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