Secrets of the City

Well, I have never made it downtown Mpls for breakfast at Hell’s, I have been to Al’s a number of times.

I would have included Carol’s, a place up in Blaine that serves one of the best breakfasts in the region. Not only is it NOT a chain joint (unusual for the Northern burbs), they make many things from scratch — their own corn beef hash, breads and biscuits, even the strawberry jam you get with every order.

Aw crud. I have plans to go to Al’s on Saturday; now it’ll be extra crowded.

I have never made it to Al’s, due to lines and it not being open before 9 on Sundays.

Hell’s Kitchen really does have a good breakfast. Good bacon, and also I think the only scrambled eggs I’ve actually enjoyed at any breakfast place.

What no Mickey’s????

The best place to start or end a hangover!

JD Hoyt’s has a generous and tasty brunch. My group was the only one there several Sundays ago, so apparently this is not well known.

Sounds about right from the mag that wrote Nye’s was the best bar in america…

I wouldn’t argue with those two choices. It’s interesting because they’re totally different. Al’s is the epitome of greasy spoon and Hell’s Kitchen is the more touchy feely gourmet/organic/locavore type place.

I would say the TC have more great breakfast places than just about anywhere in the country…
Mickey’s, Coffee News, Victor’s, Uptown Bar, Uptown Diner, Louisiana Cafe, French Meadow, Key’s, Day By Day, Longfellow/Highland Grill….it could go on….

Definitely two fantastic places for breakfast. Add The Red Stag in Northeast to the list for best brunch in the Twin Cities.

All I have to say about this is Suck on it Portland!

I like the Sofitel in Bloomington, which is like having a Parisian breakfast. Just the bread and jam are worth the trip. And the coffee.

The Huevos Rancheros at Hell’s nom yummers.

Another honorable mention if we’re counting suburbs…Good Day Cafe.

So is Al’s really worth the wait? Because it’s hard to imagine that anyone’s basic breakfast – eggs, toast, bacon, etc – is that different than anyone else’s. Every time I see that line out the door, I just go somewhere else.

In “Travels with Charlie,” John Steinbeck observed that breakfast was the only meal that no one could f-up. Across the board, it was good everywhere he ate, anywhere in the country. I concur.

Al’s is nice, but it’s more about the lore and atmosphere and wait than the food. Like a red carpet, velvet rope event. It’s actually a bit annoying to have people lined up behind you as if you’re sitting in a port-a-potty. And you always walk out reeking of oil.

John Steinbeck observed that breakfast was the only meal that no one could f-up

…only to later admit he was wrong, when he tasted eggs fresh from the chickens for the first time.

@justbob: That’s just a matter of degrees, though, bob. How many of us have any access at all to “fresh from the chicken” eggs? It’s not realistic to split hairs between “just dropped” and “oh, maybe two or three days from the farm” eggs. I mean, really, if you want fresh, do you slaughter a cow every day for ground beef? I’m sure that would taste better, too.

What you buy in store cartons is certainly worlds better than the stuff that passed for eggs in the military.

justbob, Steinbeck was born and raised in the Salinas Valley of California and spent much of his youth and young adult life working on raches and farms. I’d venture a guess that he had eggs straight from a chicken long before he ever embarked on “Travels with Charlie.”

I defy anyone to tell the difference between eggs “fresh from the chicken” whateverthhell that means, and eggs delivered to the restaurant.

I know this “buy local” thing is all the rage, but at the end of the day all eggs are from the chicken or, more specifically, hen.

Fresh eggs have yolks that “stand up”. Older eggs the yolks flatten. That’s the first way someone can tell if eggs are fresh or not.

I poached two eggs this morning. Know that they tasted like? — every other egg I’ve had.

i can tell the difference between a new egg and couple week old egg no problem at all. you would be able to as well, rat, if you paid attention to such things

(and buying local isn’t just for freshness)

How many eggs in a restaurant, especially one that serves breakfast, are a week old?

I think this is a non-argument. Go back to being beer snobs and all.

I wasn’t impressed with Hell’s Kitchen, but I probably just didn’t like what I had ordered.

And anyone who thinks you can’t fuck up breakfast clearly hasn’t ordered eggs benedict at Perkins.

Bleh.

al’s blueberry pancakes render any other food unneccessary for ~18 hours.

Hell’s K has the best overall breakfast menu and best coffee.

Maria’s has the single best item, and durn good coffee too.

Anyone know anyplace that has good oatmeal? That’s what The Rat usually eats. Stayed at Sundance Resort on vacation this summer. Breakfast went with the suite. Still ordered oatmeal nearly every morning.

Got high cholesterol.

Rat, I have tried the steel cut oatmeal at Hell’s and it was good (nice and stiff, just how I like it).

THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID!!!

Had that steel cut oatmeal at the Wilde Roast. Sundance Resort had steel cut too. That’s pretty good.

It’s real expensive in the store and takes about half an hour to make.

Who’s eaten at the little known Colossal Cafe? That sausage egg and cheese biscuit is my hangover remedy. Delicious!

But Marias corn pancakes are delectable too.

I like the little blood clots in my organic eggs. Makes you know you are eating an undeveloped animal.

Baker wins for most disgusting comment ever in the history of MNSpeak.

I’m never eating again.

The Rat has eaten a couple times at the Ideal Diner on Central Avenue. One morning a yuppie couple came in looking for muffins. Of course, there weren’t any. The denizens of the diner laughed after they left.

“We’re on the Atkins diet here,” one of them said.

i’m a big fan of the Ideal Diner, rat. good people, and they’re quick with the coffee refills.

That may be so, fiver, but that’s what he wrote in the book.

The Ideal is okay, but like Bonnie’s in the Midway neighborhood, a little pricer for what you get.

Via’s Molly P’s new website, how to get chicken fresh eggs in the city: The Urban Chicken 101.

Just what the old Nordeast neighborhood needs. People thinking they want start raising chickens. Lovely smell.

This way lies madness.

“It’s a trend that’s growing in the UK.”

At one time, they exported Common Law and great literature.

How did they get so loopy?

How could you talk about breakfast places in the Cities without mentioning Key’s Restaurant on Randolph in St Paul.

I’ve had chickens in my Mpls backyard for, what, 6 years now. Actually, Bob used to make fun of me about it on Mnspeak a couple years ago.

Rat, managed properly, they don’t smell at all. Really.

Bob used to make fun of me about it on Mnspeak a couple years ago.

Yes, I believe I did.

In today’s economy, a few birds in the hand might not be such a bad idea.

Spaceman wins.

How could you talk about breakfast places in the Cities without mentioning Key’s Restaurant on Randolph in St Paul.

I used to love to go there, but I’m off Keys. Overpriced, overated. But I like the fact that the one in downtown Mpls has a bar.

Cost wise, it’s pretty much a wash. But the economics work out much better when I swap fresh eggs for my pal’s homebrew . . . now that’s a good trade.

I’ve spent two days trying to figure out the muffin story and failed. Are muffins now something like sushi that only pretentious yuppies eat? Is eating a muffin akin to having heard of Paraguay? I don’t get it.

Have to ask the people at the Ideal,

In response to baker: try the grilled veggie sandwich at the Colossal Cafe, it is insane in a slavering delicious way. It is nowhere near where I live and I returned two days later to eat it again. The grilled bread it’s on is half the fantasy.