Breakfast: Not So Fresh From the Farm

A group of us headed down to Rehobeth beach Delaware this past weekend, and we ended up with only 4 hours of sleep in sweltering 100 degree weather at the beach house that night. Delirious, tired, hot and hungry, we settled for  Bob Evans for fuel before braving the hot beach sun the next morning. Mind you... I have never been to a Bob Evans ever before, I had know idea what to except, but I was in the company of good friends, so it can't be that bad... right?

Justin and Garrett were ahead of everyone... they must have been very hungry...

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

My friend Lauren ordered this, it was made with yogurt, banana's, and strawberries. A tad too sweet for my liking, but the balance of strawberry and banana was perfect. The consistency was thick enough to get a good workout from sucking through the straw.

Price: $2.75

Blue Ribbon Apple Pie Fries

They sounded so interesting, I just had to try them! The batter was ridiculously thick and flavorless. The inside revealed chopped apple pie filling that was intensely sweet. Add the caramel dipping sauce, and I'm surprised my dentist didn't jump out and give me a good back hand. Overall...expect tooth cavities. And WTF was up with the lettuce leaf? Please don't try to make deep fried pie bits healthy. Just dont. Plus it made the batter taste like a wet towel.

Price: $3.99

Blueberry Crepes

Buddy ordered this one. 2 crepes filled with cream cheese and topped with blueberry pie filling and a healthy dollop of whipped cream. The crepes were too greasy, and the left over blueberry jizz on the plate looked unappetizing. But that didn't stop me from trying a bite! The filling helped balance out the sweetness of the blueberry topping. The crepe had a nice elasticity to it that made it fun to eat. I could have done without the topping all together and been content.

Price: $6.75

Bacon and Cheese Omelette

My friend Lauren ordered this as well, and holy shit there was about half a pigs worth of bacon in this. I couldn't resist a bite. Full fledged cheese and bacon flavor. If this omelette even touched a kosher restaurant, I'm sure it would go up in flames. The home fries were very greasy and tasteless, all the flavor seemed to go to the eggs as they were over salted.

Price: $7.75

Biscuits

Didn't have any for fear of eating the whole basket

Farm Fresh Egg Combo Plates

About half the table ordered these, choice of meat, eggs cooked to your liking and hash browns.

Price: $6.99

Veggie Omelette

Since we were going on the beach, I didn't want to get anything too heavy so Sam and I went with a "healthy" option. I was puzzled to see that the tomatoes and onions were raw on top of my omelette since the spinach and peppers were cooked inside. Did they forget and think "screw it, she can eat raw onions'? Oh well, good thing I like onions. The fruit was perfectly ripe which I enjoyed very much.

Price: $7.75

(From left) Buddy, Me, Garrett, Jenn, Lauren, Anthony, Sam, and Justin ready to get some fun in the sun!

Verdict: Chains are usually popular for a reason. Bob Evans is around because they serve it to you diner style with healthy options. Would I pee my pants of excitement if I knew I was going to go there again? Probably not. But for someone on a budget looking for a solid breakfast, I say it's pretty okay but a bit too greasy and sugary for my liking. But being with great friends made up for it :)

Bob Evans

Look it up Yourself Lazy People

www.bobevans.com

Breakfast: Cake for Breakfast...The Bagel Store is a Mad Scientist!

After my depressing encounter with Vic's Bagel Bar the other day, I decided to treat my taste buds with ol' faithful- The Bagel Store. I never know what I am going to get in here since they are constantly rotating new and wacky flavors. As I walked in, I saw something was different...is that a red bagel??  Holy Mother of all things doughy and delicious, it was a RED VELVET BAGEL. I rubbed my eyed to make sure I wasn't delusional. Yep. Red velvet bagel...

As I approached the counter the nice guy behind it smiled 

Me: Oh My God... a red velvet bagel?

Nice Guy (laughing) : Yep!

Me: I'll take it!!

Nice Guy:  Sure, what do you want in it? We have red velvet cream cheese too

Me ( almost fainting from what he just said): WHAT? Wow... I guess that would be too much red velvet for me.. how about just plain cream cheese?

Nice Guy: Sure! Sliced and toasted?

Me: Nah, just sliced, cream cheese on the side

I wanted to toast it at work. I am they type of weirdo that waits til I get to the office to eat my breakfast because I think eating on the subway is gross. Yet if they toast it right away, I am also the weirdo that thinks it wont be at it's "yummiest" potential if I do wait an extra 30 minutes to eat it. So my solution? Toast it at work, so that it will still be piping hot and crunchy.

Red Velvet Bagel with Cream Cheese

After it was out of the toaster, it was soft and actually cakey- bordering on falling apart. There was not much crunchy shell that a normal bagel would have coming out. I slathered on the cream cheese and took a bite. The perfect balance of bagel/ red velvet cake ratio, the denseness of a bagel with the soft bouncy recovery of a cake. I took another bite. The taste was most definitely red velvet, milky cocoa flavor, almost bitter but in a good way. I took a third bite. The cream cheese added just the right smooth creaminess, but I wished it had been blended with a little powered sugar. Not sweet enough.

