Millie's Cafe, Sarasota, October 27, 2013

Millie's is a diner that lays on the folksy charm in thick layers, and it has an enthusiastic local following.  On a Sunday morning, the crowd spills out of this restaurant's lobby onto the sidewalk outside.  This being Sarasota, the crowd is composed mostly of the nearly dead. But I can't blame them for coming to Millie's for their (potentially) last meal.

We would have had to wait 15 minutes, but a table for 6 opened up just as we arrived. Hooray!

I had one of the specials, an Italian omelette. It had Italian sausage and cheeses, and was smothered in gravy. 

The omelette was very good. It comes with Millie's "home fries." I think of home fries as chopped up potatoes cooked with onions, maybe some peppers, and spices.  Millie's home fries are closer to hash browns, and I find them a little bland (that doesn't stop me from dosing them with Cholula hot sauce and eating them). I also got a biscuit which was cooked just right.

Cindy got an omelette with spinach, ham and cheese that looked awesome.  She said it tasted as good as it looked. Cindy here: I loved this omelet. This is becoming my "go to" order on our breakfast adventures. This was a little light on spinach, but good flavor of ham and cheese. Eggs were fluffy. I didn't mind the bland, pepper-less potatoes, cause I like bland and pepper-less. I loved the crispy crunch blended with the creamy almost-mashed inners. I had no problems with the potatoes at Millie's but I agree, they weren't what you'd call home fries. The biscuit was delish.

Ellie got Millie's "special sandwich," which contained ham, cheese, bacon and lettuce. She told them to hold the tomatoes. I had one bite, it was excellent. Normally, Millie's special sandwich comes with french fries or soup, but it was too early in the morning for french fries (according to Millie's kitchen staff) so Ellie went with the home fries. She got a big pickle, too.

Peter got three huge chocolate chip pancakes, and if he'd sat closer to me, I would have helped him with those. They looked delicious. The chocolate chips weren't cooked in -- just scattered on top. Peter liked them, but spent too much time reading out loud from the magazines I brought to keep him occupied, and didn't finish his three pancakes.

Nana got two fried eggs and sausage. The sausage is superb, I'm told.

And Papa ordered corned beef hash and lightly poached eggs. I've had Millie's corned beef hash before, and it's excellent. Papa complained though about the potatoes not having any onion.

Service was very good.  If you order hot tea, it comes in a china tea pot, which is a nice touch. The waitress kept us well supplied with drinks and what-have-you, even though the restaurant was very busy.

 I would recommend Milie's to anybody if you're looking for good cooking, folksy charm, great service, and reasonable prices. 

Millie's 

3900 Clark Road

Sarasota, FL 

(941) 923-4054

http://www.milliessarasota.com/

Nick's Diner, West Palm Beach, October 6, 2013

Nick's again. Mmmm. We've both been thinking about their omelets since we were last there. Sean wanted to take his mom somewhere special, and while John G's is the expected place, and she'd love the Paris Bakery in downtown West Palm Beach, we knew she'd love the food here at Nick's.



Their menu says it all: If you can find a better diner, you should eat there!

So since we've been to Nick's before and raved about it, and we've been busy, it's taken us nearly a week to write this review. Short and sweet: we are glad we came back. Service was good, though my mother-in-law did have to wait a bit for a coffee refill. Restaurant is clean and spacious.

I had the exact same meal: ham, swiss and spinach omelet. It was deeelish. I was full until dinner. Biscuit (not pictured) was great too. 

My mother in law had the special omelet, which, darnit, I forgot what it was. But it obviuosly had tomatoes in it (which is why I didn't get it). You can see her biscuit here.

Sean had the meat lovers omelet PLUS a side of bacon. He has supernaturally good cholesterol so he can do this. He also didn't eat again until dinner though! He declared it fabulous and the biscuit terrific. Maybe he'll add his own flair to this review later. He had no opinion on the coffee this time, as he's drinking tea lately. He was disappointed to (re)find out that they do not do home fries. Which is kinda weird for a breakfast place. They do a decent shredded hash browns, and the omelets and biscuits about make up for the lack of home fries.

Our daughter as usual had lunch for breakfast. Here's her grilled cheese with bacon. She was too hungry to let me take a photo of the whole meal -- but you get the idea.

Again, really love this place. Definitely part of the regular rotation.

David and Dad's, Baltimore, Maryland

So this morning, I had a long, long, LONG walk to the Oxford Club office in Baltimore.  For some reason, they put us up in a hotel all the way across town. Probably for the view of the harbor. 

Anyway, I don't take that as a reason to take a taxi. I take that as a walking challenge.

Most of the "breakfast" places along the way served nothing but sandwiches. But then I found "David and Dad's".

And here are the breakfast specials on a white board outside.

I decided to go with the Meatlover's Omelette. It looks like this ...

The omelette is loaded with meat and melted cheese, and the potatoes are superb. I'm not even seasoning anything, which is unusual for me. The biscuits were nice also, and the vanilla coffee I had was pretty standard.

The staff is curteous and helpful. the coffee is self-serve, with a bunch of different flavors, and you pay after you eat, even though the ordering set-up is cafeteria style. 

I think I've found my breakfast place in Baltimore. If you know of any place better, let me know.

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