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/