Angel's Family Restaurant and Deli - 190 Weber St N, Waterloo

3.5	100%	4.5	4	N/A

Angel's is part of a small Ontario chain; this particular restaurant replaced the Golden Griddle a couple of years back. It is situated adjacent to the Holiday Inn, across the street from Benny's - Angel's tends to be the place where people go if there is a long wait at Benny's. This was the case for a number of diners on Saturday, December 6th. We were seated in a booth, right away, and our coffee came quickly.

Angel's is furnished with mostly high booths, and that fact, along with the carpet and abundance of upholstery, make it a quiet, relatively private place to eat and talk.There are stone-tiled accent walls, and a fireplace featured in a column in the centre of the restaurant.

The breakfast menu has a reasonable variety of options - benedicts, "eggs under the blanket" (covered in cheese and meat), lots of different kinds of omelette, waffles, "light" options, "sautés" (skillets), wraps, and sandwiches.

I ordered the eggs and french toast combo (7.79), subbing tomato for bacon and sausage; my eggs were more over medium than the over easy I ordered, and the rye toast was weirdly bland (if sliced generously), the french toast was fluffy and a little crisp - the best thing on the plate, and the potatoes were not bad - cubed and fried, but not as crispy as the standard-from-frozen.

Dave and I both agreed the coffee was terrible - the kind that leaves a bad taste in your mouth after.

Dave ordered the ham and cheese omelette (8.29 and $1 for onions) which was good and filled with things; he thought the rye toast tasted "off" as well.

Our server visited twice to refill our coffee, and brought our very-full plates of food very quickly, so we had no complaints on the service front.

Angel's is not the worst breakfast option in Waterloo, but frankly, in comparison: Benny's is worth the wait.

SCORECARD:

Atmosphere Price Variety Taste Flexibility Service 4 4 4 2.5 4 4 Cleanliness Special Flavour Courtesy 4 5.99 3 4 Ambience Coffee Cook Speed 4 1.99 3.5 4 Pancakes Coffee 6.99 1.5 Omelette Potatoes 5.99 (plain) 3.5 RATING: 3.75

Kava Bean Commons - 24 Gaukel St, Kitchener

4.5	97%	4	3.5	3.5

My mom was in town visiting on November 22nd, so we decided to meet for breakfast in downtown Kitchener; we arrived at the Kava Bean Commons just as they were opening on Saturday morning.

I really like the atmosphere of Kava Bean - exposed brick walls covered in art, high ceilings, large windows, and soft light. It is a nice place to grab a coffee and hang out; they have free WiFi as well as delicious coffee in multiple blends and flavours.

It's also very conveniently located by the Charles Street bus terminal; when I was spending time on Greyhounds, I would split my time between Cafe Pyrus and this little cafe.

Our early arrival meant Kava Bean didn’t have their full selection of muffins or bagels done - my mom had to try ordering several options before she found one they had available. Further, their fruit cocktail is just a pre-packaged cup from a fridge, and their breakfast selection is pretty limited (the picture posted is the entire menu) - but I do have to give them leeway score-wise and selection-wise because they are a cafe rather than a diner or full-fledged restaurant. That they serve a hot breakfast at all is a bonus!

My mom ended up ordering an everything bagel with butter, which was nothing special, but definitely better than the bagels they serve at, say, Tim Horton’s.

I ordered the omelette sans ham; it had lots of “stuff” in it, and was cooked fine, but the toast was terrible (just store-bought wheat bread), and the hash browns were standard-from-frozen-and-fried.

I get the feeling hot breakfast at Kava Bean is an afterthought, which is fair, since the coffee more than takes the main stage.

SCORECARD

Atmosphere	Price	Variety	Taste	Flexibility	Service
4.5	3.5	3	3.75	3	4
Cleanliness	Special		Flavour		Courtesy
4	6.49		3.5		4
Ambience	Coffee		Cook		Speed
5	1.99		4		4
	Pancakes		Coffee
	N/A		5
	Omelette		Potatoes
	8.99 (with peppers, onion, mushroom, cheese, ham)		3

TOTAL SCORE: 3.5

Jack's Family Restaurant - 20 Benjamin Rd, Waterloo

3	89%	4.5	4	3

Jack’s Family Restaurant is a family-style restaurant right around the corner from the St. Jacob’s Farmers’ Market. Dimly lit, with windows on only 2 walls, Jack’s is clean and neat, and decorated in a pleasant (if a little odd) mix of modern (light fixtures, carpet) and country (beadboard paneling, upholstery) styling. It provides large and small grouped seating from a low “bar” situation for those who choose to breakfast alone, to expansive 3-sided booths for large groups.

Jack’s has fantastic variety in its breakfast offerings - tonnes of options from scrambles to skillets to burritos and “flats” (breakfast pizzas made on flatbread), crepes, benedicts, and smoothies - along with all the standards.

It was fairly busy on November 21st, when Dave and I went for a pre-work breakfast at 8:30, but we were seated right away, and had our drink orders taken and brought quickly. The coffee we both awarded a solid “meh.”

Dave ordered the meat lover’s skillet ($10.29 + $0.50 rye) - a large serving of breakfast hash and meats with lots of cheese that he said tasted great, but the eggs were more over-medium than over-easy, and Dave thought his rye toast tasted off.

I ordered the breakfast special ($4.29 + $0.50 for rye), with my eggs over-easy (they, too, were more over-medium) and tomatoes substituted for meat. My breakfast potatoes were flavourful and well-cooked in a hash-style that I’ve found unusual in my breakfast wanderings; they had a nice texture with lots of crunchy bits, and stood up My toast tasted a little weird, too - not sure if it was going off, or if it was just a very tangy rye. I also ordered a very berry smoothie ($4.99) which was huge, stuffed with fruit, and topped with whipped cream and an enormous fresh strawberry.

Overall, Jack’s does breakfast well - extensive selection, good service, and reasonable prices.

 SCORECARD

Atmosphere	Price	Variety	Taste	Flexibility	Service
4.25	4	5	3.75	4	4
Cleanliness	Special		Flavour		Courtesy
4.5	$4.59		4		4
Ambience	Coffee		Cook		Speed
4	$2.09		3		4
	Pancakes		Coffee
	$5.69		3
	Omelette		Potatoes
	$7.29 plain, +$1.29/item		4.5

TOTAL SCORE: 4.25