Hoping to Bear Mother's Day Breakfast

Black Bear Diner

1011 North Harbor Blvd. 

Fullerton, CA 92832

It's almost become a tradition that when it's a holiday my family always heads to Marie Callender's for their brunch buffet. My dad always makes the first reservation available, we get there early and wait for the doors to open, then we go through the brunch line maybe two to three times each, and then we are out of there by half-past 10 at the latest.

I like Marie Callender's sometimes; their Frisco Burger, Potato Cheese Soup, and their German Chocolate Pie are some highlights, but their brunch is not very good. Sorry Mom and Dad, but it's always too crowded, their food kind of tastes like it was made well in advance, and they changed their recipe for their once glorious Chocolate Chip Cookies. I just couldn't do it one more time, so I suggested that we meet at a place that my sister raved about a while back, Black Bear Diner in Fullerton.

I did not know it at the time we were here, but Black Bear is a rather big chain of restaurants. They have 133 locations, most of which are situated in the western US, but they also have some spots as far east as Missouri. They were founded in Mount Shasta in 1995 by good friends Bruce Dean and Bob Manley. Bruce is the business guy, who has plenty of experience in the restaurant business. Bob is the man who is credited with creating the environment and atmosphere of Black Bear Diner. That environment includes carved bear statues in the front of each restaurant, bear paraphilia all over the place, and a menu that doubles as a faux newspaper and is laden with plenty of bear puns for your perusal before your food comes out.

The menu includes lunch and dinner options, but of course, since we were here for Mother's Day brunch, breakfast is what we focused on. There's plenty in the way of egg combos, omelets, scrambles, benedicts, pancakes, waffles, and Mexican breakfast favorites. Prices range from $8 for small breakfasts to $16.99 for the most expensive thing on their breakfast portion of the menu, the Steak and Eggs.

This Fullerton location in unmistakeable as a former Bob's Big Boy. Entering one of these, whether it be a Carrow's, Coco's, or repurposed as another restaurant, always brings back a flood of childhood memories. We arrived at Black Bear just before 8:30 on Mother's Day and were met with about a twenty-minute wait, mostly due to the fact that we were a party of nine. We were seated in the back of the restaurant, which was actually nice because it was removed a bit from the hustle and bustle of the main dining room. We quickly made our selections, and here's how it all came out for us.

When a place is called Black Bear Diner and they have a Homemade Bear Claw ($5.99)  on their menu, you have to give it a try. This came out warmed, which helped spread out the icing a bit. They offer a fruit-filled version, but we got the classic, which has a good amount of almond filling inside of it. Not that I've had a lot of bear claws, but this was the best I have had. The heated pastry was soft and buttery, the almond filling was predictably nutty, and the icing added just the right amount of sweetness. A good little appetizer while we waited for our food to arrive.

Both my sister and I got the same thing, the ScramBowl ($10.99). As is my usual when eating out for the first meal of the day, I look for the item with the most ingredients in it. This definitely had that for sure. Ham, bacon, sausage, potatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, onions, are all topped with scrambled eggs, cheese, and gravy. Yeah, that's quite the laundry list of breakfast items. This was fine, but not too many of those items shined. The breakfasts meats kind of got lost here, the gravy was very average, and this had some temperature issues. It was a little on the cool side, but not cold enough to send back. Good sized portion though, and I ended taking it home for breakfast the next day. This came with a biscuit, but I gave it to my niece Kaylie after she asked me for it. I'm sure she thinks I'm a great uncle. 

Katie zeroed in on the Vegetarian Omelet ($11.49) at Black Bear. This omelet was made up of three eggs, with mushrooms, onion, spinach, bell peppers, tomatoes, and jack cheese thrown into the mix. Katie thought this was fine, but it needed more of a pop of flavor to make it more memorable. The hash browns came out nice and crisp, just like she likes them. The biscuit was definitely on the dry side, as she ate only half of it.

The Southern Scramble ($10.99) would be my dad's first meal on this day. I'd classify this more like a breakfast sandwich than a scramble. A split biscuit was topped with a sausage patty, scrambled egg, and then sausage gravy was ladled over it. Maybe because you don't eat this with your hands is why they don't call it a sandwich. Anyways, my dad was not too enthused with this. He thought it was pretty bland. The biscuit was a little on the tough side, the gravy was not very flavorful, and the sausage failed to shine through. The best part of this plate was the fresh fruit that my dad got instead of potatoes.

