourmet, but the portions were certainly plentiful. Jessica enjoyed her Continental Breakfast with banana muffin and fruit bowl. Fresh fruit, but a bit too much melon for my non-melon-lover girl.

The Gourmet Omelet

Cameron’s pancakes were loaded with blueberries and his take on the bacon? Perfect! I ordered the Gourmet Omelet – loaded with all the things a lactose intolerant acid reflux sufferer shouldn’t have, but hey – I’m on vacation! That’s what pills are for. I have to say the highlight was the hashbrowns and the lowlight was the frozen butter which I had to tuck under my tea cup to melt. Rather a funny situation when I think back on it…

Spendy Scale: $ (Especially if you stay at the Best Western Sunridge – $2 off per person for breakfast or dinner)

Coffee Rating: not reviewed

Other Offerings

• Lunch and Dinner
• Next door to a bar and grill
• Room service for guests
• Takeaway

Contact Information

(541) 523-4495

Hours

Pending

Local Attractions

• Adler House Museum
• Baker Heritage Museum
• Eltrym Historic Theatre
• Oregon Trail Interpretive Center

When I want something windswept and interesting for breakfast, locally, I tend to cross that wee stream also known as the Columbia River from the Washington to the Oregon side. This time I was able to stay closer to home.

Stardust Diner

The Stardust Diner is located in East Vancouver in an area of strip malls, movie theaters and chain stores. Sadly, there’s not much to recommend to tourists, except that the Stardust is a worthy final destination. A replica chrome and neon roadside diner, the menu selections stay true to the era it portrays. Booths and tables, with benches and chair decked out in slate blue Naugahyde and trimmed with stainless steel flank an old fashioned soda-fountain-looking bar.

Unlike the service of the recent past which had me running screaming from the place, service under new ownership is practically unrecognizable. It has turned the place around and is now hopping most hours of the day with mini tabletop jukeboxes blaring classics from the 50′s to the 70′s.

Stardust Diner - Interior

Not much was spared in the vintage-style decor – from the hammered tin ceiling to the coat hooks on the ends of the booths, folks can really enjoy their temporary time travel to the past. Servers also pay attention to detail. When I asked for tea, our server ask if I would like honey, lemon or cream? Some days when I order tea, I get thrown a tepid cup of hot water and a tea bag. My tea at the Stardust arrived hot in a nested pot and cup combo. Nice!

In spite of the yummy sounding specials on the white board, I opted for the Special Country Breakfast with bacon, two eggs, with biscuits and gravy. The gravy was fabulous, but the eggs, which looked more like three scrambled than two, were a bit on the rubbery, I’ve-been-under-a-heat-lamp-too-long side of things. The bacon was very tasty and extra meaty.

Special Country Breakfast

My friends ordered a plate of corned beef hash with a side of pancakes and a spinach omelette. No complaints from them except for a slight baking soda after taste from the pancakes.

While not 100% in all ways food wise, there isn’t much to disappoint. Bring the kids, the girlfriends or the baseball team and enjoy a bit of nostalgia and nosh.

Spendy Scale: $

Coffee Rating: 4 – unknown brand

Other Offerings

• Lunch and Dinner

Contact Information

Hours

Mon-Thu,Sun 6:30am-10pm

Fri-Sat 6:30am-11pm

Local Attractions

• Not a lot
  

I’m sitting here in Starbucks snarfing down chocolate chip banana bread and having a tearful, happy reunion with my blog. Oh…how I have missed you. Okay, maybe not tearful. But guilty? Oy Vey – do I have guilt. It’s been too long since I’ve written anything sensible.

Today was the first day in almost two months that I took notes at breakfast place with the intent to actually follow through with a blog post. Today’s stop? Jam on Hawthorne in Portland, OR.

Jam on Hawthorne

This was actually my second visit – the first being too long ago to remember the details. Unlike the first visit, the place was hopping. Nearly every table was packed and the servers deftly weaved between tables at speedy speeds trying to take care of every one. Why busy on a Monday, though? Were they having a half-price sale on scrambled eggs? Or is it just the right kind of neighborhood place where a Monday breakfast makes a good start to the work week? It must be that because the visit sure kicked off mine.

A busy Monday Morning

For some reason, I seem to choose the wrong thing when I go to Jam. Everyone enjoyed their meals tremendously and they looked terrific – especially the French Toast smothered in blueberries and homemade blueberry sauce. I went back to my notes from the previous visit and found the common denominator between the two visits – the gravy. The gravy that was served with veggie sausage on Ty’s Big Breakfast and the gravy with real pork sausage in my Porkalicious platter today is the reason I couldn’t love my meal. Memo to me: don’t order the gravy at Jams.

Amazing French Toast

There’s a stunning choice of items on the breakfast menu including a unique variety of pancakes, one of which my husband ordered and enjoyed – the Lemon Ricotta Pancake. My friend Frank had this to say about his No’wester Scramble: “Fresh like it was trucked in today”.

The Nor'wester Scramble

It’s kid friendly and long-wait friendly at Jams. There are toys in the back for little ones and Stumptown coffee out front for those waiting to squeeze into one of the cracked Naugahyde booths lining the interior of the small dining area. Our littlest breakfast bunch member loved his hot chocolate, but not his Oatmeal Chai Blueberry pancakes – a pleasing combo for his dad, but a little too complicated for untrained palates.

