brunch

Stack Em High

Posted on by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

Every visit we’ve had to the Outer Banks together, every time we drive by Stack Em High, or where the Husband believes it is, he thinks it has closed – until we pass the actual location and he’s relieved (I’m not sure why he can’t ever remember where it’s located).  After he commented again after our drive into town on Saturday, and having never been there myself, I told him we should go there on Sunday morning for breakfast/brunch.  He happily obliged and we were able to convince our friend Jeff to tag along as well.

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As you walk in, the following sign greets you to explain the restaurant’s style.

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While it appears to be cafeteria style, you can pick up a handful of things at the bar and they bring you all of your hot food to the table.

I was first fixated on the chalkboard options at the entrance… that was until I saw the options farther down on the menu.

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The Husband and I made our selections and paid and then found our friend Jeff who had already received his food.  The place was pretty deserted by the time we sat down as it was close to closing time plus it’s the off season.  From what the Husband says, though, this place is usually pretty busy and once I received my food, and experienced some of the customer service, I could see why!

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While we waited for our hot choices, I snacked on some strawberries.  (I enjoyed them more later with some of the chocolate on one of my dishes.)

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The Husband pointed out the hand-painted quotes all over the ceiling.

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And I enjoyed the other bright colors and art throughout the restaurant.

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For breakfast, I ordered the French Toast with Chocolate Monkey topping (chocolate chips and bananas).  The dish was huge and I look forward to some leftovers for breakfast tomorrow!

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For the table I ordered Smothered Hashbrowns.  They were good, but even better when the Husband put one of his over-easy fried eggs on top.  Egg yolk goes very well with fried, cheesy, bacon potatoes.

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As I mentioned, the Husband ordered some eggs over easy as well as the Monster Biscuit Sandwich with Sausage.  He chose grits as his side since we already had smothered hashbrowns coming.

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Our friend Jeff ordered the Sausage Gravy & Biscuits which the Husband had a taste of.

Overall, the food was flavorful and filling.  The service was top-notch (they came around and routinely refilled the coffees and fountain drinks) and they were all just incredibly friendly.  I was impressed with the experience and I see why the Husband gets excited to see it every time we visit.

(Looks like we went to the Kill Devil Hills location and that they also have one in Kitty Hawk!)
Stack 'em High Pancakes on Urbanspoon

Founding Farmers

Posted on by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

After my quick trip to Charlotte in July, I headed north to my original home of DC to celebrate my best friend’s 30th birthday.  Four of us (who are all turning 30 in the next few months) had grand plans for a girls’ night out.  I had a hotel booked in Dupont Circle and they were all going to meet me on Saturday evening for dinner, drinks, a show, and then a girls night outing.  I was lucky enough, however, to have my best friend join me after I arrived Friday night.  When we woke up Saturday morning, we decided to go for a walk in the city – first for some brunch and then on to some shopping.  We didn’t have a plan in mind and simply headed south to see what we might find.  When we found ourselves in front of Founding Farmers, I was excited to give it a try!

Since DC is home and I clearly love food, I read a number of DC area food blogs.  Some time in the past few months, I learned of Founding Farmers from one of those many blogs and I was interested in going there one day in the future.  The focus of Founding Farmers is on fresh, locally grown foods, which I believe often taste better.  Founding Farmers is a very busy spot (especially on weekend mornings) so when we arrived there was quite a bit of a wait.

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We learned, however, that the bar was seat yourself and not five minutes went by before two seats at the end of the bar opened up.  Score! We took a seat, took our names off the waiting list, and got to deciding what to eat and drink for brunch.

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While my best friend Alison went with coffee, I went with fresh squeezed lemonade Smile I love lemonade!

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My brunch option was a no brainer when I came across the crab cake benedict.  Eggs benedict is my favorite breakfast item (minus the ham… substitute in veggies or seafood and I’m sold) plus the Husband proclaims me to be a crab snob (being from Maryland a good chunk of my life, I don’t deny it).  So, when I learned I could have local crab meat on eggs benedict, I looked no further on the menu! And it was GOOD! Plus some fresh fruit on the side, it was a perfect brunch item for me.

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Alison went a tad healthier than me with the Drag Through the Garden which was pan scrambled egg whites (Alison added the yolks as well), roasted seasonal veggies, fresh spinach, and white cheddar.  On the side, she had whole wheat toast and some grits.