The Mini Volcano ($9.49) is advertised on the Black Bear menu as one of their smaller items, which tells you a little something about this place. This was the perfect size plate for my niece Kaylie. One egg, one strip of bacon, and two pancakes with chocolate chips topping them. Kaylie had no problem polishing this off. I found it a little odd that the chocolate chips were not incorporated in the batter, instead, of being placed just on top of the pancake. A good breakfast for our cheerleading niece.

I'm not sure when my mom became a millennial, but her love of Avocado Toast ($3.49) has appeared over the last few months. This is one of the newest menu items at Black Bear Diner. Avocado is spread across a roll that reminded me more of an English muffin. It doesn't get much simpler than that. My mom thought this was okay, nothing special. I'd tend to agree. Not sure why she got two sides of fruit with this, but she did end up taking one to go.

Last but not least was my niece Lillie's breakfast, the Bear's Choice ($10.49), which included two strips of bacon, two eggs, and a sweet cream waffle. Lillie claimed that the bacon was good, and the waffle almost made her jump out of her booster seat with joy.

Black Bear Diner was fine for what we wanted on this Mother's Day. A breakfast spot where we could get in and out pretty quick, and not have to wait too long. The food really did not impress too much, except my nieces seemed to like what they had. I'd describe the food here as an elevated Denny's. Nothing wrong with that, but don't come here expecting to be blown away by what you order. Service was fantastic when you consider how busy they were. Our server took great care of us and the food came out pretty fast. My mom will probably want to head to Marie Callender's again for Mother's Day brunch next year, and me being a good son will just grin and bear it. Get it, because of the name of this restaurant.

Out of five picnic baskets, (because of Yogi Bear of course), five being best to zero being worst, Black Bear Diner gets 2.5 picnic baskets.

For more information about Black Bear Diner, head to their website here: https://blackbeardiner.com/

Hoping El Matador Will Hit the Bulls Eye

El Matador

1768 Newport Blvd. 

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

It's hard to believe that I had never reviewed El Matador in Costa Mesa. When I used to live up this way, my roommates and I would eat here at least monthly. So, when my brother in law, Jim had asked us to meet him and his wonderful girlfriend Rachel for dinner at El Matador, I  had to look at the list of restaurant that runs along the right-hand side of this blog to double check if I had ever been here to write a review. Surprisingly, I had not, so we headed out for a long overdue meal with one of our favorite couples. 

El Matador has been operating from this exact spot for 53 years now. That's pretty impressive in the restaurant business. It was operated by a Marcial Gallardo in 1966, and he ran things until his death in 2003. A year-long family battle led to the restaurant being put up for auction in 2004, and that's when current owners, Greg and Jana McConaughy took over the reins. They have done some upgrades to the place but left the menu pretty much intact.

What they are doing must be working, since we arrived at a packed restaurant at 6pm on a recent Friday. The servers and the kitchen worked in great tandem to get people in and out rather quickly, as I watched numerous tables turn over during our visit. The inside of the restaurant is pretty dark, with only decorative hanging baskets providing just enough light above the well-worn booths to showcase the over 200 bottles of tequila that they proudly offer.

The menu at El Matador is pretty much what you'd expect from a Mexican restaurant that's been around for 50 years. Lots of tacos, enchiladas, burritos, tostadas, combo plates, appetizers, and other Mexican specialties. Prices are pretty reasonable, especially considering the area of town where they are situated. None of their entrees are going to set you back more than $20, with most hovering right around the $13 mark. A very good value, which probably explains why there were so many families dining here, many of which appeared to be regulars based on the interactions I observed. Let's take a look at the food that has kept a lot of their guest's regulars for many years.

Since we got here a little ahead of Jim and Rachel, I decided to partake in a House Margarita ($7), along with the provided Chips and Salsa that came to the table as we sat down. The margarita was fine, but a little on the sour side for my taste. I'd probably try another one of their margaritas next time, perhaps a mango or the pomegranate version on future trips to El Matador. The chips and salsa were pretty stellar. The chips were fried nicely, while the salsa had a good chunk to it, with a little bit of spice near the end of each bite. I tried to abstain from eating too much before our food arrived, which is always a struggle for me when eating in a Mexican restaurant.

