Dinerwood on the Road: Las Vegas' The Egg and I

I thought The Egg and I was the sister restaurant to The Cracked Egg, which I reviewed a few years ago. The Cracked Egg was a brightly colored, whimsical nouveau-diner, I expected something similar here. I was totally wrong--not saying that the Egg and I is bad. It is just more traditional. (The Egg and I is affiliated with Egg Works, which I have not been to.)



When I walked in they asked if I wanted to sit inside or outside. This was Vegas in August. I didn't appreciate being threatened like that. I chose to sit inside. Save for a farm mural along the wall, the interior felt more like a sports bar. That felt a little incongruent with the breakfast nature of the restaurant.



Not quite sure why they emphasize the Cincinnati Chili.



I liked this feature. I could see how on a busy morning this would be infinitely helpful to your server.



This egg looks totally hiiiigh.



The waitress was especially attentive. When I flipped over to the sad "needs attention" egg to take this picture, my waitress was there in seconds asking if everything was okay.



I ordered the Stuffed French Toast. I thought the country potatoes were amazing, perfectly seasoned and crispy. I didn't care for the french toast and egg together. I ended up separating them. Good french toast and good scrambled eggs.

Food: Good.
Price: $8-11
Service: Great.
Pie: No pie.

The Egg & I
4533 W Sahara Ave #5
Las Vegas, NV 89102

Cafe 50's Vermont --Where I realize I don't like Egg Creams.

The new Cafe 50's on Vermont has been open for a close to a year now. It actually showed up on my GPS long before that. I drove by and just saw the abandoned Louisiana Fried Chicken restaurant that used to be there. "Stupid GPS!" I said while throwing it disappointedly out the window. A few weeks later when it actually appeared, painted exterior and ready to open, I was thrilled. My previous experiences with Cafe 50s had been decent and unspectacular, but this new location provided an option other than House of Pies for late night diner dining in the Hollywood area.



The interior is what you expect. Like the other locations, the walls provide you with ample eye-candy for 50's nostalgia.







I like that they definitely put a lot of thought into the placement of old ads and posters. Near the men's room there is a whole section dedicated to Rock Hudson and his "bachelor life."



There's also a calendar that covers history and their daily specials.
Sometimes the history and the specials result in some amusing juxtaposition.
"Buddy Holly, Big Bopper and Richie Valens die in plane crash. Strawberry shakes $2.98!"

I've actually eaten there quite a bit, but sadly my pictures are from the one disappointing meal I had.



This is the Big Bopper scramble with a side of hash browns. The hash browns were not very good. I thought they were too greasy. The scramble was decent, if a little salty.



This is the 7 Grain Granola Almond Pancakes. They let me get these as my choice of bread which was very cool. These were really delicious. I recommend them.



I also decided to get a New York Egg Cream...which I need to stop doing. I don't like them. Some reason I think "Maybe, there's just something wrong with THIS particular one." I need to realize that although my brain likes the idea of chocolate syrup in soda water with milk, my taste buds think it is gross. Gross.

The service there is more often than not friendly and attentive. The one time I got lackluster service I was with a large group and our waitress (who I've had wait on me several times) was clearly having a rough day. If this had been my one and only time there I would have had a negative impression of the place. Multiple experiences allow me to give some leeway.

They have a great home made lemon-lime pie. Although, it does look odd when you get it. They don't add any coloring to the pie so it just comes out looking grayish brown--slightly unappetizing. Trust me, it is very good.



Food: Good.
Price: $7.95-$13.95
Service: Good.
Pie: Yes.

Cafe 50's
850 N. Vermont Ave
Los Angeles CA 90029
http://www.cafe50s.org

Dinerwood On the Road: Fred's Grill - Morro Bay, CA

Continuing our Memorial Day vacation adventure, which last time took us to Jerry's Coffee Shop, we found ourselves in Morro Bay on the central Californian coast.


The desk clerk at the Motel 6 recommended Fred's as having the best breakfast in Morro Bay. Having had one of the worst dinners of my life the night before, my expectations for the food in this town were very low.






I normally wouldn't have been drawn to this place. The exterior looked homey with the flower boxes and beige paint job, but the golf ball on the sign was a sure indicator that something odd was going on. The "Grill" in the name didn't set my mind at ease either. "Grill" always makes me think of bar food and hamburgers. Or the Macaroni Grill, which is just plain stupid.






Inside it was quite odd. There were various golf themed pictures on the walls and golf tchotskies on the table tops. I did not like it because I do not like golf. I also had no clue if golf was a thing in Morro Bay (apparently it is: "a poor man's Pebble Beach"). I don't remember seeing a golf course around town (apparently there's about four within a few miles).