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Overall, we loved our food and we’re glad we didn’t have to wait a long time to be seated (thanks to being a small group and keeping a good eye on the bar!).  The service was a bit slow at times and it was sometimes difficult to flag down the bartender/waiter, but we were able to happily fill our time with catching up and talking about our plans for the night.  I think the Husband would really enjoy brunch here and plan to take him back when the first opportunity presents itself.


Founding Farmers on Urbanspoon

Flying Biscuit Red Eye Breakfast

Posted on by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

Back in July, the Husband and I had a trip to Charlotte, NC, our home before our current home.  We were originally scheduled in the evening but after a 4 hour delay, a cancelled flight, and a rebooking, we were stuck on a red eye on USAirways. Once we landed, we had only a little bit of time to kill before our plans for the day so we decided to grab some breakfast.  After heading over to the Park Road Shopping Center area, we pulled up Urbanspoon and were surprised to learn that a Flying Biscuit had opened up in the shopping center (there wasn’t one when we moved away).  Although we had had mixed reviews in our previous experiences, we were hungry and willing to give it a shot!

One of our complaints in the past for the other location was the wait – on Saturdays and Sundays, you might wait an hour or more for a table.  On this week day morning, we were able to walk right in and have a seat.  Once seated, the Husband ordered some coffee and I had some juice while we decided on what to have.

The Husband went with one of his favorite southern breakfasts – biscuits and sausage gravy and a side of grits.

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This dish was better than he remembered and he was glad that he ordered it.

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One of my favorite things about Flying Biscuit is that they serve breakfast and non-breakfast foods all day.  As such, when I found myself looking at the Sides menu, I was excited to try the grilled mac n cheese.  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect and was very impressed with what arrived.  If I were to make this at home, I imagine I would bake macaroni and cheese in a baking dish, slice it into chunks and quickly fry it up in a pan for some crispiness.  The pasta was tender yet firm, and it was gooey and cheesy.

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For my entrée, I ordered one of my favorite mixtures of breakfast and lunch/dinner foods – Pasta, Sausage and Eggs (creative name, I know).  It was penne pasta, scrambled eggs, mushrooms, spinach, chicken sausage, and cheese.  Plus fruit salad (substituted for grits) and a biscuit on the side.

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As you can imagine, this was a lot of food for breakfast so I was happy to package it up and save it for lunch later during our trip.  It was great reheated as well!

As we got ready to leave, our waitress offered the Husband a to-go cup with fresh coffee so he was over the moon.

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Overall, this was a great visit to the Park Road location of Flying Biscuit.  The food was great and our waitress was a sweetheart.  Breakfast is normally my least favorite meal of the day, but this one hit the spot!

Flying Biscuit Cafe on Urbanspoon

Brunch at The Griddle

Posted on by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

The weekend that the Husband and I went to the Grand Canyon and I took a cupcake decorating class was a big Groupon weekend for us (both events used up Groupons).  To kick off that weekend, we decided to go into work late on Friday and use our Groupon to the Callaway Golf Center for some driving range work and a 9-hole round of golf. 

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While we had a lot of fun at the Callaway Golf Center and plan to go back, this post isn’t about golf.  It’s about our brunch that followed Smile We haven’t been to too many breakfast joints here in Vegas although there are plenty of theme.  I suggested we try out The Griddle (whose name I couldn’t recall till we got there), because I often saw people enjoying breakfast outdoors on the weekends when I came out of my yoga classes close by.

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We popped in the open air restaurant and grabbed a table near the entrance.

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As we looked through the menu, a handful of things caught our eye.  I had a craving for Eggs Benedict and was happy to see it on the menu.  It cam with a side of potatoes, which I had low expectations for (I rarely like them at restaurants).  I had mediocre expectations for the overall breakfast (english muffins can often be stale or chewy), but this far exceeded my expectations! I’m not sure where they get their english muffins from but they were fabulous.  They were soft and doughy and suggested they were home made or locally made.  The potatoes were also top notch in my book.  A nice grilled crisp on the outside with soft potato on the inside, without too much filler veggies and spices.  A great brunch for me for the day!

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The Husband ordered the short stack of pancakes and also had low expectations.  When he ordered, he was concerned it wouldn’t be a lot of food but didn’t want to risk the larger order.  When the pancakes arrived, he was amazed at how big they were.  Not only were they big, they were also amazing.  They were light and airy, but still full and flavorful.  The best pancakes he or I have had in a while.

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Along with his pancakes, he added on fried eggs and sausage – also both good options.

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This was a great brunch at a great price (not at all expensive).  The service was attentive but not intrusive, and the open-air of the place was perfect at this time of year.  We were quite pleased with the whole experience.


The Griddle on Urbanspoon