From reading the online reviews, I knew I had to give their Guacamole and Cheese Nachos ($9.95) a try. These were as good as advertised. A layer of chips spread across the plate, with a thick cheese blanket covering them, a large dollop of guacamole, and a hidden layer of refried beans beneath it all. The chips and cheese got a little crisp due to being placed under the broiler for a bit. A little messy to eat with the four of us angling to get everything in one bite. The beans got a little lost here due to being buried underneath everything, but I'd definitely recommend getting this as a starter or maybe I will add a protein to it next time and make it my meal.

Moving on to the entree portion of the evening, let's start with what Katie went with, the Mexican Pizza ($11.50). This was a big mound of food. It starts with flour tortillas and is then layered with plenty of shredded beef, tomatoes, refried beans, peppers, onions, and a lot of cheese to tie it all together. Less like a pizza because the tortillas got lost in this mass of humanity, and more like a Mexcian hash. However you want to classify it, it was pretty delicious. Katie ate more than half of it, and I had the rest for lunch the next day, and it was still very tasty.

Jim and Rachel live nearby, so they come to El Matador pretty frequently. I'm not sure if Jim always gets the same thing here, but on this visit, he opted for the Deluxe Bean and Beef Burrito ($11.25 plus $4.40 for rice and beans). This was a pretty good sized burrito filled with shredded beef and refried beans and then topped with cheese and enchilada sauce. No complaints from Jim with this, as he ate all but a quarter of it.

Light eating Rachel just got the Chicken Tortilla Soup ($6.75). From what I can gather, she gets this soup quite often, as she thought this batch was not as good as others she has had here. It did look a little on the bland side from across the table, but compared to what I had come out for me, most things would pale in comparison.

It's always a good sign that I'm going to take some food home with me when my combo plate has to come on two plates. That's the way it was with this #1 Combo ($16.50) on this evening. With this combo, you get a cheese enchilada, tamale, shredded beef taco, a bean tostada, and of course beans and rice to round everything out. The shredded beef taco was probably my favorite of the four things here. A very sturdy crunchy shell with plenty of beef and cheese. The cheese enchilada had a good amount of cheese inside to go along with the delicious enchilada sauce. The tamale was okay, as it was a little on the dry side. The tostada was the weak link here, as it came out with way too much lettuce, and I did not want to take it off because they put the cheese on top of it. It should have been listed as a salad instead of a tostada. The beans and rice were fine, just kind of average.

It's easy to see why El Matador has been around for over a half-century and counting, and why they might be here for another 50 years. They serve pretty good sized portions at a very respectable price for a full-service restaurant. Is this the best Mexican food I've ever had? No, but it's comforting Mexcian cuisine and just as good, if not better than the other Mexican restaurants in the area, Mi Casa, La Playa, and El Ranchito to name a few. Their menu is also pretty large, so it warrants repeat trips to explore other items you might have missed. Service on this Friday evening was pretty solid, for as busy as it was in the restaurant. Glad Jim helped me cross this classic restaurant off of my list, and more importantly, we had a great evening out with family.

Out of five red capes, (because that's one of the tools of the trade that matadors use in the bullring), five being best to zero being worst, El Matador gets 3 red capes.

For more information about El Matador, head to their website by clicking here: http://elmatadorcostamesa.com/index.html#home

Raising the Bar for the First Meal of the Day

The Breakfast Bar

70 Atlantic Ave. 

Long Beach, CA 90802

My spring vacation was ending when Katie suggested that I join her and her friends for brunch in Long Beach the day before Mother's Day. Long Beach always seems so far away from South OC, but I figured on a Saturday morning at 10am, it wouldn't take too long to get there. Plus, they let me put together a list of brunch spots I'd like to try. Number one on that list was where we ended up, a place where Katie's friends, Herb and Diana, eat pretty frequently, The Breakfast Bar.

The Breakfast Bar comes to us from a husband and wife team, Josh and Pamela Beadel. These Long Beach locals have worked in the restaurant business in various capacities. Josh has experience in the bar and beverage side of restaurants, while Pamela works the front of the house and food side of things. It seems like the perfect combination for a brunch spot that is known not only for its food but its signature cocktails as well. Throw in their grandmother's and other family members' recipes, and you have what appears to be a hit restaurant.

