The SpringHouse

Christmas is nearly here! We were able to take some time out of our busy Holiday weekends to take a drive over the river & through the woods (pretty close to literally!) to visit the SpringHouse near Washington, PA. I'm including it on this "Breakfast in Pittsburgh" blog because it's one of the most unique buffet-styled Saturday breakfasts in the area.  I found this on their website which gives an idea of the setup:

What is a springhouse?

Many moons ago, when cows were milked by hand, and a farmer chilled his milk cans in a stone building with a natural cold spring running through it...that was a springhouse!

The whole place is set on a farm along Highway 136, and the main building has the initial feel of a Cracker Barrel restaurant, with carved porch chairs for sale outside and a Country Store on the inside. In addition to selling arts-and-crafts type home interiors, there is also a Market featuring their own milk, and lots of homemade treats like pies, breads, cookies, and a kitchen that features home cooking and hickory smoked hams from their own smokehouse. Wow!

The SpringHouse is too busy to be a sit-down restaurant. There is action everywhere you look. The staff is very friendly and will happily direct first time visitors through the buffet line and to some great seating overlooking the farm yard.

All of the hot food is served up by SpringHouse employees, but don't expect skimpy portions. Items featured today were French Toast, hash browns & home fries, sausage & bacon, scrambled eggs, homemade applesauce, and an amazing ham & egg casserole featuring that smoked ham that literally melts in your mouth. Oh, and did I mention all of this was just $5.95?

And be sure to grab some of their hormone free milk (regular or chocolate!) from the old-fashioned coca-cola cooler.  Absolutely fabulous.

I couldn't recommend this place more for its home cooking. They also have quite the catering business, featuring all their home cooked meals. I sampled some of their Christmas cookies that a vendor had sent to our office which were out of this world. And the lunch buffet looks just as delicious. Today it featured BBQ Ribs, Mediterranean Chicken, Pepper Steak over Rice, Sweet & Sour Chicken over Rice, and more. YUMMY!

CC's Homemade Foods - Mt. Lebanon

Happy Saturday after Thanksgiving! Time for Saturday Breakfast in Pittsburgh! All the leftover mashed potatoes in my refrigerator had me thinking about potato pancakes ... and since I am without a great recipe, what better place to go than CC's in Mt. Lebanon! Located right on the main drag of Mt. Lebanon, CC's is situated between all kinds of cute storefronts, including a stationary shop, a used clothing store, and even a dance studio. This area is full of window shopping and was the perfect opportunity for "Small Business Saturday".

CC's is very unique in it's setup. Normally you expect to walk into the dining room to be seated. Not here. First thing you see is the kitchen/grill area, and some counter seating.

But don't be alarmed - the coziest little dining areas await you upstairs. Small tables, tables for four, and even a full-sized dining room table, in a private room, are what you will find. It feels like the upstairs at one point was setup as an apartment, so rather than tear down walls, the owners just decided to "go with it" and make it all seating areas. Built-in cabinets and all.
 
Everything seems just like someone's slightly outdated home. And if you bring the kiddies, they'll presumably be entertained while you dine with a sizable toy corner (definitely unique to any other Saturday Breakfast in Pittsburgh restaurants we've visited so far this year!)

But the food was what we really came for - and it was the specialties of the house that most intrigued us today. I of course had to order the potato pancakes ("Pittsburgh's Best - Made daily from the finest grated Idaho potatoes and onions, served with applesauce or sour cream"), with a side of "CC's own" baked ham. And husband chose the daily special which was a spinach and tomato frittata with a pancake on the side.

The frittata was definitely the highlight of the meal - very healthy and very delicious. The ham was also exceptionally good, and the potato pancakes were very tasty. The regular pancake was not quite fluffy and not recommended. All in all, CC's is as advertised - a great place for homemade food. They were not at all busy, just the cook and one waitress who were both super friendly.

Now to browse the internet for a decent potato pancake recipe...

The Diner - Oakdale

Jake had a late morning appointment at the vet this-morning, so we decided to just bring him with us to our Saturday breakfast in Pittsburgh. We take him to Banfield in Robinson, and wanted to stay close by.  That's how we ended up in nearby Oakdale at The Diner.

Not a very original name, but kinda classy ... for a diner. (ha, ha)  The Diner has the look and feel of a refurbished street car, with the rounded ceiling. But unlike Johnny's Diner in the West End, this place is newly remodeled, and just seemed generally Cheerful. It's hard to explain - it just had this happy vibe about it. Maybe it's the 50's retro decor and shiny red & white checkered floor, but it worked.

