Breakfast Sandwich Loose Ends

This fall has been exceptionally busy with kids and work and I'll catch up on breakfast sandwich reviews soon, but there are a few loose ends I've been meaning to gather so let's do that now...

Above are some water rolls I've been trying to perfect. I've never been great at yeast breads but I recently discovered quick-rise yeast and my life hasn't been the same since. You practically watch the dough rise in front of your eyes! It's pretty satisfying. The water rolls have a crispy outside and firm yet spongey inside which makes for a damn fine egg sandwich, if I do say so myself.

In case you didn't see this, CITY Paper did a short piece on the best egg sandwiches in town. I'm not saying they copied me, but I am going to say that I had been reviewing egg sandwiches for eight months prior to this article and Rochester is a pretty small town. It's entirely possible he didn't copy the idea; I mean, he's a food writer and egg sandwiches are food. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it's probably just a fluke, a coincidence, synchronicity. But thanks.

I've been referring to the Rochester hard roll as the "Petrillo's Roll" but while discussing egg sandwiches on the west side of town someone tipped me off that restaurants are probably supplied by DiPaolo's on N. Plymouth (This makes a lot more sense of my visit to the Red Front, that's for sure!) Interestingly, DiPaolo's doesn't call it a hard roll but simply a "twist" and offers it as "...the best cheeseburger bun." This may not sound significant, but to me it's the difference between involuntary manslaughter and premeditated murder. Or, you know, being delusional or knowing what a hamburger bun is. So, the bakery knows it's a bun, how do I convince all the diner owners in Rochester of this?

Speaking of paradigm shifts, there was this Kickstarter campaign to help raise the standard of egg sandwiches in midtown Manhattan. The plan was to distribute pamphlets to restaurants that outline the basic template of a solid breakfast sandwich. The project more than doubled its goal of $315 and I contacted JoeyScoops to see how the implementation was going. He decided that giving leaflets out may not work and that "the real way to do it" would be to give "Seals of Approval" to all the best sandwiches. Presumably he means a sign or sticker for the restaurant to display and not just some random blog. Cuz that would just be silly.

Jines Restaurant

Maybe it's just my recent binge re-visiting of the Sopranos, but Jines' radio tagline "Sooner or later everybody dines at Jines" sounds more like a threat than a catchphrase to me, or at best a resignation that there are only so many places to eat in a small town. No matter how you interpret it, it's true. On this chilly but sunny morning I made my way over to Park Ave to get strength for grading sketchbooks.

It was a little after eight and moderately busy as I stepped up to the front counter and took a look at the menu. I didn't notice a breakfast sandwich section or even one listed among the regular breakfast items but on the well-worn specials page I found the Sandwich Special: "one egg, cheese, and your choice of bacon or ham served on a croissant." A croissant? Sure, why not! I started my order and the hostess opened up her central command computer to enter it:
"How do you want your egg?"
Presented with choices I realized how sleepy I still was. "Fried!"
"Fried. Over hard?"
"Uhhhh...no. Not over hard."
"Just fried?"
"Wait, no, soft. I mean easy. Runny is good."
She smiled and repeated: "Runny is good."

I thought the hard part was over but then we got to the cheese. "Uhhhhhhmerican," but as soon as she hit the button on her terminal I started an elaborate thought process about croissants and what cheese goes best: Do they have brie? Is that too cliche? Is that too delicious? Have I ever had brie with bacon? Is that going to send me into cardiac arrest? I asked her for the cheese options. There were a bunch but the ones I remember were American, Swiss, crumbly blue, and our mutual mispronunciation of Gruyere. Even slurred and sleepy that sounded like it would be good on a croissant. "That's like a hard Swiss, yes?" She checked with someone behind her. "Yes, like a hard Swiss." After all this I decided to keep to my usual diner routine and get American. At this point she had every right to be annoyed but thankfully seemed entertained by this whole process. I appreciate that.

Lastly: meat. Although I haven't reviewed a sandwich here with ham on it, it's a pretty great salt delivery system and I have it all the time. Ham and croissant seemed like the obvious choice. And some home fries. She hit send and I took a seat to wait.

A few minutes of playing on my phone and I remembered to go take a picture of the menu so I'd remember how much it was and just as I snapped it the hostess walked out with my bag. She looked at me askew. "I need to remember what I ordered," I sheepishly offered in the hope that it was vague enough that she would leave it alone.
"Oh, you're getting this for someone else," she concluded. She had been so helpful up 'til now I couldn't let it go.
"No, the jig is up, I'm going to review this."
"Oh! In that case, enjoy it!" We smiled and I headed out the door. Quite possibly the most pleasant breakfast sandwich ordering exchange ever.

I got home and took a look in the giant take-out container: Top of the croissant offset to showcase the cheese and ham, a little garnish for color, and some golden, delicious looking home fries. I dug in. Oh man, the struggle to make decisions, converse, and get home were worth it: buttery bread alongside melted cheese, slightly chewy sweet/salty ham, and an egg that was not too hard. I was hungry and kept eating until I got to the yolk which exploded all over my hand. And then I kept eating. I was very hungry and it was really good. I finished the sandwich quickly but before disappointment could set in I hit the home fries: crispy edges, seasoned to perfection. This was a great breakfast, so much so I have written all this instead of grading sketchbooks. Oops.