Opened in late 2013, Breakfast Bar has a very loyal following, with wait times of at least an hour on weekends. Parking can be tricky in this part of town, with much of it being street parking, but you could get lucky and find a spot like Kate and I did in the Travelodge lot, which is right next door to the Breakfast Bar. Even though most people were probably going out with their moms the next day, we still had a twenty-minute wait for a table. Not too bad. We were seated on their front patio, which provided a good view for people-watching.

A full page of the menu is devoted to cocktails and beverages, including a wide variety of Bloody Marys, vodka-based lemonades, specialty cocktails, and of course, beer and wine. The rest of the menu is dedicated to food, with breakfast entrees and appetizers taking up a whole page. Not in the mood for breakfast? There's also plenty in the way of soups, salads, and lunch options for you weirdos that don't like breakfast. So let's look at what we came up with on this rare visit to Long Beach.

Since Katie drove up here, I decided I'd partake in a cocktail, but what to pick? I've always had good luck with Mai Tai's ($12), so that's the route I went with. I'd describe this one at Breakfast Bar as a grown-up version of a cocktail almost always made too sweet. This one wasn't, probably because they use three kinds of rum: orange curacao, Orgeat syrup, and some fresh lime juice. A very well-crafted beverage that brought to mind a perfect one that I had in Hawaii many years ago. 

I had never met Katie's friend Herb before, but judging from his breakfast order, I can assume he's the type of no-nonsense guy that faces the day by saying pitter-patter, let's get at 'er. So first, he had the 2 Eggs N-E Way ($11). This basic breakfast plate included two eggs with cheese, two strips of bacon, and some grilled sourdough. The menu said this also came with a potato pancake, but Herb opted for fries. Herb seemed pretty pleased with this, and he even let me have a slice of his toast and some of his fries. Thanks, big shooter. 

I snapped this picture of Diana's breakfast choice, the Beadel Burger ($19.75 with a fried egg added), before she had them pump the brakes and take it back because they forgot that she had requested a gluten-free bun. This burger is a half pound of beef and comes with a house herb aioli, cheddar cheese, tomato, arugula, and red onion. When this came back, Diana thought this burger lit the lamp with its deliciousness, even though she could not finish it all. The fries are a classic fast food, thin, fried nicely, and plentiful. This got a big Texas-sized 10-4 from Diana, the Puck Bunny.

Katie went a little more adventurous at the Breakfast Bar when she got this Breakie Sammie ($14.75 with avocado added). This good-looking sandwich came on grilled sourdough bread with roasted garlic and herb aioli, jack cheese, arugula, tomato, bacon, and scrambled eggs. Katie loved this sandwich. The crunch of the bread went well with the savory items between the slices. This sandwich had many contrasts going on with it, so it kept you interested. The smokiness of the bacon, creamy avocado, lighter-than-expected eggs, and flavor punch from the garlic aioli made this sandwich a winner. It helped Katie leave Breakfast Bar a delighted girl.

The first thing listed on the brunch menu here is Uncle Marcee's Omelet Casserole ($16.50 with add-ons), and it was what I chose to have here at the Breakfast Bar. It was an excellent choice. This recipe has been passed down for three generations in Pamela's family. It takes 24 hours to make and is baked individually. It tastes like an egg casserole that my mom makes around holiday time. It's made with bread, jack cheese, eggs, and milk. You then add any additional items that you'd like to it. I added cheddar cheese, bacon, and avocado. This was a delicious combination. One of the better egg dishes I have had. Very homey, and I liked the crisped edges running along the sides of the casserole dish. This came with a potato pancake, which was grilled on the outside and soft and pillowy inside. Wish it had been a bit bigger, but I'll probably order an extra one next time.

I always like to mix sweet and savory at brunch, so an order of Pam's Chocolate Banana Loaf ($8) was an obvious selection for me to try. I'd describe this as very subdued. It had a very understated banana flavor, as the chocolate was a bit more prominent. Not the moistest banana loaf I've had, but it was definitely not dry either. A perfect choice for people who want a slightly sweet option to go along with their brunch entrees.

I left The Breakfast Bar wishing we lived a bit closer to Long Beach, as I'd make this brunch spot a habit. Everything we had on this visit was a great way to start the day. The food was bright and fresh, which is how I'd describe the service this late morning hour. Even though they were pretty busy, every employee we encountered on this visit seemed like they wanted to be there, and they were extremely excited to show off their food and make each guest very comfortable. I'm glad we finally made a visit to a Long Beach restaurant after nearly eight years. I know it won't be that long until we make it up this way again.