It seems from their Facebook page that breakfast isn't necessarily the big specialty of The Diner. I see them talking about Prime Rib and Fish Fry nights, not brunch type food. They did have a blueberry waffles & eggs special this-morning, which I decided to try. And husband chose the "Diner Two's" which consisted of 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, and 2 bacon or sausage. Though he doubled the eggs, and substituted the 2 meat for 1 ham, so I guess somewhere in there it ceased to be a two-fer special??

The food was okay. The scrambled eggs were a little dry, and the pancakes not too fluffy. But the general atmosphere definitely made up for anything else. And everything was served pretty quickly, so Jake made it to his appointment with no incident. Though he did decide to wait in the car while we ate :)

So kudos to the simple design, friendly service, and generally cheerful atmosphere!

Hitchin' a Ride

The Elvis corner

King's Family Restaurant - Bridgeville

With a name like King's Family Restaurant, I so wanted to love this place! I mean, how perfect would that be if King Saturday's favorite restaurant was King's? But alas, this King's just isn't worthy of such accolades for this Saturday breakfast in Pittsburgh.

King's is a chain of several restaurants in the Pittsburgh area. I've not been to many, but see commercials on TV. Usually when businesses take the time to make commercials, it's so they can show off the best of the best - food that looks so good you just can't help but be tempted to go out and spend your hard earned money eating at their establishment. But I never feel like that when I see King's commercials ... and I end up thinking "Really? Is that the best you've got??"

So perhaps it was with a bit of bias that we began breakfast today. But always up for an adventure, we decided to try and find that something special on the menu. I decided that the potato pancake special looked best of all - which also included 2 eggs, bacon & toast, with a side of applesauce. Husband picked the "Wake up Special" consisting of 2 buttermilk hot cakes, 2 eggs and 2 sausage links with toast and choice of potato (he picked the cheesy ones). Lots of food, with really low prices compared to most places we've visited. (So that's a plus!) Surprisingly, out off all that, the most delicious tasting item was not the potato  pancakes (usually one of my most favorite foods of all time) but it was the cheesy potatoes. (And they tasted like they belonged as a side for dinner rather than breakfast.) Not to go on and on, but the bacon was burned, the potato pancakes were exceedingly dry and the over-easy eggs seemed very small.

I think the highlight of the experience was the dessert menu, which is cleverly published as the placemat. So while you are waiting and waiting and waiting for your food, you can dream about what might happen after your meal finally arrives. King's clearly finds itself in competition with Pittsburgh area Eat 'n Park chains. So in marketing response to Eat 'n Park's popular Smiley face cookies, King's offers the "Frownie". How clever.

 
Maybe one day we'll return for dessert. And maybe not. I hate when I don't love a place, but this one just didn't do it for me.

Carmi Family Restaurant

After a couple weekends away camping and traveling, we're back in Pittsburgh and hungry for some Saturday Breakfast! Today we headed for the North Side for what we *thought* was to be the old Shamrock Inn. But instead, we were delighted to find it under new ownership - Now it's the Carmi Family Restaurant.

I love the restaurant's motto: "If your hungry for some true Southern Cooking, then you don't wanna skip Carmi Family Restaurant." And you know it is when grits come standard with nearly every meal!

 Husband and I chose to order the "Kings Breakfast" and the "Queen's Breakfast" respectively. (How cute, right?) But rather than grits to go with his pancakes & eggs, husband substituted plain ol' toast. But I went ahead and requested cheese be added to my grits to accompany my fluffy waffle and eggs.

Now, as tasty as all that food was, it really didn't give us the true chef's experience we might have had. It was only after we ordered, that a fellow diner approached our table (demonstrating the typical friendliness often exhibited by Pittsburghers) and told us how absolutely amazing the "Shrimp & Grits" as well as the "Chicken & Waffles" apparently are. And later the hostess came by and encouraged us to come back again and try these two signature breakfast dishes. Shrimp for breakfast??? Nothing I've done before, but maybe some day. They sure made it sound good! So even though I wasn't brave enough to order it on my own, I can truly say that it comes highly recommended.

So all in all, the food was really good, and the lunch/dinner menus look to be even better. And the staff couldn't be any friendlier and attentive. I'm not sure what happened to the old Shamrock Inn, but I'm so glad the new owners found a great location to serve some true Southern Cooking. Definitely can't wait to go back to experience more!

Café Vita - Oakmont

Thanks to the clever marketing powers of Groupon, we began this blustery Saturday morning with a 20 minute drive from Pittsburgh along the Allegheny river to the quaint borough of Oakmont. There we found our Saturday Breakfast destination of Café Vita, right in the heart of an adorable business district. One of several little shops along Allegheny River Blvd, Café Vita is as cute as can be, and even on a Saturday morning had a very romantic atmosphere.