Jines Restaurant
Sandwich cost: $3.95
Rating: It's a really delicious egg sandwich

Pub Fair Gratitude

No, there weren't any egg sandwiches to be had at the second annual VSW Pub Fair (well, except for the ones that Christine made for Tate and I - Thank you!!) but there were scones at the EAT table, hot beef sandwiches and beer at the front desk, amazing food from The Bento Box, and lots and lots of books. And Writers And Books had a poet on hand to craft you a poem after a brief conversation; Charlie and I talked about egg sandwiches, how grateful I am when someone makes me one, and how I like my eggs. I payed $3 and he started typing. This is damn near perfect (the only exception being coffee instead of tea).

I'd like to thank everyone who gave their time to help make Pub Fair possible: the sponsors and vendors who filled the auditorium and made it worthwhile, the students and volunteers who kept it running, the hundreds of attendees who showed their support for independent publishing, and to Charlie for the poem. For these people I am grateful.

Village Bakery - At The Armory

Back in February Karen schlepped a couple of sandwiches from the original Pittsford Village Bakery and they were great, even with the delivery time downtown. Last week I thought I'd return the favor and deliver breakfast before work seeing as how there's a Village Bakery in the city now, just blocks from Karen's house.

I was surprised to see the place empty on a work day (maybe I beat the rush?) but was thrilled as I was anxious to deliver these before she had to leave for work. I ordered two of The Alex (for location comparison from the first Village Bakery review). A few minutes passed and I ordered a drink and a scone to go. A few people trickled in. I sipped my tea while looking around at the white tile. I waited a few more minutes. I looked out the window to see if it had cleared up yet, then I looked through the little kitchen window to see if there was actual movement back there. I did see someone prepping some food. "Soon," I thought. I waited a couple more minutes.

After my morning meditation wait I headed over to Karen's to surprise her with breakfast. Oh, did I mention it was her birthday? It was. And I did surprise her, especially when she didn't hear me come in over the water running. Heeeelarious. Anyway, we sat down to eat and even though her house is mere blocks and minutes away from The Armory, the toast was already kind of soggy. We dug in. No pesto in this bite. Next bite had no chevre. Then I remembered that there was a mound of Arugula on the first Alex I tried. This had about five limp leaves. This sandwich was not very well assembled and a bit of a dud. It didn't inspire as much hostility as this burrito disaster, but was disappointing given the price and the amount of time spent making the damn thing. Everybody has an off day, and I'm guessing this was one of them.

Long story short, I had to wait a long time and they came up short.

Village Bakery
Sandwich cost: $6.95
Rating: Below average breakfast sandwich at an above average price

Hart's Local Grocers

There's a new store in town and it's loooooking good
Got an egg, got a roll, in the neighborhood
They've just opened up but if things work out
it's gonna stayyyyyy ahhhhh whiiiiiiiile.
Bup bup bup bupbaaaaaa.

Hart's Local Grocers just opened up in the East End of town (behind the Little, across the Parking lot from Two Vine) and has a coffee/grill station in the southwest corner with a breakfast menu. Karen saw them post it and we headed on over.

They have two breakfast sandwiches on their five item breakfast menu and anything with avocado is is a shoo-in for me; I ordered the Signature (two Happy Hen eggs, sliced avocado, arugala, pancetta and Sriracha mayo) though I wasn't feeling porky so I passed on the pancetta (Easy enough to do but as Karen noted - why no egg options without meat to begin with in a store that offers vegan cheesecake?). It was nice to see the grill adjacent to the coffee counter and know that the sandwich was being made to order. A couple minutes later it was ready and after some counter confusion I grabbed it and we went to sit by the big windows that look out over Winthrop Street. I unwrapped the sandwich and the roll looked delicious. I was excited to dig in.

Good news! The roll was delicious! Crusty top, firm insides that didn't collapse under jaw pressure or get soggy next to lettuce and mayo. The Hart's website lists their bread suppliers as Baker Street Bread Co. and Small World Food so I don't know who gets the credit. Egg (menu said two but I only recall one) was fried hard, but was good, Sriracha mayo is a no brainer though a little mayo goes a long way and half of what I had would've been fine. Arugula and avocado kind of got lost in the mayo which got me thinking that the pancetta probably helps even the whole thing out. Don't be mislead, I am nitpicking here, this was a very good sandwich. I especially appreciate that Hart's offers an egg sandwich for under $5 that doesn't consist of lowest common denominator ingredients.

I got this sandwich on their second day open and I'm hoping as they hone the place this could go from a very good sandwich to a favorite. No pressure, Hart's. No pressure.

Hart's Local Grocers
Sandwich cost: $4.95
Rating: It's a pretty good sandwich

Maria's Luncheonette - Road Trip Entry

It has become a family tradition to head to Atlantic City for a few days each August to jump in the waves, marvel at all the crap the boardwalk has to offer, and take in some of the best people watching there is. The boardwalk can get a bit pricey for food, so we ventured into the streets behind the casinos and glitz to find some regular ol' eats.

Around the corner from the hotel was the Lenox Cafe but as it was a Tuesday they were not open (thanks for nothing, yelp!) so we headed a few blocks over to Maria's where we had good luck last summer. A pretty standard diner in a narrow older building, we grabbed a few tables in the back and looked over the menu. "Breakfast All The Time" beamed up at me in Curlz MT and I knew all was well in the world. After a quick scan at the sandwich options I figured I'd go for the egg and cheese with sausage pork roll since I wasn't sure what that was. I asked our waitress who went into a lengthy description with hand motions but as it turned out she was thinking of scrapple. She backpedalled a little and said "It's good, you should try it." Hoping that New Jersey's proximity to Manhattan might mean a better bagel I asked her what she thought. Turns out she is from NYC and waitressing in AC for the summer: "Well, it's certainly not the best bagel, but it's not terrible." A ringing endorsement! I went with it anyway.

