Comments on: The Breakfast Problem

By: NRN

NRN — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 19:00:02 +0000

I absolutely agree with you. What I miss most living here is the abundance of tasty breakfast potatoes that one seems to find in every other American city. Even the half-way decent Pittsburgh breakfast places like Square Cafe have sucky, bland, dry potatoes. Coca Cafe’s potatoes are even worse (miniature sucky, bland, dry potatoes). Even Casbah’s fancy brunch homefries are basically just short french fries.

I doubt too many people will be reading this article so late after its posting, but if anyone knows a good grilled breakfast potato/home fries place in Pittsburgh, please do list it here.

Thanks.

By: andre

andre — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 05:34:24 +0000

the coffee pot restaurant that fred wilson
mentions is not a chain
while there may be other restaurants named coffee pot this is the only one with 101 omelettes
so if you want to try it you will have to visit sedona which is worth going to for more than just the awesome breakfast at the coffee pot
sedona was voted the most beautiful place in america

By: Fred Wilson

Fred Wilson — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 10:05:59 +0000

I found a restaurant chain called the Coffee Pot Restaurant
Fabulous. 101 omelettes. Best I have ever had and amazing for the money. Watch for it in your area. If you are ever in Sedona Az, it’s at do not miss.

By: Amos the Poker Cat

Amos the Poker Cat — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 00:58:45 +0000

Pittblog mentioned Jo Jo’s. Has that been tried?

By: Erica

Erica — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 15:10:43 +0000

I must say, coca cafe is my favorite place in town…breakfast and lunch. They always have several interesting specials every Sunday. They also just opened up a little satellite cafe in the Mattress Factory museum that is really cool. I always order their soy sausage, which is fantastic. By the way, what DO you like in this city??????????

By: psu

psu — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 14:07:14 +0000

When I said custard-like I meant custard-like, which is to say, not like eggs, but more like custard (e.g. overcooked eggs mixed with cream).

Also, soy sausage is offense against God and Nature.

All that being said, I was probably too hard on the place. It’s not bad, it’s just not good enough to drive out of my way to get there.

By: Nathaniel

Nathaniel — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 13:38:55 +0000

Agreed that the simple, American Style breakast is not well done here. Bruch is also not well done in Pittburgh for the most part. Ritter’s Diner is a pit in the ground and should not be allowed to serve food to humans.

But I must take issue with a couple of your comments:

1) Coca Cafe, Lawrenceville: Highly recommended for breakfast, lunch and brunch. It may not be your typical American-style breakfast or brunch (it’s eclectic and imaginative), but the food is well-prepared, the menu interesting, service good, prices good, and I don’t know when or how long ago it was that you ate there, but I typically show up for eggs/omlettes at least once a week, and I would not describe them as “custard-like,” by which I would expect you mean soft and creamy (actually how I make them for myself). Let’s not forget that a real custard is mostly egg to begin with. Their scrambled are simply that – scrambled – not too hard, unless you ask for them that way.

That’s another thing about Coca – if you want something done a special way, they will happily do it if not prevented by premixed ingredients (frittatas are premixed). But eggs hard or medium or soft – no problem. Egg whites instead – no problem.

They have many options for the non-red-meat eaters amongst us (turkey bacon and soy sausage are regulars on the menu), and if you love sweet instead of savory for your breakfast, they’ve got great Belgian Waffles, French Toast (the Brunch menu features one that’s a combination of sweet and savory), and yesterday for Brunch they had a crepe with mandarin orange and avacado – sounds strange, but it was delicious.

2) Other good Brunch places:

In addition to Sunday Brunch at Coca:
A) Cashbah, Highland Ave., Shadyside – a Big Burrito Restaurant – it’s pricey, but great atmosphere and quite good for a special occaision or a splurge. There is NO buffet – everything is prepared to order.
B) Sunnyledge Boutique Hotel and Restaurant, Fifth Ave. at Wilkins, Shadyside. This is the creme de la creme of Pittsburgh Brunch. This little hotel in an old mansion has a buffet with many kinds of cold fishes, fruits, vegetables, salads, breads, pastries, a couple of hot dishes, AND included in the prix-fix (around $28, if I remember correctly), is a hot entree prepared to order, a mimosa or bloody mary, and coffee/tea/soda.

Hope this helps.

Your fellow food lover, Nathaniel

By: Amos the Poker Cat

Amos the Poker Cat — Fri, 06 May 2005 15:24:54 +0000

There are a couple of places on the CitySearch “Best Of” Breakfest that I have not tried yet.

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Grab and Eat in Carnegie? Tom’s Diner. Kenny B’s. Marge’s Place.

What is that deli that shares space with Ben & Jerry’s? Well, anyway, they do a good salami and egg. Put it on a garlic bagel.

The Original Pancake on McKnight is yet another chain that you can bash. Actually, I found them to be better than average. The corned beef hash is notable, but not as good as Smallman Street Deli.

By: psu

psu — Mon, 02 May 2005 22:37:53 +0000

1. I’ve never been a great fan of Ritters.

2. As for Pamela’s, I believe I listed them, but it’s worth repeating

- Pamela’s: Greasy execrable pancakes and nothing else really going for it.

By: steve

steve — Mon, 02 May 2005 19:39:10 +0000

What about Pamela’s? Or does that not exist anymore? I think there was one on Forbes Ave in the UPitt area…