Archive for the ‘pancakes’ Tag
When the hostess at the Silver Creek Diner in Lone Tree told us that once we were seated we’d still have at least another 25-minute wait for our food, I laughed and asked if she wanted us to leave. She laughed, too, and assured me that wasn’t her intent. We’d already been waiting 10 minutes for a table. We decided to hope for the best. Wrong call.
Given that we had waited so long from the time we walked in the door to when the food arrived, it’s hard to know if we were simply so famished that anything would have tasted good. It wasn’t that Silver Creek was particularly busy, but the way orders were coming out of the kitchen it seemed as if all the cooking was done by one person with his/her hand tied behind his/her back.
Breakfast is standard; lots of egg possibilities and pancakes. The latter aren’t the “ridiculously large ones that some places serve” we were told. The Blueberry Pancake Plate featured two eggs, hash browns, choice of breakfast meats (bacon, sausage or ham) and two cakes full of fresh blueberries. It was a lot of food.
The Hash Brown Mix blended crispy and creamy shredded potatoes with diced red and green peppers, onions, eggs and choice of bacon or sausage. Two size options are available, and even the smaller of the two is a substantial amount of food.
In truth, it all tasted fine, but I can’t say the time spent waiting for it was justified.
Silver Creek Diner
Three Plates
7824 Park Meadows Dr.
Lone Tree, Colo
As I stood in line reading the menu boards, I couldn’t help asking myself why I’d never visited Smiley’s Bakery and Café before. While enjoying my breakfast, that question re-surfaced. In the past few weeks several friends have mentioned Smiley’s; up ’til then it wasn’t on my radar. I understand why some may have been keeping it a secret but am grateful I know about it now.
Although the menu features traditional breakfast fare such pancakes, eggs, French toast, and freshly-baked goods, it doesn’t stop there. Specials include Shrimp and Sausage Grits, Buttermilk Biscuits with Gravy, and Crawfish and Andoulle Sausage Etoufee. Even the standard items get special attention. Consider Spinach Walnut Pesto with Scrambled Eggs or the Cajun Crabcake Omelette, which evoked effusive – and loud – praise from the man at the next table.
Several items caught my eye, but I couldn’t resist the Sweet Potato Pancakes. I ordered a single because most plate-size cakes are more than I can eat in one sitting. Smiley’s pancake was certainly filling, and I would have been sorely tempted to eat more thanks to the flavor depth of the sweet potato with its whisper of nutmeg. A side of bacon created the right balance of sweet with savory. The homefries on my husband’s plate were inconsistently cooked: some crunchy with no soft middle and some perfectly executed. His was otherwise satisfied with his meal of eggs and sausage.
While I have no excuse for the past, I plan on returning to Smiley’s to make up for missed meals.
Smiley’s Bakery and Café
Four+ Plates
323 N. Tejon St.
Colorado Springs, CO
A friend, who is only slightly younger than me, remembered going to Bon Ton’s Café when she was a child with her grandmother. Although it wasn’t my recollection, I smiled at the idea of a restaurant and its food evoking a fond memory. Bon Ton’s, on the corner of Colorado Avenue and 26th Street in Old Colorado City, has been serving food for years (and years), and plating up some memories in the process.
Bon Ton’s is like a favorite sweater. It’s comfortable, dependable and, if frayed around the edges, familiar. Of course, it helps that the food is consistent. It’s only open for breakfast and lunch, so the menu, printed like a newspaper, features all the offerings. For breakfast, standard egg dishes, pancakes, French toast and several Southwestern items, identified by the presence of green chile, are available. Traditional lunch fare includes burgers and sandwiches.
I’ve enjoyed the Vegetable Scrambler in the past as much for the fresh vegies cooked with scrambled eggs as for the crunchy hash browns also on the plate. I was tempted by the thought of the hash browns — a yin and yang of crispy and creamy shredded potatoes, — but I really wanted a pancake. My friend offered to give me her spuds because she said she wouldn’t be able to eat everything she ordered. She was in the holiday spirit.
My plate-size, golden pancake with maple syrup was exactly what I wanted, as were the hash browns. They’re the stuff of memories.
Bon Ton’s Café
Four Plates
2601 W. Colorado Ave.
Colorado Springs
The Blue Page Special 