Our food came quickly and I took a look at the sausage pork roll. Kinda looked like ham. Took a bite. Kinda tasted like ham/Spam/Canadian bacon, but the mention of Spam is not meant to be disparaging. It was grilled but not too greasy, sweet and salty as well. I would get it again and wondered what the pork roll story was. God bless the internet for introducing me to this delightful mail order company: Jersey Boy Pork Roll.

So, the egg, white American (just look at the gooeyness!), and pork roll were all well suited to each other and the bagel...well, it was certainly far from being the best but also not the worst. It had the shiny, boiled exterior on top but not on bottom. Sort of half bagel/half breadel, but it didn't collapse when I bit into it so a step above the usual diner bagel.

Maria's Luncheonette
2319 Atlantic Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Sandwich cost: $4.50
Rating: I'm writing home about it, but it's a short letter.

Pat's Coffee Mug

It's a beautiful Saturday morning and there's plenty to do today; Better eat a solid breakfast. Karen picked me up and we headed to the South Wedge to investigate Pat's Coffee Mug after hearing many colorful reviews of it.

There's not much to look at or notice from the street so I was surprised to see the sprawling diner that was inside. A counter with stools in the front section, a middle section with some big tables, and an adjoining dining room with lots of booths and tables. And wood panelling. And a fireplace with snow globes on top. And hockey sticks on the wall. This is just some of the decor, you really should go and check it out yourself. Karen summed it up as Elks' Lodge basement circa 1975. But in a charming way. This is a real-deal, genuine neighborhood joint.

Menu was straightforward and cheap! They listed the fried egg sandwich on a grilled roll and I didn't have the energy to inquire what kind of roll. I ordered it with bacon and figured I'd steal some of Karen's home fries. Our food came out quickly and it was nice to see that the roll was toasty and buttered, but the real pleasure came when I put the sandwich together to reveal sesame seeds. Oooh! Aaah! Ohhhh! It may have been from a supermarket, but not having that smushy Rochester hard roll is a victory in itself. I dug in: fried egg cooked but not crispy, cheese melty and salty, bacon with alternating crisp and chewy salty goodness. And the roll did not collapse after a few bites. This makes for a pretty darn good $3 breakfast sandwich! Beverages were refilled without asking and everyone is happy! I did steal some home fries from Karen's plate and did not regret not getting my own. These are the home fries my grandmother Yetta would try to get the greasiest spoons to serve with fail: dry as a bone and unseasoned, but I like a little more going on with my potatoes.

Pat's Coffee Mug
627 Clinton Avenue South, 14620
Sandwich cost: $3
Rating: A breakfast sandwich if ever there was one

Highland Park Diner

Man, the egg sandwiches are piling up on my phone - Time to spread the breakfast sandwich gospel! Can I get a witness!? No? How 'bout a decent roll then? No? How about a pita stuffed with scrambled eggs, gyro meat, onion, tomatoes, and feta? Hell yes!

Sunday brunch with out of town friends at the Highland Park Diner after working four back to back twelve hour days; It was time for a substantial meal. Highland Park Diner has several sandwich options but the Gyro one sounded best, with the added bonus of a pita instead of a roll (and it was a damn fine pita). I was not disappointed, it was friggin' great. Like an omelet in a pita, but still manageable to eat in your hands like a sandwich. Potatoes were good, too - flavorful with crunchy grilled edges.

Highland Park Diner
Sandwich cost: $7.49 (includes home fries, grits, or fresh fruit)
Rating: Wholly worthwhile

Eddie's Restaurant - Road Trip Entry

If you're looking for some low-key adventure and want to do a little bit of time travel, head on over to Sylvan Beach on the shore of beautiful Oneida Lake. A tiny town with an aging amusement park, beach for swimming, lots of rental cottages, cute Main street, and Eddie's Restaurant - a mainstay for 80 years.

Eddie's looks as though it got a major remodel in the 70s but is still in great shape: large dining room with a faint fried fish smell from their famous fish fry, vinyl upholstered chairs and booths, and brass metalwork dividers. Our party of six was seated at the end of a long row of tables near the back and we looked over our menus. The kids already knew they were getting the hot ham sandwich but I headed over to the breakfast side of the menu. Hot damn! Hot ham on a breakfast sandwich! Done!

We had to wait a bit for our food but when it came I was treated to an American flag toothpick in mine. It was then that I realized that this sandwich was not just for me, but for all of America.

As for the actual sandwich, it was pretty good. The roll was a firmer version of a hard roll with some corn meal sprinkled on top for texture, egg was a perfectly round circle of hard scramble, American cheese (obbbviously) was melty, and the hot ham, well, you can see the hot ham was plentiful. I grabbed my fork and ate some the ham to start just to get the sandwich to a bite-able height and the capicola was good - very spicy, not too fatty, reminded me more of corned beef than ham. On to the sandwich, unfortunately with that mound of ham and the giant disk of egg the proportions were a little off but when you got the cheese mixing in with the ham it was fantastic. I didn't get potatoes with mine though I did try some of the homemade chips that Karen got and they were pretty fabulous.

Eddie's Restaurant
Sandwich cost: $6.99
Rating: That's a big pile of hot....ham.