Price: $1.80

Verdict:  Would I get this again? Maybe. Or perhaps I will try the red velvet flavored cream cheese paired with the featured coconut bagel instead...

The Bagel Store

247 Bedford Ave

Williamsburg NY 11211

www.thebagelstoreonline.com

Breakfast: Vic's Bagel Bar, the Overpriced Pinkberry of Bagels

Thanks to Groupon.com, I got a certificate for 8 dollars worth of food and drink at Vic's Bagel Bar for free! (I guess I purchase a little too often from that website). Having always been intrigued by the thought of this Pinkberry-esque bagel place, I decided to give it a shot.

First off... this is out of the way from my work, so I had to wake up earlier to pick up breakfast before i headed to my job. My thought? This better be worth it!

An array of bagels...I always tend to pick the basket with the least amount in it...because that means they are the most popular, so my educated guess is that they are also the best, right?

They were not very busy, but seemed to rush me.... look at all these mix in choices, they had to give me a little chance to think about it! They had everything from berries to basil. 

Poppy Seed Bagel with Veggies

I got regular cream cheese mixed with lox, scallions, red onions, and roasted pepper. I probably would have made a more cohesive mixture if not for the guy behind the counter trying to push me out the door....Anyway moving on to the actual bagel.

It was nothing special, anything you could have gotten from a deli but for double the price. Literally, the definition of a standard bagel. Worth getting up 20 minutes earlier for? Hell no.

Price: $6.80

Mini Bagel Rolls 

Since it didn't add up to 8 dollars yet, I decided to add 3 mini bagel rolls. I ordered 2 cinnamon raisin and 1 everything. Dense and chewy, but special in anyway? Again...no.

Price: $1.00

Verdict: Sure this place lets you make your own cream cheese mixin's and they have interesting bagel sandwich combinations, but how much are you willing to pay for breakfast? If you add orange juice or a coffee to your order, it ends up being over $10.00! With less than spectacular bagels and workers with a bad attitude, I'm surprised this place is even still in business.

Vic's Bagel Bar

544 3rd Avenue

New York, NY 10016

www.vicbagelbar.com

Breakfast: Maybe the Best Things in Life Aren't Free

To be completely honest, one of the only reasons I am ever early or on time for work everyday is because I CANT WAIT to dig in to my breakfast. The time from when I wake up to when I get to my desk with my giant bowl of cereal is absolute torture. So imagine my glee as I am walking to work from the subway when I hear voices yelling "FREE WAFFLES!!!"

Turns out Guy Feiri was shooting an episode special. But forget him... I wanted all those fresh fruits he had in front of the camera! I also wanted to rip those stupid backwards sunglasses off his head, but thats besides the point.

Ladies hard at work making waffles for us hungry Midtown workers!

Waffle

Okay first off...WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??? How am I supposed to get through the morning with a QUARTER of a WAFFLE?! Is the whole world on some insane diet that I don't no about??? This waffle wouldn't even be enough to wipe my ass with! Yes I know it is free, and beggars cant be choosers, but come on Food Network....this is an embarrassment to your name (not that Guy Fieri is enough of an embarrassment enough for you).  Needless to say, the waffle was awful. Soggy and tasteless, I ended up throwing it away and having my normal Kashi Go Lean and soy milk for breakfast. (Hey I need to stay regular, if you know what I mean).

Breakfast: The Bagel Store

Ahh....breakfast, the most important meal of the day. Why not start it off with a carbo-load of delicious bagels and fatty cream cheese?! This place is on the way to the L train in Williamsburg and a very popular place to get bagels. My belly was ready!

Outside, super hipster art mural

Hipsters waiting in line for their bagels. It got SO crowded in here and the lines were very chaotic ( it was also a Saturday).

Sesame Bagel with Vegetable Cream Cheese

I asked for it toasted and it barely came out with a light tan. However, it was extremely fluffy, doughy and super chewy. All the aspects I look for in a bagel. It could have used another sprinkling of sesame seeds to completely cover the top however. The cream cheese was the winner, with actual chunks of veggies  in each bite. None of that pulverized stuff, they gave a generous spreading of this on the bagel.

Price: 2.75

Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter Bagel with Banana Cream Pie Cream Cheese

While in line I had to get a "dessert" bagel. The problem was that along with their 15 different flavors of cream cheese, they also have limited edition flavors . I ended up changing my mind 3 times before picking the banana cream pie (I could tell the guy taking my order was getting annoyed).

The bagel was a lot more dense and tough than the sesame. Swirls of cinnamon and raisins were in each bite I took, but I really couldn't taste the peanut butter. Perhaps it was because the cream cheese flavor was so strong, and not in a good way. I was expecting chunks of real banana mixed with sweetened cream cheese, but what I actually got was a HORRIBLE fake banana flavor (reminiscent of a banana laffy taffy) and way too much yellow dye. Definitely not getting this cream cheese again.

Price: $2.75

Verdict: I really love getting my bagels here, especially because they have very interesting flavors (apple pie flavored cream cheese is on my list) AND, right now they have a bacon, egg, and cheese flavored BAGEL, yes.. literally an all in one breakfast.

The Bagel Store

754 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211-3750

www.thebagelstoreonline.com