Out of five skinny houses (because a dwelling in the city of Long Beach holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the skinniest house in the world, located at 708 Gladys Avenue if you want to look it up), five being best to zero being worst, The Breakfast Bar gets 3.5 skinny houses.

For more information about The Breakfast Bar, head to their website here: http://www.the-breakfast-bar.com/

Nothing in Poor Taste at Pour Company

Pour Company 

136 West Wilshire Ave. 

Fullerton, CA 92832

I made a pretty big mistake over a ten-day period. It was a good week of eating out, and as usual, I had my camera along with me to document each meal. I was hoping that I'd be able to share my restaurant experiences with all of you, good or bad to see if you should spend your well-earned money at a spot or, find somewhere else to eat. It was all going along great until I realized that I had left the memory card out of my camera. I had lost 5 restaurant visits and had only taken a few sporadic pictures with my phone.

One of those places was Pour Company in Fullerton. We had visited my dad in the hospital on Katie's birthday, and after making sure he was doing okay, we treated ourselves to this little hidden gem in Downtown Fullerton. That first visit was excellent, but with just a few camera phone pictures, I did not have enough to write about it. So, two weeks later I asked my parents to meet me there for a lunch, and they were plenty eager enough to give it a try and spend some good quality time with their firstborn and favorite child.

When Katie and I had arrived for my first visit, it was near 8 on a Thursday evening and the inside of the restaurant had a few patrons, but the partially covered back patio was much more lively with a good mix of music being played and a good number of the tables and bar seats occupied. The lunch my parents and I had was way more subdued. Maybe it was due to the gloomy and rather chilly weather, the fact that they had just recently opened for lunch on weekdays, or that we had chosen to sit inside the restaurant on this visit.

Pour Company passed the one year mark last month, which is a big milestone for a restaurant. As their wordplay name suggests, they offer plenty in the way of cocktails and craft beers, but since I was driving all the way back down to South OC, I decided to focus more on their food. I know big surprise.

I kind of get the feeling that even though Pour Company has been around for a year, they are still tweaking some things. Our server told us that they are trying to make things easier by having just one menu throughout the day. The lunch menu we were handed when I was with my parents was a very pared down version of the menu Katie and I were presented with for dinner. That menu had plenty in the way of starters, bowls, sandwiches, entrees, and dessert. The lunch menu had less than half the starters listed, some handheld options available, and no dessert or entrees. Who could blame them for this, their kitchen, which you can catch a glimpse of going to or from the patio, is really tiny. Let's see what came out of this small kitchen for us on these two visits.

When Katie and I were here for her birthday, we started out with the Pretzel Bites ($13). Pretzels have never really been a snack food that I've really been a fan of. Most of them I feel are too dry and bready, and don't even get me started about the store bought bags available on grocery store shelves. I was not really excited when Katie popped up with her desire to get these, but it was her birthday, so I relented. You know what? They were not too bad. They were nice and soft, with a little flavor boost from the sea salt topping them. These came with spicy mustard and a beer cheese sauce. The beer cheese sauce was the choice here. It went wonderfully with these. I'm asking for double cheese sauce next time we get these.

I got the same thing on both of my visits at Pour Company, the House Burger ($15 or $17 with bacon added). Both times I have been blown away by this burger, even though I forgot to get it with bacon the second time I was here. This house ground beef blend is topped with white cheddar cheese, a bacon onion jam, and is sandwiched between a great looking bun which holds everything in place with great ease. Not a small feat considering this is one of the juiciest burgers around. Even though I did not get bacon on one of these burgers, I decided this burger at Pour Company definitely deserves a place on my Mount Hamburger-more, which also includes the burgers at Burger Parlor, Hopdoddy, and G Burger. It really is that good.

The burger parade rolls on with the Burger of the Month offering that my Dad tried with a gentle arm twisting from our server. The burger was the southern inspired Fried Pickle Burger. This burger came with of course fried pickles, two patties, pimento cheese, and a ranch slaw. My dad inhaled this burger, not coming up for air until it was completely gone. He did resort to eating this with a knife and fork, so a few style points have to be taken away from him for that. The fried pickles, which are listed on their dinner appetizer menu were excellent and made me want to order them the next time we visit. Thumbs up from the big guy with this burger.