The Golden Fox

With school wrapping up, dance recitals to attend, birthdays to be celebrated, and work events to plan, June has been a bit overwhelming, but that hasn't stopped me from sampling egg sandwiches, just from writing about them.

The Sunday after the aforementioned dance recital we went around the corner to the Golden Fox to get some eggs before family hit the road out of town. It was curiously empty for a weekend and with six of us we headed to the overflow dining room in the back. We had the place to ourselves which was nice, though kind of eerie, but seeing as how the last few times I was there when it was full I was witness to some of the most depressing overheard conversations, loud phone rings, and an unusually testy waitress, this was a treat. With the luck I had with rye toast at Jim's Restaurant I repeated the fried egg, cheese, and bacon on toast. With home fries. With onions. You can order them without, but why would you?!

This was a couple of weeks ago so the details are foggy, but rye toast is a pretty sure bet. Crunchy, flavorful - an excellent compliment to the the eggs, salt, and salt. I mean egg, cheese, and bacon. I've had varying results with getting fancy at the Golden Fox but they've got this basic breakfast down. Home fries were delicious and onion-y to boot.

The Golden Fox
1115 Culver Road, 14609
Sandwich cost: Dang, forgotten. Let's say in the $3-4 range
Rating: That's a good, reliable breakfast sandwich

Jim's Restuarant

Back in February I stopped in Jim's Too! (aka Elena's, aka Penguin Diner) on Main Street and wondered if there was a connection to the Jim's Restaurant on N. Winton. Well, wonder no more, they are definitely in cahoots. I opened up the well-used menu and saw the same pale blue and pink text with the breakfast sandwiches under the heading "WHAMS," eighty five cent home fries and there was no question. I looked up and noticed a wooden "Elena" nameplate near the register and behind the grill a cook with an American flag bandana on who looked suspiciously like the cook at the other Jim's. Twins? Or is this Jim and he bounces between kitchens?! Mebbe? Who knows? Who cares? The differences between the two locations are vast - this one is much more compact and bustling, also much cleaner and homier. Above the entire length of the counter are various mugs which I've been told belong to the regulars, one of which came in with his paper under his arm, was told that all the booths were full, scanned the dining room for himself and then left in disgust. Let me tell you, it was the talk of the morning among the staff and diners!

On to breakfast: I ordered the bacon, egg, and cheese WHAM on rye toast with the ridiculously cheap home fries. Before the waitress whisked herself away from the table I asked her what WHAMS stood for. A brief blank stare as she tried to recall but she said she had no idea "...that's just what she calls them!" I would assume she is referring to the mysterious Elena.

Breakfast arrived and toast was the way to go. Fried egg a little hard, but good, cheese was very melty, and bacon was crisp. Solid. The potatoes, like the ones at the other Jim's, were underseasoned and underwhelming with curious bits of shredded potatoes mixed in, but again, for 85¢ you really can't complain.

Jim's Restaurant

233 Winton Road N, 14610

Sandwich cost: $2.85

Rating: Most definitely a breakfast sandwich

Georgie's Bakery

Residing on a bleaker block of South Clinton, Georgie's looks like it could be an eastern European bakery in Brooklyn. This makes it even more surprising that I haven't been there in the eight years they've been open since I do a fair amount of complaining about finding good baked goods. Turns out Georgie's is run by Liz and George Ruiz soooo probably not eastern European, though it is an eclectic mix of stuff on the menu: "Rochester's best Cuban Sandwich," fresh Italian and French breads, subs, quesitos, pasteilillos, kuchens, strudels, red rice with Gandules, and a fish fry on Fridays. So, baked goods, lunches, dinners, and of course, breakfast sandwiches.

I stopped in one rainy morning and got a bacon, egg, and cheese on a hard roll for me and one without bacon for Karen. Being a bakery I figured it was a safe bet to get the hard roll, or at least guaranteed to not get the one that most diners are supplied with. As I waited for the sandwiches I took a look in the dining room. Like the menu, an eclectic mix of kountry kitchen and kollectables. And a mannequin, which I didn't even notice until I looked at the photo I sent to Karen to let her know I was on the way with breakfast. 

We unwrapped the tin foil to reveal a hard roll that was not the usual Petrillo's type. I took a bite...a little firmer than usual! This was a relief, though I remain unconvinced that the Rochester hard roll is ideal for breakfast sandwiches. Fried egg was good, processed American was very melty and good, and bacon for the salty win. For three bucks that's a pretty solid sandwich, a steal at $2.25 without meat.

Georgie's Bakery

Sandwich cost: $2.99

Rating: A pretty solid breakfast sandwich

Country Club Diner

“There is a curious paradox that no one can explain: who understands the secrets of the reaping of the grain? Who understands why spring is born out of winter's laboring pain, or why we all must die a bit before we grow again?”
                   - El Gallo, The Fantasticks

Finally feeling the effects of spring I decided to look past my skepticism of finding a decent roll in a greasy spoon and stopped in the Country Club Diner (across from Wegman's and adjacent to the incredibly named Doctor's Inn Grill and Tap Room). I ordered the fried egg and cheese and after hearing the usual list of bread choices asked the waitress if the hard roll was the twisted top Petrillo's roll. "Petrillo's?! No, no, it's..." she put her hands as if around an invisible ball and then gave it a slight twist: "...a hard roll!" I was still riding the wave of optimism the sun brought so I said sure. And an order of home fries ($1.99). 

