Allison's Country Cafe'

By the Midtown Muncher

3429 Telegraph Road

Allison’s is a very popular place. When my companion and I arrived around 9 AM on Sunday morning, there were quite a few folks sitting and standing out front and inside on the benches in the alcove waiting area. The joint was jumping.

We put our names in and said we’d take the counter if it became available first. Allison’s offers coffee to those who wait so if you need that boost right away, you’re in luck. They provide you with a cup and it’s self-serve from the carafe at the counter. They grind their own beans just before they brew their coffee. A nice extra, I think. They get the beans from Santa Barbara Roasting, both regular and decaffeinated.

We didn’t have to wait that long. They move people through at a good pace even though they told most everyone it was a 20-30 minute wait. And no one appears to be rushed. It somehow didn’t seem that long. We got our first look at the menu and it offers many choices for the breakfast loving crowd.

Allison’s has many of the standards plus many omelet choices but what surprised us were the pancake choices. They offer pumpkin nut, banana nut, blueberry, whole wheat, granola, and to my companion’s utter delight, buckwheat pancakes, an unusual restaurant offering.

I checked out the weekend specials, which included Eggs Benedict, a Spinach Omelet with bacon, tomato and jack cheese and a chile verde omelet. A plus for espresso/latte lovers, they also offer espressos, lattes and mocha coffees in both regular and decaf varieties. Allison’s also has several sausage choices: meatless, pork, Louisiana Hot links, turkey, chicken cilantro and apple chicken.

Beverages include hot apple cider, hot chocolate and freshly squeezed orange juice. There are fresh strawberry topped hot cakes, French toast, Belgian waffles, real oatmeal, egg and pancake combos and much more. They have homemade raspberry jam for their homemade biscuits. So much to choose from and everyone who was eating looked content.

I, of course, had to try the chile verde omelet made with pork tri-tip, fresh chilis and jack cheese. Breakfast choices can be ordered with potatoes or fresh fruit. My companion added two eggs over easy and coffee to his buckwheat pancakes order. I ordered the fruit which consisted of strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, bananas and pineapple and settled on the biscuits with a decaf double latte. The service was friendly, fast paced, and efficient. Our food arrived in good time and the food was excellent.

The chile verde omelet was one of the best omelets I’ve had in some time. It’s now become my favorite omelet.

Allison’s gives you two huge biscuits where one would be very sufficient. The biscuits are very good and the raspberry jam is deliciously full of flavor. They are right to be proud of their jam! I stole a bite of the buckwheat pancakes, which I also found to be quite good.

The end result was a very pleasant breakfast experience for both of us. The total charge was $17.00. A price we found quite reasonable for very good food and a very nice morning. Allison’s, located at 3429 Telegraph Road, is open from 7AM to 2PM daily. Now the only problem is the realization that Allison’s has set a very high standard indeed.

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