Monday, November 14, 2011

Local/Restaurant Review: Pete’s Grill

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day. I couldn’t tell you why. Maybe it has to do with the simplicity of breakfast foods, my love of eggs, or that it’s the first food you shove in your mouth in the morning making your taste buds thrilled and happy after a long night of disuse. I don’t know what it is, but breakfast makes for a happy Rachel.



One of my favorite things to do on the weekend, after perusing the Waverly Farmer’s Market, is to eat at Pete’s Grill. Pete’s is a breakfast diner (although they do serve some lunch items as well, including burgers that get rave reviews) located on the corner of 32nd Street and Greenmount Avenue in Baltimore City. They serve a good, cheap, filling breakfast, plain and simple. And I can tell you, I always leave happy and stuffed! The building where Pete’s is housed was initially built as a bank in the 1920s. Pete’s has been there for 30 years (and was another restaurant prior to that). It’s a very popular joint, with an old-fashioned diner feel. Everyone from the mayor to Johns Hopkins students to Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps (who lives in Baltimore) eat at Pete’s. The atmosphere is busy and lively (great for people watching). They only have around 25 seats or so at their long counter, so expect a wait, which will range between just a few minutes to half an hour. Your food comes fast after you order. The workers move at lightening speeds and it is probably the most efficiently run restaurant I’ve ever been to. But be forewarned- they close early at around 1pm and they only take cash.


What we eat: hash browns, egg and cheese on an English muffin, a short stack of chocolate chip hotcakes (i.e. two pancakes), French fries, and an omelet.


Pete’s has fantastic hash browns. They are fried to perfection with onions and fresh cracked pepper, giving them a slight spiciness, but not overwhelmingly so. The eggs are light and fluffy and the French fries are made from fresh cut potatoes. The chocolate chip hotcakes are utterly perfect and extremely filling. They are filled with semi-sweet chocolate chips and sprinkled with powdered sugar. When you drizzle them with syrup, you are in sugary pancake heaven. I can never resist their hotcakes!



Other, equally wonderful, foods I’ve had at Pete’ include blueberry hotcakes and the Belgian waffles (with a ton of blueberries, mind you).

For vegetarians who care if their eggs are being cooked, directly, next to sausage and Scrapple, this might not be the diner for you. Most heated foods are all cooked on the same surface.

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