I took a look around: Bright, clean diner still rocking 80s pastels, booths and an L shaped counter with backed stools. The cook addressed me from the kitchen window: "Sir....these okay in the same box?" I was taken off guard by the question and being addressed as sir. "Uh, sure." Dammit! Did I just blow my chance of not having the steam from the potatoes make the roll a soft mess?! 

Once in the car I popped the lid of the styrofoam container to let some of the steam out while I drove home. I was hungry and it smelled good. Moments later I was in my kitchen and found the real curious paradox: You've got this thing called a hard roll that is the antithesis of hard, which is a long-standing disappointment all its own, but then you get a stale one which actually is hard, and it's absolutely depressing. I certainly did die a bit. But I was hungry, so I ate it. Egg was fried hard and cheese was salty and melty. Potatoes were crispy from the grill but in dire need of salt, pepper, and ketchup. 

Country Club Diner

1743 East Ave, 14610

Sandwich cost: $2.59

Rating: Not so fantastick

Mr. Goody's Red Wing Diner

A couple of weekends ago I noticed Mr. Goody's while driving up N. Clinton on my way to Atlas Eats and vowed to come back and check it out. Brian was visiting from out of town for the weekend and I asked him if he was up for an adventure. Indeed he was: egg sandwiches and estate sales here we come.

At 11am the tiny square dining room was pretty full and lively but after bumping a cook off a back table the waitress seated us in the booth by the kitchen. We checked out the menus and looked around. Great menu board behind the counter, lots of sunlight streaming in to counteract the heavy diner smells, and lots of corrugated plastic signs and faded posters (Obama, Michael Jordan, and Dr. J in view from our table). I didn't see breakfast sandwiches on the menu but ordered one anyway.
"Ham, bacon, or sausage?"
"I'll have...sausage."
"Beef or pork?"
I was too hungry to think: "Which do you recommend?"
"I don't!" Brian and I laughed as she leaned in to the table. "When you've been working as a waitress as long as I have you don't recommend a goddamned thing."
Point taken. I went with the pork sausage. I asked about my bread choices and she ran down the list: "White, wheat, hard roll, English muffin, or bagel." Of course I inquired about the roll.
"Yeah, it's a hard roll...Kaiser." This was the first time anyone has mentioned a Kaiser roll in a diner for a breakfast sandwich so I embraced optimism. And I got an order of home fries. Brian duplicated my order but opted for the English muffin.

A few minutes later our melamine plates arrived, mine with my breakfast sandwich on the dreaded hard roll, not a Kaiser by any stretch. Scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheese were up to diner snuff, but man, that roll is just a bun of twisted Wonder bread. Home fries were decent, though unremarkable.

Mr. Goody's Red Wing Diner
1470 N. Clinton Ave, 14621
Sandwich cost: $3.50
Rating: An average breakfast sandwich

Chestnut Cafe

Located in the first floor of Chestnut Plaza downtown (formerly the Knights of Columbus building), going to the Chestnut is always an experience. If you enter the building off of Lawn Street (where you will probably park) you get the Jim Jarmusch treatment walking by the concierge desk where you will either get the stink eye from left to right as you pass or completely ignored depending on who is working. If you enter from Chestnut Street you get to see the Wes Anderson-esque Manhattan Square Yacht Club to the left before entering the Cafe on your right. Once inside it's a potpourri of Hartley, Lynch, and Kubrick - at once familiar and surreal. The wood panelling (from it's previous incarnation as a lawyer's office?), the rotation of heavily accented waitresses, and a view of the Cadillac Hotel across the street all add up to a sensory delight.




I sat at the counter and ordered a breakfast sandwich with bacon. I engaged the waitress in my usual bread selection conversation much to her amusement and went with a bagel to avoid the Rochester hard roll. After a few minutes of taking in the burgeoning spring out the large front windows my sandwich arrived. It looked good and I always find the twisted slice of orange a nice touch. The filling was fine: bacon was crispy, fried egg had a little bit of goo left in the yolk, and the American cheese was suitably salty and melted  - which made the bagel all the more disappointing. I anticipated a breadle but this one barely had anything to it - after a few bites it just deflated like a three day old balloon stuck with a pin. Not terrible, just disappointing, especially given how much I enjoy the rest of this joint.

Chestnut Cafe
Sandwich cost: $3.50
Rating: Snow falls and then melts

Bread rises only to fall

Diner bagel blues

Liberty Family Restaurant

Yesterday Karen and I headed to Liberty for a quick pre-work breakfast. Let me say right off the bat they get points for not even having hard rolls; The breakfast sandwiches come "on toast" and you can upgrade to an English muffin, croissant or bagel. Karen went Anglo with egg and cheddar on an English muffin and I, being at the Liberty, got mine with American cheese and bacon. On a bagel. What can I say, I'm a mutt. Oh, and of course there was a plate of home fries.

More bonus points for Karen's coffee never getting less than an inch below the rim without a refill and my massive iced tea getting half empty before our waitress brought me a second full one.

Our food came quickly and looked pretty good. I have lived up here long enough not to expect a bagel store bagel at a diner and was prepared for what we used to call in college a "Breadle" (bread in the shape of a bagel, which come to think of it resembles the rolls I grew up with). As you can see it was well toasted. I put it together and dove in. Tasted like an egg sandwich. Bacon provided salt and grease, American cheese added more salt and gooeyness, and the egg was neither hard nor soft. Just fine. Karen was disappointed with hers, though. Cheddar cheese was flavorless leading to an overall bland sandwich. I've also come to expect that cheddar is not going to be sharp or flavorful unless they're bragging about where it came from and who made it. Home fries tasted good and had a nice grill crust on top but were still a little wet everywhere else.