My biggest regret was being on pain meds for a crappy back because I really wanted to try one of their specialty breakfast cocktails. That combination would have rendered my useless for navigating Portland to Vancouver freeways and hey…I had shopping to do. The Bloody Mary comes highly recommended and if you give it a try, let me know what you think!

Spendy Scale: $

Coffee Rating: 4 (Stumptown - first cup came warm – not hot. Quickly remedied, however)

Other Offerings

• Lunch
• Art for sale

Contact Information

Hours

Open Daily 7:30am-3pm

Local Attractions

• Ladd’s Rose Gardens Circles and Squares
• Col. Summers City Park
• Sewallcrest City Park

The Ugly Mug Cafe

I cannot believe is already been a week since I got back from California. I find myself three blogs woefully behind. I only hope my memory and bad note-taking serve me well. Oh! The stress of it all. I think I need another road trip…

When I go down to visit family, I want to rely on them for recommendations for places to eat. Unfortunately, my folks tend to stick to their favorites when it comes to breakfast so I had to do a bit of asking around during my visit to not-so-sunny California. A friend of my mine suggested The Ugly Mug Cafe simply because he drives by it often and “…always meant to go there.” Go there, I did. What a neat find in the somewhat out-0f-the way town of Loomis.

“Ugly Mug” implied an eclectic collections of mugs possibly served in an old-fashioned greasy-spoon diner. Those were my expections. I did indeed find that expected collection of mugs and happily, the place a had a much better than greasy spoon feel. The marigold, olive green and rusty reds made the restaurant cozy and at the same time a bit exotic like a place I might find in Kauai perhaps. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but it felt good to be there.

Truly Sinful Cinnamon French Toast

The motto there is “Homestyle Grub with a Flair”. I cannot really say it better. All the traditional breakfast items can be found on the menu plus a nice selection of Mexican specialties. Our server suggested, however, Breezy’s Sinful Cinnamon French Toast. I picked that and picked well. Huge buttery cinnamon rolls are sliced and dipped in batter and prepared perfectly. It tasted like the rolls came fresh baked right out of the oven, nice and gooey – just the way I like them. The menu suggestion suggest a side of peanut butter. Really? Not for me – never!

Mom was equally thrilled with the place and though she only had a small portion of biscuits and gravy (a little too sausage-y for her taste), she is looking forward to bringing Dad to show off her new “find”. What will the Waffle Barn do without the Felice’s?!

Spendy Scale: $

Coffee Rating: 5 – Your choice of a strong sweet Italian Blend or Maxwell House. Go for the Italian, Amico(a).

Other Offerings

• Lunch

Contact Information

Hours

Open Daily: 6AM – 2PM
 

Local Attractions

• Loomis Basin Regional Park

Jack Lalanne\’s Sample Meal Plan

Venita Rhea's

If you ask anyone who lives in Placer County, California where to go for the best breakfast, Venita Rhea’s is at the top of everyone’s list. I just spent a few days in my hometown de-stressing and during that time, this establishment was recommended by at least three different people including Mom.

And so I took my mom on another Northern California culinary adventure.

As you drive up to the restaurant, you don’t exactly get a  WOW first impression – it’s a strip mall eatery with a strip mall sameness with the exception of an outdoor eating area. Inside is a different story entirely. Inside is done up in brickwork, wall-to-wall murals depicting the French countryside except for one giant wall of glass facing the outdoor patio. It’s quite a pleasant, open and airy place to dine.

Starting with drinks, Venita Rhea’s gets a thumbs up on quality. Mom loved her latte which came topped with a crispy Roule d’Or biscuit. My tea came from a selection of Numi flavors – all good except for the tepid water in my cup and tea pot. You CANNOT – I repeat – CANNOT steep a good cup of tea unless the water is boiling hot.  I know I’m being a food diva here, but I prefer ALL my hot water in a pot in which to steep my tea. Sigh…

Oh a happier note, the food is fabulous.

Egg White Fritatta

Our server pretty much recommended everything on the menu including a popular Cinnamon Crunch French Toast. Not being in a sweet mood that morning, I went with one of the specials – an Egg White Frittata. This gorgeous dish was prepared with three egg whites, artichoke hearts, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, charbroiled chicken breast and smoked gouda. Delicious and healthy – yay Me!

Mom enjoyed a 4-egg (yes, that is not a typo) omelet with sautéed spinach, mushroom, bacon, Parmesan cheese and Hollandaise sauce. Equally delicious and monstrously huge. The sauce was smooth with just the right amount of tang. This was accompanied by some of the freshest fruit I’ve seen in a long time.

It gets even better. Our service was excellent from the greeting to the bill paying. Picky people can rejoice. Anything on the menu can be changed or prepared to your liking. If you’re a light eater, many selections on the menu can be ordered in half-order sizes. I recommend going for the full pop and get two meals for the price of one.

Giant 4-Egg Omelet

Spendy Scale: $$

Coffee Rating: 5

Other Offerings

• Lunch

Contact Information

Hours

Open Daily 7am-3pm

Local Attractions

• Johnson Springview Park
• and not much else.