Americana
219 Broadway Ave E

This place has been on my radar for a while now - particularly for breakfast.  It's in a part of town that I don't get to much and where parking can be a bitch.

But, the restaurant opens at 9 and the neighborhood really doesn't wake up much before 10 on Sundays.  I got there at 9 and found plenty of parking.  Good thing to remember as there are lots of breakfast opportunities in that area.

Food:   I had a terrible time deciding between the Americana Benedict and the East Coast.  (Turns out neither was the right choice.)  In Seattle, I always always ask, if cold salmon is in the meal description if it is lox or what they call here 'dry smoked'.  On the east coast, lox is assumed.  In this part of the world, never assume nuthin'.  I have no clue why I didn't ask today.  I expected lox and I did not get it.

But, kind of amazingly in my book, it was absolutely delicious anyway.  I had them substitute the regular potatoes with potato pancakes which were supposed to have smoke gouda in them but if they did, it wasn't much.  They were fabulous either way.

It was also one of the prettiest breakfasts I've had in a long time.  Very creative, very delicious and very pretty.  It's the breakfast (or, heck any meal) trifecta.

Service:  The service was pretty good.  When I first got there it was fine but then the place started filling up and the one waitress tried hard but was a little stretched.  Finally, just as I was ready to leave, a guy came by with coffee.  But, my water glass was filled and you could tell the staff was trying hard.

Everything else:  My breakfast was great.  But, in looking at the meals at other tables, I learned that the thing to order was their french toast.  Their french toast looked the kind of good that armies die for.  Thick and egg/buttery crunchy on the outside and warm on the inside. Had I not been stuffed, I would have sat right down and started all over.




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