Liberty Family Restaurant
Sandwich cost: $4.15 (egg with meat and cheese on toast is $3.85, add 30¢ for the bagel)
Rating: A breakfast sandwich if ever there was one

Atlas Eats

March has been busy, busy, busy but Karen and I took a moment to have breakfast out a couple Sundays ago at Atlas Eats in West Irondequoit. Actually, we were just stopping in to check out the baked goods but decided to stay when we saw they had a breakfast menu ready to go. The breakfast sandwich was bacon and a fried egg on a cheddar biscuit. The cheese is IN the bread! So, that's what I ordered.

Situated on a residential block of North Clinton, Atlas Eats is an odd little oasis;  Fairly unassuming from the street but bright and cheery inside. With a hot cup of tea in hand and breakfast on the way, looking out the large front windows at the gray landscape of suburbia trapped in perpetual winter didn't feel so bad.

Our food arrived and I was a little surprised to see spinach instead of potatoes next to my breakfast but I didn't let it shake me too much. I put the top of the biscuit over the generous amount of bacon and picked up the sandwich, egg and bacon hanging out of all four sides. This might be the best bacon I've had on an egg sandwich; Thick, salty, cooked to perfection - not too chewy and not overdone and crunchy. The egg oozed a little yolk onto the plate with the first bite and the biscuit was flaky and delicious. However, flaky also means it doesn't hold together so well. After a few sandwich bites I decided to just have at it with a fork which worked just fine.

Atlas Eats
Sandwich cost: $4.99
Rating: A delicious take on the breakfast sandwich

Cheese Masters (Park Ave)

So, there's a grilled cheese store in town called Cheese Masters. They've got two locations, the original one at Eastview Mall in Victor and now a store on Park Ave. I love a good grilled cheese (geez, who doesn't!?) so one Wednesday Karen picked me up from work at lunchtime and we headed over to check it out. Oh, hey, look, they do a breakfast sandwich! Might as well try it...

As we waited for a grilled egg, bacon, and cheese on sourdough, a three melt classic, and a bowl of tomato soup we took a look around. Despite stepping over frozen mounds of snow getting out of the car it felt (and smelled) like an oceanside resort town snack bar. The air was heavy with melting butter and cheese, indoor picnic tables, sparsely decorated interior with white wainscoting - I shut my eyes for a second and could plainly see Cheese Masters wedged in between a souvenir stand and a fudge shop on a boardwalk somewhere. And then our food was ready.

With the red and white cardboard french fry boats our sandwiches came in I guess the snack food stand vibe was intentional. I took a look at my sandwich - the sandwich press doing its job had compressed the bread, egg, cheese and bacon into a solid sheet. I took a bite. Hmm, tastes like a grilled cheese. I took a second bite.

I think you know what it tasted like.


Cheese Masters
Sandwich cost: $3.99
Rating: Hey, someone put an egg in my grilled cheese!

Red Front

I've always been curious about the Red Front - a seedy looking diner in a tiny plaza on the corner of N. Clinton and Andrews. Obviously because the name invokes communist revolution and secondly because it's attached to the liquor store next door. After years of curiosity I headed over for lunch. Most small diners have a collection of regulars who turn their heads when you walk in the door so it was refreshing to walk in at the tail end of lunch, half the tables full, and have no one take notice of me. I looked around: to the left, a small vestibule with a woman offering tax prep help. To the right, the dining area, a cigarette machine that time forgot except for the hand written cardboard signs updating the price and advice on making selections before putting your fives in, and against the far wall a Lotto machine. It was kookier than I expected, though nicer, too.

I walked straight ahead and looked at the menu board above the long counter (curiously covered in steel decking) and ordered a sausage, egg, and cheese but hesitated on what bread to have.
"Your hard roll the Petrillo's roll with the knotted top?"
"The Paulo?"
"The Paulo?" I reiterated quizzically.
"Yeah, that's what we call 'em. You want it on a hard roll?"
I didn't ask why and I'm not entirely sure I heard her correctly, so I proceeded: "Nah, those are too soft."
"But we toast 'em!" she enthusiastically threw back.
I smiled and decided to try something entirely different and went with an English muffin and added some home fries for $2.25.

I walked further down the counter to pay at the register (right next to what I think is a check cashing area) and waited a couple minutes for my food while continuing to take it all in. I was expecting another past-its-prime diner but instead was pleasantly surprised that it felt like it belonged in a big city. They didn't care who waked through the door because I'm guessing in the 41 years they've been in business they've seen it all walk through the door. There was banter. And the pragmatic combination of diner, liquor store, tax prep, cash checking plaza is pretty hard not to like.

I headed back to work and dug in. Egg, cheese, and sausage were good, though I kind of regretted the English muffin (After the first bite I was reminded how much I don't really care for them unless they are very toasted and covered in butter and jam). Not a disaster, just not a home run. The potatoes were curiously slimy but tasted fine. I look forward to heading back to try another.

Red Front
Sandwich cost: $3.00
Rating: A solid breakfast sandwich

Jim's Restaurant Too! (aka Penguin Diner)

Okay, let's start with what to call this place. I was sure it was the Penguin Diner as that is what the sign says when you're approaching it from the west, but the awning out front says "Elena's Jim's Restaurant Too!" horizontally and in the middle has "Jim's E Restaurant Too!" represented. Take a look here. Internet says Penguin is long gone and reopened as Jim's Too! Now, there's a Jim's closer to my house so is Jim's Too! a klever sequel to Jim's or is there some kind of comedic tension between Elena and Jim (of Jim's Too!, not of just Jim's, although maybe that Jim and Jim too are one and the same). I'm just going to call it Jim's Too! for now.