My mom was really having a tough time choosing what to have here for lunch. She had her heart set on the avocado toast, which is listed on their menu online, but it was absent, along with a lot of other options on the scaled down lunch menu we were presented with. She finally decided on the Spicy Chicken Sandwich ($14) after being assured that it was not going to be too spicy. This ended up being a very good chicken sandwich. The breading was light and crunchy, the chicken underneath was one of the most tender that I've had, and the cayenne marinade added just the right touch of heat so it did not overwhelm. I also need to mention the fries, which came out hot and were seasoned really well with salt and herbs. They rounded out our meals wonderfully.

The dessert I had with my parents was this Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich ($10). I'm not exactly sure what kind of cookie they used here. It kind of had the flavor of a chocolate chip oatmeal, but don't quote me on that. The ice cream in the middle was vanilla and the top of the cookie was streaked with caramel. This was good, but kind of fell flat. I had wished that the cookie was heated a bit, which would have made it a little less hard to eat. What you should really focus on is the next item.

The much better dessert option at Pour Company is something that would fit right in at the OC Fairgrounds, the Cinnamon Roll Ice Cream Sandwich ($10). The cinnamon roll was nicely heated and tasted exactly like the cinnamon rolls at the OC Fari, which are my favorites. It featured plenty of cinnamon, some of it crystalized, so it's a little crunchy. Those are my favorite bites. I'm not usually a fan of coffee flavored ice cream, but it was fine here. The real star is the cinnamon roll.

After leaving Pour Company on my two visits, I was really pumped up to share with you all about the food I experienced there. Not only did I find one of my top 4 burgers in OC, everything else we had was pretty stellar as well. It has made me intrigued to come back and try their entrees, like their fish and chips, Hawaiian pork ribs, and shrimp and grits. Brunch is also on my list to try, as soon as I have another weekend day off from work. Pour Company is situated in Downtown Fullerton, but it doesn't really have that over the top, slightly rowdy feeling that the restaurants and bars closer to Commonwealth Avenue has. It still feels like a little hidden gem which hasn't been fully discovered by a lot of people yet. After eating this burger, I have a feeling that's about to change. I'm actually kind of glad I screwed up by leaving my camera memory card at home, as it allowed me a return visit. The first of many.

Out of five bags of rice, (since Katie and I got married right across the street at the Villa del Sol, and it's common for people to throw rice at weddings, except at ours), five being best to zero being worst, Pour Company gets 4 bags of rice.

For more information about Pour Company, head to their website here: https://www.pourcompany.com/#home-3-section

Long Live the Breakfast Republic

Breakfast Republic

4213 Campus Dr. Suite P166B

Irvine, CA 92612

The invasion of San Diego restaurants coming to OC continues. For all but one restaurant that has made the migration north on the 5 Freeway from America's Finest City, almost all have been hits in my opinion. Crack Shack, The Taco Stand, The Kebab Shop, Burger Lounge, Luna Grill, Puesto, and I'm sure there's a few more that I'm just not thinking of right at the moment, have gotten some very positive, if not glowing reviews from the people of OC. The lone clunker has been The Broken Yolk, but let's not focus on their very mediocre food.

I had a good feeling that Breakfast Republic would not be anything close to mediocre. It's part of the Rise and Shine Restaurant Group, which is owned and founded by Johan Engman. He's originally from Sweden and moved to San Diego when he was 16. Finding out that he was passionate about the restaurant business, he opened his first restaurant, Fig Tree Cafe at the age of 27. After a few struggles, he opened other locations in 2011 and 2013.

The concept for the Breakfast Republic came to Johan when he was waiting out a rainstorm in Borneo. The name, logo, a menu that was unique but still offered classics that customers would be comfortable with, hidden puns and quotes spread throughout the restaurant, and their famous egg chairs were all born in that hut along the Danum River. Pretty incredible to come up with all of this while waiting for the rain to lighten up, especially since most of us, including myself, would have just taken a nap.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when Breakfast Republic opened up their eighth location, and the first in OC, at the University Center at UCI. There will be another outpost opening later on this summer in Costa Mesa. I was a little worried that this Irvine location is a little tucked away, but those fears subsided when my friend Joe and I arrived here for a late breakfast on a recent Friday and were met with a full restaurant and a stated wait time of 45 minutes. Mind you, this was on a weekday, and we've heard that waits for tables on weekends have exceeded an hour and a half for most of their 7am to 3pm operating hours. I guess the word is out about Breakfast Republic.