The Groupon we purchased is strictly for dinner, so our breakfast escapade was really just an added bonus, since we're always looking for someplace different on the weekends. There was only one other table filled while we were there at 10am, so we were able to enjoy excellent service in an intimate setting, with classical music playing in the background and a mural of a little street corner in Venice. Very nice.

The menu is definitely a welcome change from the normal diner fare we so often experience. I chose the Apple and Brie omelette served with Breadworks Tuscan toast, and husband picked the frittata which was sauteed with veggies, mozzarella & pesto. And a pancake on the side.

For my part, the food was not as amazing as I expected it to be. It wasn't presented particularly beautifully, and lacked a bit of flavor (with the exception of the Breadworks bread which was absolutely fantabulous). Maybe different menu items would have made me think differently(?) But the overall atmosphere of the restaurant completely made up for any culinary shortcomings.

Their website bills it as "Oakmont's Rustic Italian Cafe" and I would definitely agree it has just that feel about it. Overall, I am really looking forward to coming back to Café Vita for our Groupon dinner - maybe even for husband's birthday next month!

Tom's Diner

Ahhh - Saturday Breakfast in Pittsburgh = yum, yum, yum! Today we headed to Tom's Diner in Dormont. Third time we've been in Dormont for Saturday breakfast this year, and curiously enough, also the 3rd of Tom's Diner's we've visited in Pittsburgh. (Penny's Diner on South Side and OPA! in Castle Shannon are also part of the crew.) So while the menus aren't *exactly* the same, let's just say there's a fair amount of déjà vu going on. 

This is definitely my favorite of the three - it has totally captured the whole 50's Diner thing, right down to the shiny chrome tables and sparkled plastic booths. Feels like "the" place to go after school to see and be seen, with the girls in poodle skirts and the guys in leather jackets.

I love the changing seasons in Pittsburgh, and the best part of this time of year is the fall harvest. And you know what that brings to breakfast menus across the country . . . PUMPKIN PANCAKES!!!!  Happily, Tom had them as a melt-in-your-mouth special today, so that was my pick, along with a side of bacon. And husband found yumminess in the form of Greek breakfast burrito - eggs, gyro meat, tomatoes, feta, rolled in a tortilla with a side of gyro sauce.

 

Tom's Diner is definitely a Pittsburgh classic, and has the ambiance to boot. So all in all a safe bet for Saturday breakfast in Pittsburgh.

Mrs. V's Grill

A busy morning ended with a ridiculously late (noon!) breakfast in Pittsburgh this rainy Saturday morning. On the list for today was Mrs. V's Grill on Brownsville Road. It's a place we drive past often but have never stopped.  It is a little store front in a tiny shopping strip of Brentwood, across the street from the borough building and next door to a Himalayan grocery store, and a guitar shop (more on that later).

Since it was officially the lunch hour, we expected to fight off the lunch crowd for some breakfast, but instead arrived to an empty restaurant. And not empty because they were closed, but a little sign was on the door "back in 5 min, went to bank". Never in our 11 years in the city have I seen anything so small-town. Very cute. And when I say empty, I mean nobody was even in the kitchen!

Since it was so late, we weren't about to give up to find another place to eat, so we grabbed our own menus and waited (just a few minutes) for someone to return. And if I didn't know any better, I would have thought it was Mrs. V herself who came rushing back full of apologies for the wait. A super sweet little old lady who could put on a red & white outfit at Christmas to pass as Mrs. Claus. It was a good thing we were the only ones there, as the poor thing was both waitress and head chef!

The breakfast menu at Mrs. V's Grill is definitely homemade but not very "inspired", and the prices are shockingly low. I picked the #1 with over easy, sausage & Italian, and husband chose a Swiss & ham omelet with a short stack on the side. It was a little awkward ordering from our little friend, knowing she had to run back and cook everything herself. A few more people came in after us, making her day a little busier.

After breakfast, we couldn't resist taking a peek inside the Himalayan grocery store next door. It is a super small place with a bunch of unique fresh produce and all kinds of other bizarre non-food items. According to an interesting review I found, it caters to the "sizable population of Nepalis" in the Pittsburgh area. Who knew?? It was a place I would have expected to see in the Strip District, and was definitely a culture shock.  And before heading back to the car, we also stopped by South Hills Music which is an even smaller store front guitar shop. And husband is now signed up for his first guitar lesson! Who knew??

Johnny's Diner

Formerly known as Pip's Diner, Johnny's Diner in the West End neighborhood of Pittsburgh is where we headed for Saturday breakfast today. We drive by often when taking the back way home from Robinson, when avoiding tunnel traffic on the Parkway West. But enough about that - let's talk about BREAKFAST!

