date: 4/1/07
location: minneapolis
grade: b

that was so the best breakfast i ever had, it was just so perfectly cooked and seasoned... the potatoes were cripsy, every bite of the omelet perfectly balanced with all the flavors, the toast had lovely butter on it, and homemade jam, and the waitstaff served it right away... lovely.

or perhaps april fool's.

'cause once again i got the short end of the wishbone. so the letter grade above is the average of everyone else's, my experience was more in the c range.

so per usual, i got there a bit before everyone- about 10 minutes before the reservation (you can make one if you have more than 6 people, we had 8).... to find they apparently either ignored the reservation or some such, as there was no table large enough for our group available. they kicked someone off the counter so we could have that space, as that was all that would accomodate our group.

in all the tables we've had, this is possibly the worst format for a large group, as you can talk with the person on either side, but past that (or if you're on the end) you're kinda hosed unless you want to get up behind them. so yeah. good thing we thought to call and make reservations. and a good thing two of our party could not make it.

i had sussed out the menu beforehand online, as i tend to do (it's very hard to do, as they have possibly the worst SEO ever... go ahead, see how long it takes you to find their web site... though do so after you read this, or you will never get back here). i narrowed it down to pancake or omelet, and i obviously chose wrong.

i went with an omelet where you can choose a cheese and two things off their list of ingredients. brie, of course, was my cheese (quel surprise!), and i had mushrooms and artichoke hearts with it. it comes with toast, and i added on american fries. i had ordered this before everyone else, so the kitchen would not get slammed with a bunch of orders at once.

what this meant was that i could see my breakfast sitting on the unsalamandered counter for several minutes before they brought it to me. which made my american fries a bit cold and mushy, for one. and the omelet ended up kinda sad. the artichoke hearts were large chunks (they were maybe split in half) of coldness in slightly rubbery warmish eggs. they needed to have been chopped up more to be the same size as the mushrooms for the thing to come together. it was hard to get a bit of three ingredients, let alone egg, cheese, mushrooms and artichokes.

the sourdough toast was ok, but nothing great. it needed butter, or perhaps more butter and also to be a bit warmer. actually, it was hard to tell if it was buttered. i mean, an average breakfast for sure. nothing i would go back there fore, especially as there's better places not so far away (sunny side up, french meadow, etc.). of course, everyone else had a much better breakfast.

for instance, two eggs and toast with a side of hashbrowns... the hashbrowns were cripsy, the toast warm. though one poached egg was poached hard, the other soft. kinda odd. the el camino was spicy good, and seasoned perfectly, the tofu scramble good, the biscuits and gravy ditto (though the biscuits were a bit dry). and the mexican iced coffee looked tasty. there was one gaffe...someone else who got a regular scramble gave her food a b.s. letter grade b, with the s for the shell that got caught in there.

most everyone said they would go back if they happened to be in the neighborhood (though not with so many people) or some such, though the no-waitress format (a la french meadow at breakfast and lunch, only different) was a bit of a drawback. like when it came to getting refills, for instance, you have to go to the counter and pay. for coffee refills. a buck a refill (except if you are a senior, that is, then they're free). that's bad and wrong. hey, at least my water was kept filled. should i tip myself for that? (there's a tip jar on the counter where you pay. interesting...)

when it's full, it's hard to wander around to spot a table. and you either like the kitsch and premise, or find it annoying. it's diner, more or less, with lots of movie posters and random assorted... things. the bathrooms were surprisingly large for the space (in a good way).

so yeah, go if you're not me. (i'm pretty sure most of you are not. i've still not found my doppelganger anywhere, so i am not sure if i am the evil one or they are.) yep, the brk is in full effect even when there's no servers. yeah for me. i'm special.