It's around the corner from work so an easy stop on the way in. White walls, minimal decor, cops at the counter, American flag and Bills bandanas on the cooks. At 9 am Monday morning there was still a little bustle left from breakfast and I sat at the counter, grabbed a menu and looked for my breakfast sandwich options as an eager young man came to the other side of the counter to help me out.

"Hey, What can I get ya?!"
"Just looking at the breakfast sandwich options."
"Oh, sure, the WHAMS. They're down here...wait, where are the WHAMS?" He asked a coworker where the WHAMS were on the menu and then pointed me to them. Sure enough they were under the heading of WHAMS but I did not have the time to process what that meant (Denny's-esque tribute to local broadcasting maybe?) In any event, pretty standard choices so I asked what kind of bread I could get the sandwich on. Standing out from the usual diner suspects was Italian so I opted to have my sandwich on that, with bacon. I also noticed home-fries were only 85¢ so it seemed silly not to get them as well. A few minutes later I paid my four buck and headed to work.

So, I managed to sidestep the Rochester "hard" roll, but I remain foiled by the styrofoam take out container. It's hard to give this sandwich a fair shake because I'm pretty sure that putting any kind of bread in styrofoam with steamy hot potatoes next to it is just going to make it a soft mess. This Italian bread was no exception. Not crusty, smushed and chewy as I made my way to the bacon, egg, and cheese. Flavors were fine, salt/grease ratio was good, but the bread just kinda deflates the whole endeavor. Home fries were average and improved with the provided salt, pepper, and ketchup, but for 85¢ I certainly can't complain.


Jim's Restuarant Too!
785 Main Street East, Rochester, 14605
Sandwich cost: $2.85
Rating: It was a breakfast sandwich

Village Bakery

With my continual disappointment at the Rochester hard roll Karen has been trying to get me to Pittsford to try the Village Bakery. Thing is, heading to Pittsford first thing in the morning or midday on the weekend just isn't that appealing to me, but in her ongoing efforts to be incredibly kind to me she delivered breakfast to my work this past Wednesday.

I'll cut to the chase, she brought a gun to a knife fight.

She ordered me her favorite: the Alex (sandwiches have names at the Village bakery, I do not know the story behind this and I'm not so sure I care) which is comprised of scrambled (sorry, whisked) eggs, chèvre, arugula, and pesto on hearty, grilled multi-grain bread. Even with the drive from Pittsford to downtown and then the delay in getting Karen and me in the same place at the same time, the sandwich was delicious. Heaping eggs, crusty bread, the spikiness of the arugula with the creaminess of the goat cheese and pesto...all lovely. I can only imagine  that it would improve eating it moments after it was made. As it was, not too shabby.

Not pictured: gobs of pesto and cheese falling out onto the wrapper to be scooped up later.

Village Bakery
Sandwich cost: $6.95
Rating: That's a first-class breakfast sandwich

Balsam Bagels, again

The first day of the semester requires sustenance and I didn't want to pussyfoot around with cereal or toast. As I was eyeing my options Karen said to meet her at Balsam so she could take me out for breakfast and being a gentleman, I obliged.

I retooled my sandwich from last time to include real sausage and American cheese (instead of veggie sausage and cheddar) on a toasted everything bagel and was rewarded with a breakfast sandwich that was greater than the sum of its parts. Everything interacting with each other cohesively: just the right amount of salt, grease, and chewiness. It's almost as if putting these four things together changed the molecular composition of the elements involved. It was no longer just egg, bread, cheese, and meat, it became...a breakfast sandwich.

Balsam Bagels
Sandwich cost: $3.79
Rating: That is a damn fine breakfast sandwich

Sam's Diner

Another Wednesday morning on E. Ridge Road. Time to check out Sam's Diner in the kooky Atrium Mall plaza (across the street from Medley Center, formerly The Irondequoit Mall, this seems to be the neighborhood of retail experimentation) but Sam's is a pretty traditional diner. I walked in at 8, all eyes up at me as I walked to the counter. No one behind it but a man in an apron is sitting on the last stool drinking coffee.

"Can I get two fried egg sandwiches to go, over easy?"
"How do you want them?"
"Can I get them fried, kinda runny?"
"You want them scrambled?"
"Ummmm, no, I'll take them fried over easy if I could..."
"Sure thing, hard roll? Meat?"
The question that vexes me every time. Do I spin the hard roll roulette wheel or should I see what my other options are? Still too early for me to make decisions I agreed to the hard roll and one sandwich with bacon and one with no meat. And an order of home fries. To go.

Well, no sense in dragging this out, it's the same damn roll of disappointment that's all over this town. And, true to form, it just smushes down into gooey nothing. I think it's time to stop hoping I'm gonna score some kind of crusty deliciousness at a regular diner. Next time I ask and see what they've got like I did at the Brockport Diner a few days ago:

"The roll for your breakfast sandwich...that a Petrillo's roll?"
"I...have..no idea what that means."
"Does it have a knotted top?"
"It sure does!" Big laughs all around.
(It was late afternoon and I just needed some soup to warm me up so no sandwich to review yet.)

