It is said that good things come on small packages. I don’t mind small packages but when it comes to breakfast (lunch & dinner) I like big, greasy portions. To quote Ed O’Neil in the movie Dutch, “Nothing burps like bacon…”
We pulled up to Matt’s Big Breakfast around 9:30 AM on a Saturday. Now normally in Arizona, it’s not unusual to wait outside in the sweltering heat to get a table at a popular restaurant. We had already experienced this when we visited Aaron May’s Over Easy breakfast joint some months back. The day I went to Matt’s Big Breakfast was quite the opposite experience. It rained all morning in the Phoenix Valley and was still raining when we pulled up to Matt’s. The restaurant is just a tiny building located in downtown Phoenix… I suspect at one time it was an old house. The wait is all part of the experience, however don’t come here if you have a time sensitive event scheduled for after breakfast. After about an hour and a half of soaking in the rain we were seated at the counter. Matt’s is a bustling establishment with bright decor, and the seating in this place is tighter than Joan Rivers’ face; just 5 or 6 tables and a counter that can hold maybe another 5 or 6 guests. Note: I incorporated the small slide show at the top of the post in lieu of most of the pics… just something new I am trying to shake things up.
Not that I’m trying to ride the coattails of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives’ Guy Fieri, but yes he has been here too in one of his episodes (hey, can I help it that he likes to try the same places as me?), which no doubt ably contributes to some of Matt’s success. There is even the little signature homage to Guy on the wall inside.
Matt’s menu is small, but jam-packed with all kinds of breakfast goodness. He’s got a breakfast sandwich called “The Five Spot,” an omelet, a waffle, and pancakes just to name a few. Traditional breakfast beverages (including the rarely seen RC Cola) are also offered. He also keeps a special item on the board , which today was a three egg scramble, with Fontina, crimini mushrooms, and spinach. My mystery dining companion L. ordered the special, but today I was feeling like a big waffle with some greasy bacon($6). I had coffee and skipped the OJ today, although it was clearly freshly squeezed and looked delicious.
The food arrived about 15 minutes later: nice solid, heaping portions. I love big breakfast like this, it just sets the tone for the rest of the day. The waffle was made from scratch, fluffy, dusted with powdered sugar, served with warm maple syrup, and a big scoop of butter. My god who could eat such a travesty! I especially liked the bacon; it was that good thick cut bacon, not that wimpy crap you get at IHOP. L’s scramble special was also delicious.. the Fontina and spinach blended well together with the eggs – although I enjoyed the hash browns the best. They still hot when they arrived and they were nice and crispy the way hash browns should be.
Breakfast ran about $20 for the two of us, so we walked out of Matt’s with full stomachs, money remaining in the wallet, the rain had stopped, and the sun was shining on our shoulders. As I was walking back to the car I could see the famous Westward Ho off to my right and thought to myself this was shaping up to be a great day! One word verdict on Matt’s Big Breakfast: deliciouslygreasyheapinghomemadegoodness.
Since moving to Mesa, I have been hearing this buzz about Giant Hamburgers. They are supposedly like In-N-Out only they serve bomb breakfast any time you want. That is perfect for me since I always wake up too late and breakfast gets cut off at restaurants. Today, however, was different. I was up at 9am. Why so early you ask? (news flash to morning people: 9am IS early). Well, let me explain. My Saturday nightlife was so exciting I passed out at 9:30pm, thus resulting in this early bird. Since being the early bird is such a rare occasion for me, I decided to celebrate with breakfast. It was a tough choice between Giant Hamburgers and Crackers & Co. I wanted to go in my morning hair and left over makeup so I felt like Crackers & Co. was too fancy to handle me in all my beautiful glory. Giant Hamburgers was more appropriate in my facade and I would not so feel weird about leaving my sunnies on while I dined. I arrived and I had The Single with pancakes.
The Single is:
Toast- do they microwave their toast?
Hash browns- I have had better
Choice of meat (I did bacon)- I have had better at…wait for it…Wendy’s. (I KNOW, RIGHT?!)
And choice of egg- I hate eggs so I can’t review my egg. All eggs taste disgusting to me unless they are in brownie batter, but that’s a story for another day.
Here is the low down on the pancakes. They were thick and very chewy. Dare I say microwaved? I was not feeling my breakfast.
I would have been happier with a coffee and piece of bacon from Wendy’s- seriously, try it. I would have rather skipped the breakfast celebration and had an early lunch even.
Honestly, breakfast was cheap and I hate to say it, but IHOP > Giant Hamburgers. I am not trying to dis IHOP or anything because they are the safe breakfast choice, but come on, it should be easy to beat IHOP, right?
Giant Hamburgers
2753 E Broadway
Ste 104
Mesa, AZ 85204
(480) 733-6542 www.gianthamburgers.com
Pancakes! Pancakes! And more Pancakes! It’s been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day – I whole heartedly agree with that statement, nothing gets you moving like a good old fashioned greasy breakfast (especially after a night of drinking). While staying in Pittsburgh I asked around for the best cheap breakfast in the city, and received multiple recommendations for Pamela’s. In fact, when President Obama visited Pittsburgh he stopped at Pamela’s, and enjoyed it so much that he had the owners cater a White House event. But what does he know? It was time to put Pamela’s to the Good Greasy Eats test.