The counter seemed more like a bar's bar. In fact, the whole place had a vibe of sports bar trying out a breakfast menu. I've come to find out through my keen detective skills--okay, okay, I just called and asked--the opposite is true. Fred's started as a breakfast joint and expanded all the way to dinner then, because of the economy, scaled back to being a breakfast joint. Although the outside didn't change, I imagine the inside decor had been altered to reflect the new emphasis, but then never changed back.

The service was very nice. We took a long time to order since we were trying to juggle planning the rest of our trip, making notes about what had already occured, and then trying to figure out if we wanted to split something or not. We were annoying, scatter-brained patrons that morning but our waitress handled it fine.



We started off with some coffee. It was quite possible the worst coffee I've had in recent memory. It was oddly metallic and bitter tasting, and had to be drowned in cream and splenda.




I ordered a hearty breakfast with pancakes, eggs, potatoes and ham steak. I had been spoiled with damn near perfect pancakes the day before, but these were still very nice restaurant pancakes. My potatoes were a bit salty as was my ham steak. The ham steak was also very thick, which was nice. My eggs, ordered over-medium, were fine except for the orange flavor transfer from the garnish.




#1DC Antoinette ordered a sausage and cheese scramble. The scramble was too cheesy but the sausage was good.


Fred's Grill was perfectly fine. The only bad part was the atrocious coffee. The place did lack any of the charm that I seek out in diners and coffee shops but it quite possibly is the best breakfast place in Morro Bay, and you know, good for them.



Food: Good.
Price: Reasonable.
Service: Very nice.
Pie: "Peach and Apple, but not all the time. And chocolate cake."




Fred's Grill
1698 Main St
Morro Bay, CA 93442
(805) 771-9811

Mission Family Restaurant - Old School - CLOSED

You can tell from the picture that the Mission Family Restaurant has been around for a long time. Concave roof design, ancient sign, and rock wall exterior, this place is old school and nothing beats old school. Cancer is old school and nothing beats cancer. Shut up Lance Armstong!



Another sign that Mission Family is old and old school, the booths have not been redone since who knows when. My booth was held together with duct tape. Literally duct tape. The layers of duct tape tell the age of this place like the rings do on a tree trunk.

I'm not even sure where this place is and I was just there. This is far and away from my usual stomping grounds. #1 Diner Companion Antoinette and #1 Co-worker Eveleen brought me here. It's in Pomona, apparently.

Antoinette said I'd love it based on the decor alone; she knows me well. I love the "dinge" places. Although I was not a fan of the heat lamps I saw on the kitchen counter, just about everything else was top notch in terms of creating an experience.

Antoinette ordered the Mission Scramble, which was described as "scrambled eggs, two pieces of bacon with biscuit and gravy." It arrived as such:



Yes, smothered eggs with the biscuit. No mention of this at all on the menu.

I ordered the country breakfast of 3 eggs, 3 bacon, and biscuits and gravy, all for $6.35. It arrived as this:



Yep, totally normal. Totally as you would expect. I swapped with Antoinette. Sometimes the man has to take a hit. It was a good hit, though. The gravy, which is ladled up like soup onto the plate, was smooth and not greasy. It was just a bit too much. I think I made it through half of it before saying "No mas!" I did really like the biscuits. They had a soft, corn-bread like texture.

Evaleen got a standard pancake sandwich. It was what it was.



That cup in the foreground is coffee, which is very good at Mission Family Restaurant. I also want to note that they serve buttermilk by the glass. I honestly would like to try sitting down to a glass of buttermilk and a biscuit some time.

Other points of interest:

Crane machine! What is it with family restaurants and crane machines?



This one at least has cute stuffed animals. Like real ones that you could conceivably find in a store. These are not your usual hech en Tijuana ones full of sawdust and shredded newspapers. That frog is adorable! And that baby chick on the left? I want to hit with a hammer, it's so cute.

I was a little surprised to find these machines in the bathroom:



I guess it should be called Mission Family Planning Restaurant.

Food: Decent.
Service: Started good then went a little downhill.
Price: 4-10 for entrees
Pie: When it came time for this I got really distracted by a guy with a tracheotomy hole in his neck. It weirded me out. They have basic pies. Apple and Cherry are a safe bet.

Overall: The place thrives on the experience. The food was decent and the price was cheap.

UPDATE- Mission Family Restaurant closed in 2013.


888 W Mission Blvd,
Near S White Ave and W Mission Blvd
Pomona, CA 91766
(909) 629-6412