I was a little overwhelmed with the menu here. There are lots of things that piqued my interest. The menu is broken up into Benedicts, Scrambles, Omelets, Pancakes, French Toast, and another section which is titled Playing Fare, which has some unusual things that you would not expect to see on a breakfast menu. There's a Breakfast Jambalaya, Turkey Meatloaf Hash, Breakfast Hot Dogs, Shrimp and Grits, and a Breakfast Burger to name a few. Prices range between $8 to $19 for the Steak and Eggs. I felt a little pressure picking out what to have here, so let's see if I made a great decision for my first meal of the day.

Let's first take a look at what Joe tried on his maiden voyage at Breakfast Republic. He kept things pretty simple by trying the Traditional Benedict with Avocado and Tomato added ($14). This Benedict, as with all of them listed on the menu, starts with their sourdough English muffin and then is layered with Canadian bacon and a poached egg and is topped with a gluten-free hollandaise sauce. Joe really enjoyed the fresh and vibrant flavors that came on this plate. This was served with House Potatoes, as all the Benedicts are. I thought they looked pretty basic from across the table, but these spuds were nicely seasoned and had a very pleasing crunch to the outside of each cube, and a softer inside. Next time we will upgrade these potatoes with Brussels sprouts, parmesan, bacon, onion, and balsamic for an extra $2.

It seems to be a trend with me that I always veer towards scrambles when I'm trying a breakfast spot for the first time. It held true at Breakfast Republic when I got this Portuguese Linguisa Sausage Scramble ($12). Three light and fluffy eggs are mixed with plenty of green bell peppers, tomatoes, a splash of hot sauce, garlic, bacon, and linguisa sausage. This was one of the lighter of scrambles I have had. The produce was very fresh, the linguisa had a nice little bite to it, and the hot sauce added a little spark. I was happy this was not as heavy as other scrambles, because I would have been in trouble with what we had coming next.

Instead of getting toast with my scramble, I opted to get this Mr. Presely's French Toast ($4 upcharge). One of the wisest food decisions I have made in a long while. I was pretty much blown away by this french toast stuffed with peanut butter, then topped with crumbled bacon and bananas foster. Wow, sweet and savory at its finest. I'll be getting this again for sure, especially since I've thought about it almost every day since I had it last week.

As if I needed even more sugar to jumpstart my day, we also tired their Pancake Flight ($13). With eight pancakes on their regular menu, plus a monthly special pancake, this pancake flight is the best way to get a good lay of the land at Breakfast Republic. We tried the Strawberry Cheesecake, Oreo Cookie, and the special of the month, the Tres Leches. My favorite predictably was the Oreo, which is a chocolate pancake with cream inside and pieces of Oreos on top. Very decadent. The Tres Leches is a buttermilk pancake with cajeta (a kind of caramel sauce) and strawberries on top and then finished with whipped cream and tres leches cream. It didn't really taste like tres leches to me, but I still liked it. Joe was partial to the Strawberry Cheesecake which had plenty in the way of strawberries and a cheesecake cream.

This was an excellent first visit to what I'm sure will become a lot of people's favorite breakfast place in OC. Hopefully, with the new Costa Mesa spot opening soon, it will alleviate the wait times at the Irvine spot, which is closer to our place. I really look forward to trying more of their menu and getting a little more adventurous in my selections. I'm glad Breakfast Republic has moved north from San Diego. I think they are going to fit right in with the other superior San Diego restaurants that have expanded to OC in the last year or so.

We'd like to thank everyone at Breakfast Republic for making us feel so welcome and sharing what they are all about with us. Both Joe and I had an excellent time and a lot of that was due to our server Megan and Manager Karmina, both of whom took turns checking on us and making sure our every need was met. They not only did it for us, but they were very busy checking on other tables as well. We'd also like the thank the excellent Casey Sorrell at Alternative Strategies for reaching out to us and setting up our visit to Breakfast Republic. She's one of the best in the business.

For more information about the Breakfast Republic, head to their website here: https://www.breakfastrepublic.com/