Pamela’s has 6 locations in the Pittsburgh area, I visited the location on Walnut Street in the Shadyside area. I liked the inside, it had that classic 50′s diner feel, checkered floor and everything. I went in on a Monday morning, so it wasn’t too crowded and it was just “seat yourself.” The menu was your typical diner breakfast menu, omelets, waffles, corned beef hash.. etc. But, what resided at the very top of the menu was my reason for coming in: Pamela’s Crepe Hotcakes.
They have a few varieties of these famous crepe style pancakes; banana walnut, blueberry, strawberry, and banana chocolate chip. The blueberry and strawberry pancakes have brown sugar and sour cream stuffed into them as well. I ordered the banana chocolate chip pancakes and coffee. The food came out lickety split, probably 5 minutes or less! Now, let me tell you this – if there is a way to inject crack in crepe style hotcakes, then Pamela’s has figured it out. First of all they were gigantic… Second, they were stuffed with chocolate chip and banana goodness; with whipped cream topping oozing out of each end… these things were awesome. Pamela’s crepe style pancakes also contain six mounds of butter, and they’re fluffy in the middle but get progressively crispy toward the edges.
The combination of chocolate chip and banana rolled up in a crepe pancake is totally divine! Prices are pretty good too – The crepe hotcakes were $6.75 plus another $1.50 for coffee. The only bummer about Pamela’s is that they take cash only.
Overall, Pamela’s is a standout. Lethally delicious, everything is prepared with butter, so leave your cholesterol numbers at the door and live a little. Their pancakes are just amazing and I would gather that they could not replicated anywhere else.
I have never been much of a morning person, especially on my day off from work. My weekends are typically a time where I sleep in until late morning, get up, have coffee, and start my day. It just so happened that this particular Sunday I was up early because we were going to a baseball game and decided to stop for breakfast at Over Easy. I’ve heard a lot of hype about this place, especially since it was featured on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (one of my favorite shows). I decided to see for myself if it lived up to the hype.
We pulled into the parking lot at 10AM, it was already really crowded. Note: if you come to this place get here early. They are only open until 11:30 AM. The parking lot is small, but there is additional parking at another restaurant next door. The restaurant is too small to have an indoor waiting area, but they setup a tent outside so patrons can sit in the shade. After about a 40 minute wait, we were seated at our table on the patio. A few things before I go on, and yes they’re complaints; the patio (which is about half the seating for the restaurant) is covered and has fans blowing but it was still uncomfortably hot. Note to the owner: this is Arizona, it’s hot here… you may want to provide more indoor seating. Complaint number two: the seating on the patio is too cramped. We were seated next to a large party and we kept rubbing elbows with them. However the service, so far, was very good. Coffee and water came out fast and the staff did a nice job of keeping our glasses full.
The menu had a nice variety – it featured different omelets, griddle specialties, entrees, and baked goods. Most selections are under $10 and they also have a “healthy choices” section for the more health conscious. Since I am not a health nut and this site is Good Greasy Eats, I ordered the “Over Easy”, which I assumed was their specialty. It’s toasted brioche with sauteed spinach, fried egg, bacon, and scallions. My dining companion ordered the “Wolfpack” which is 2 eggs, bacon, and cheese sandwiched between 2 layers of hash browns. After about 20 minutes the food arrived. Both entrees were solid portions of food. The Over Easy was pretty good; the egg was cooked to perfection although I felt that they used a little too much spinach for my liking and the bacon was a bit soggy – I like my bacon very crispy. But overall not bad. My dining companion’s Wolfpack was very good; the hash browns and eggs were cooked perfectly and the cheese was mixed in very nicely. I thought the Wolfpack was delicious and liked it better than the Over Easy. The bill came to about $25 for two people, which I thought was quite reasonable for the portions of food that we received, and the service was very good. Overall, I walked out of this place very full and it didn’t break the bank. A few notes below:
Pros: Nice sized portions of food
Decent Menu
Good Service
Cons: Long wait outside in the hot sun
Cramped Quarters
Imagine yourself stumbling drunk at the end of the night, or perhaps you’re just hung over the next morning after a night on the sauce. I suppose you could take a couple bottles of Advil and vitamin B and just go sleep it off somewhere…. or the alternative? You could pay a visit to Lo Lo’s Chicken and Waffles, located right in South Central Phoenix. Lo Lo’s will give you a taste of some true greasy eats. It’s just a tiny restaurant that used to be an old house located on a side street downtown. When you walk in, you see their walls riddled with famous autographs; Amare Stoudemire, Charles Barkley, and Willie Parker have all dined at Lo Lo’s. You get a true taste of Soul Food at this place. I get the number 3 “Lo Lo’s” which is 3 pieces of fried chicken and 2 buttery waffles and a big glass of red Kool-Aid served in a mason jar. The fried chicken is some of the best that I’ve had anywhere – I don’t know how many herbs and spices Lo Lo puts in it but it but it’s probably making the colonel worried from beyond the grave. Have them cover it in gravy if you want to be really advantageous! The waffles have just the slightest hint of cinnamon in them. You can also get sides of corn bread (my personal recommendation), mac & cheese, beans over rice, and grits. Now that’s some good southern cookin.
Last but not least, Lo Lo’s is known for it’s red velvet cake. And they know how to make red velvet cake. Be sure to snag a piece before you leave.
What’s Dr. Lyn Say? “Lo Lo’s fried chicken and waffles will cause immediate myocardial infarction upon digestion. You better get an extra order just to be safe.”
In a nutshell, Lo Lo’s is fatty, greasy, salty, sweet, syrupy, buttery, and delicious. Yes, it’s really bad for you but remember, what happens at Lo Lo’s stays at Lo Lo’s.
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