I'm pretty sure we saw this place featured on TV several years ago as part of a documentary on American diners. It is a very unique building - it seems to have been built from an old-time Street Car! With the counter down the middle where the center aisle once was, the rounded roof, and the big grill up against one side and stools on the other. It's really pretty cool. All of this is lost on the outside, however, as it has been built on to include a back room and additional booth seating areas. These "new" booths were already occupied, so rather than waiting, we decided to sit right at the counter, allowing us the full diner experience.

The menu here is exactly what you would expect from a small diner - most everything fried up right on the same grill. Where we sat we had full and complete view of our entire meal, step-by-step as it was being prepared. Since the kitchen area is so small, our waitress was also one of the 2 cooks. So our breakfast was brought to us piece-meal...Each item was served as it finished cooking.  (I guess that's one way to ensure nothing gets cold!)

When I saw "cream of wheat" on the menu, I couldn't resist (hey, at least it wasn't grits.) It was the first thing done, followed by husband's 2 small pancakes (on the side). After that was finished, husband's main course of cheese omelet with ham, potatoes & Italian toast was served up. Finally, after having been forgotten and made a little extra-crispy, my lone waffle was brought over.

Being so close to the action, I could feel the Stress of a busy breakfast rush on the two cooks, especially our waitress. There were several "to-go" order they were filling, along with all the regular diners - almost more than the poor little grill could handle. So all in all, it was an interesting way to have breakfast served in a neat little building. It really did feel like we were right there in the kitchen, but at the same time you could really feel the essence of this old street car.

J'eet

Okay, you have to speak a little Pittsburghese to "get" the name of this place. Here's a brief lesson for non-natives: "J'eet jet? Nah, j'ew?" Translation: Did you eat yet? No, did you? (True story.) Recommended by another co-worker, J'eet is a trendy little place just across the street from the new Children's hospital in Pittsburgh. They offer brunch on weekends starting at 10 - perfect timing for Saturday breakfast in Pittsburgh!

J'eet has done a spectacular job of renovating an old city building, while still keeping tons of charm. I love the old fire escape, and the inside has exposed brick & high ceilings, but fresh paint and artsy decor make it very modern chic.

The back leads through the deli-style kitchen to some cozy patio seating. But we stayed indoors and enjoyed the ambiance. The brunch menu varies from week to week and offers both prix fixe and a la carte. We chose the latter since we wanted to stick to breakfast. One of their specialties seems to be crepes, so husband chose a tasty breakfasty one with ham and eggs with a side of pepper cracked hash browns. I had just been talking about Nutella, so was unable to resist the Nutella banana stuffed French toast with candied almonds. Okay, definitely qualifies as "dessert for breakfast", but super delicious!

Everything was beautifully presented and overall was a fabulous pick for breakfast this Saturday. According to their facebook page, J'eet is under new management. Being our first visit, we had nothing to compare, but would love to come back to sample some of their lunch/dinner offerings.

OPA

An absolutely beautiful Saturday morning in Pittsburgh! So we were anxious to try something new, and what better than a Greek restaurant to add a little European flavor to our typical breakfast in Pittsburgh. OPA! is located in the Castle Shannon neighborhood of Pittsburgh. It had come recommended by a coworker, and we were specially instructed to look for the cinnamon toast!

Armed with such high praise, and with dreams of the Greek Isles, maybe my expectations were a little misplaced. I was a little surprised when we pulled up to see a sign saying that OPA! is associated with Tom's Diner. We've experienced Tom's style before, and it is all American! And indeed, the breakfast menu is nearly identical. (But don't forget that famous Cinnamon Toast...)

The decor is pretty cute, with a great big photo mural of a Greek town painted on the wall, and plenty of other decorations that attempted to transform the little cafe into something like a postcard. The place wasn't very busy, just a few other tables with some local folks meeting friends for Saturday breakfast.

Surprisingly, the "Gyro Omelet" on the menu is made with American cheese rather than feta. Being that there is a tomato & feta omelet available, husband did the natural thing and requested the the latter with gyro meat. A much more authentic combination. As well he ordered a pancake on the side and a piece of famous Cinnamon Toast. As for me, I picked the cinnamon French toast, which came with a side of bacon, sausage & potatoes.

The famous Cinnamon Toast was not really what I expected. It was a giant piece of cinnamon swirled bread, drizzled with a cinnamon sauce. And for my part, it was just okay. Lots of food, and even some to take home!

Sign on the Exit door

I think that the overall ambiance does a good job of trying to be different, but the menu just doesn't quite match. I guess when it says "Greek/American Cuisine" it could be subtitled "Heavy on the American".