The Omlette Shoppe
| Food | Mojo | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | 6 | 5 |
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I'm generally wary of places that titled themselves Shoppes. When said shoppe isn't really a shop (but rather, a restaurant) I'm even less likely to enter with a completely open mind.
Fortunately for me, I'd already heard of Ye Olde Omlette Shoppe (actually it's just "The" Omlette Shoppe... but if you're going to be a "Shoppe" you should also be "Ye Olde"). Several years ago, I even tried one of their famous (in Traverse City at least) cinnamon rolls.
Lest you think I'm harping on the overused, Olde-English "E" on the end of hardly-quaint suburban shopping (or eating) establishment titles, I'll get into the place itself. Ye Olde Omlette Shoppe is very yellow. The decor is an odd (but enjoyable?) blend of faux antiques you might find in a store like Pepperberry (if you're a veteran Uptown GR shopper). The restaurant is considerably smaller than I thought it would be, which explains the constant crowd waiting for a table.
The food is great. My mexican omlette had Chorizo, hot peppers, plenty of scrambled egg and some great homemade (somehwere, at least) marble rye bread. I've had better breakfasts (Food Dance Cafe and Cosmo's Cucina, both in Kalamazoo) and I've paid less to eat ($26+tip for two of us), but all things considered this expands to 4 the number of places in GR I've eaten great breakfast.
The hashbrowns were pretty standard, but good. The omlette was standard, but perfectly prepared, and our server was friendly (even offering to babysit our children....now that's what I call service). All in all, it's not necessarily a remarkable place to eat, but they used obviously fresh ingredients, the prices were fair (for EGR at least) and we were in an out in less than an hour (which is good when you've got a baby with you, trust me).
One kicker: They have some great cherry-flavored coffee (after all, this is a Traverse City eatery). I'm a sucker for great coffee, and sometimes that's enough to get me in one door as opposed to another.
The ten best restaurants for breakfast according to me:
- Food Dance Cafe (Kalamazoo, MAP)
- Cosmo's Cucina (Kalamazoo, MAP)
- Wolfgang's (Eastown GR, MAP)
- Dee Lite (Grand Haven, MAP)
- Morningstar Cafe (Grand Haven, MAP)
- Omlette Shoppe (Breton Village GR, MAP)
- Cherie Inn (Midtown GR, MAP)
- Round's Restaurant (Traverse City, MAP)
- Brandywine Inn (Eastown GR, MAP)
- Julliana's (Kalamazoo, MAP)
Re-hashed
We went back today. I had a sausage gravy omlette, more of that awesome cherry coffee, and yet another monster cinnamon roll.
Let's just say that the sausage gravy omlette turned the tide on my entire day. It was outstanding. The gravy wasn't too thick, but not too thin. The meat chunks in it seemed like they didn't just come out of the freezer, and the sausage in my omlette made this a better omlette than last time.
Nice work Omlette Shoppe.