As for the eggs, even with the ordering confusion they were cooked to drippy perfection. American cheese for melted saltiness, and the bacon on mine added the extra salt and greasiness I like in a sandwich. Too bad about the roll. Trying to recall the home fries a week later...not bad, not great, kinda dry, kinda meh.

Sam's Diner
1780 E Ridge Road, Ste 6, Rochester, NY 14622
Sandwich cost: $3.75
Rating: It's a pretty good breakfast sandwich

Morningstar Greek American Restaurant

Breakfast Sandwich Now

Monday. Shit, it's still only Monday. Every time the alarm goes off I think I'm gonna wake up on Friday. Sometimes I'd wake up and there'd be nothing. No eggs in the fridge, left the real hard rolls back downstate. When I was here I wanted to be there and when I was there all I could do was think of a way back to a diner. I've been here a while now, and every day I get hungrier.

It was Monday, Rochester, not Saigon, but I had gone to bed too late and gotten up too early to get the kids to school. I did have eggs (and even hard rolls in the freezer), but I wanted to get to work early and didn't feel like sleepily overcooking breakfast so I veered towards The Morningstar.

A large, open dining room makes for an unremarkable setting but the diner menu makes for a reliable neighborhood breakfast joint. The sparseness of the room is countered by the warmth of...oh, man, I've been going here for years and don't know the name of the woman who runs it. I do know that she calls me dear, brings me food, and is always a pleasure. Today was no different (though she seemed confused as this was probably the earliest I've ever been in there and I've never gotten something to go).

"Yes, dear?"
"Breakfast sandwich and home fries to go, please." She looked at me and tried to remember if this was my usual order and if so did I prefer ham, sausage or bacon. I don't think I've ever ordered a breakfast sandwich here before so I helped her out, "Bacon."

There was only one other person there so she and I chatted a minute about sleepy Monday mornings (though as she was at work at 7 and I had to be to work at 9 I was dragging far behind in chat).

Styrofoam container set to go and I'm gone. At home I slowly revealed the sandwich still open, melted cheese glistening in the morning light, hash browns at the ready. I picked up the top of the roll with its dab of butter and put it on top of the sandwich. Aaaaaaand we've got ourselves another Petrillo's hard roll. A momentary setback as the fried egg, though hard, was good, the white American cheese was gooey, the bacon had crisp and chewy ends, and the home fries, though not crisp in any way, were well seasoned and had plenty of onion.

Morningstar Greek American Restaurant
850 Merchants Road, Rochester, NY 14609
Sandwich cost: In my sleepiness I forgot to look at a menu. Next time.
Rating: It's a pretty classic breakfast sandwich

Balsam Bagels

Although this is the first breakfast sandwich I'm posting in 2014 it's not the first I've had. I made myself a fried egg and muenster cheese on a toasted onion nan the other day which was grand and also reminded me that switching up the bread is very rewarding. To that end comes today's sandwich: How do you avoid the Rochester hard roll? Go to a bagel store.



Sunday morning: Hungry, don't feel like sitting down anywhere pre-shower (especially Pittsford, though the promise of "whisked eggs with avocado pico de gallo" sounds fancy and delicious), so we're just gonna head over to the local bagel store which has some pretty decent bagels.

Karen ordered first: "Egg and cheese on an everything with veggie sausage, please." The bagels were still hot out of the oven but they offered to toast it for her. "Yes, please. With butter!" As they started her sandwich I realized that the eggs were pre-made, perfectly round scrambled patties grabbed from a bin, put in a microwave with the sausage patty on top. After deciding not to risk disappointment with microwaved bacon I went with the same order as Karen. We both opted for cheddar.

Coffee and juice in tow we headed home. A too quick photo session (which yielded the above blurry pics as I was very hungry), and we dove in.

What can I say, it's hard to fuck up an egg sandwich. Bagel was good- warm, soft yet yielding, egg, although made earlier in the day, was fluffy (a little salt and pepper in the preparation would've helped), and the veggie sausage was pretty good, too. Karen appreciated the vegetarian option offered and was very pleased with the sausage but for me the sandwich lacked the greasy saltiness that pork imbues. We both agreed that the cheddar was unidentifiable as cheddar. As chewy as the melted muenster I mentioned earlier and no discernable sharpness.

Balsam Bagels
Sandwich cost: $4.29
Rating: A hearty, no frills breakfast sandwich

Scott's II

I was just coming off of a stomach bug and had been eating nothing but soup and crackers for three days and needed something more substantial in me, especially if this was going to be the start of my holiday shopping. The Public Market seemed like as good a place as any to get a tree and have breakfast.

I have no idea where Scott's I is but I do know that by the Railroad Street entrance to the Market, between Cherry's European and The Empanada Stop, is my favorite food shack: Scott's II. Behind the plywood and plexi winter walls sit the stools, steel counters, and no-frills open kitchen of the stand. We ordered two sandwiches (all you have to say), coffee and juice, and took a seat.

They've changed their rolls since the last time I've been there and was pleasantly surprised to not get a hard roll but instead a dense, chewy semi-rectangular roll for the fried egg and white American cheese to soak into (given this being my first day back on the eating horse I opted out of any meat.) That's a good sandwich, better than I remember, actually: lightly greasy, the egg neither hard nor soft, substantial bread that was grilled but not dripping with butter or margarine (though if it were grilled a bit longer it would be just about perfect).

Scott's II, Rochester Public Market
Sandwich cost: 3.00
Rating: A solid breakfast sandwich