Last week, I took my first vacation in over two years. I spent time in both Washington D.C. and New York City, and as you can imagine, there was much breakfast and coffee to be had. Throughout the trip, we tried both local and well-known fare and I wanted to report back on the gems that I found along the way!

1. First, let me tell you about BOB & EDITH'S DINER. The location we ventured to was in Arlington, and the line was out the door. B&E's is a 24-hour diner that serves breakfast all day - gotta love it! We sat at the counter and had the true diner experience. Meals ordered:

• Homemade Sausage Gravy on Biscuits - $8.69
• Two Eggs, Home Fries 'n' Toast - $5.69

 

I enjoyed B&E's because it was a mom and pop shop and my eggs were cooked PERFECTLY. Only negative I could find was the Dallas Cowboys decor on the walls. Go Chiefs!

2. The second place I want to touch on is BAKERS & BARISTAS in Penn Quarter. We found B&B when we were on the hunt for a coffee shop in which we could take a break from walking. It was across the street from a Starbucks, but we figured we'd try out something local. I mean, it said it right on the window.

  

 

I ended up ordering a chocolate chip cookie and an iced tea. Both were fine, but I felt like the pricing was a little crazy. I paid a pretty high price for a pretty small tea and that annoyed me. I liked the vibe and the cookie though!

3. On the day we took the tour of Ford's Theatre, we checked out LINCOLN'S WAFFLE SHOP across the street. I'm sure they get a lot of tourists this way (it was really busy), but honestly, the food was great so we didn't mind the crowded space. Here's what we got:

• Waffle or Pancakes or French Toast | Two Eggs | Home fries or Grits - $8.95
• Waffle or Pancakes or French Toast | Two Eggs | Bacon or Sausage or Ham or Scrapple - $8.95
• Home fries - $2.95

 

The food ended up being really good, but we were disappointed in the service we got because we sat at the counter. The servers were constantly running around to the tables to help those customers, which was good for them but bad for us. It took me 15 minutes to get my bill once we had finished eating.

4. I know that PEET'S COFFEE & TEA is not specific to Washington D.C., but I felt like I needed to list it here anyway. Peet's was founded at Berkeley, and has since franchised out to numerous locations across the country. While it's a chain, it is worth noting if your'e in an area that has one. While visiting this spot, I had a "Mighty Leaf Mango Sunrise Iced Tea Infusion" and a cookie and I love love LOVED both.

5. The last location for this post is actually in New York City and is really well known - CARNEGIE DELI.  They opened in 1937 and are named for that semi-famous building across the street. Maybe you've heard of it... Carnegie Hall?? It is a destination spot for tourists, locals, and celebrities alike. They're known for their sandwiches, but we were staying across the street so we hit them up for breakfast on our last morning there. Here's what I got:

• BUTTERED NY BAGEL, BIALY, BAKED ROLL or TOAST - $2.49

 

Guys, I'm not kidding. I'm posting about this place because of a bagel. Because of a delicious, perfectly toasted, wonderful bagel. A BAGEL THAT COST ME LESS THAN $3! If you're in New York, go get a bagel. Seriously.

As for the real elephant in the room (blog), you're probably wondering why there aren't any actual BRUNCH photos or reviews in this post. You're probably thinking, this BRUNCH BROAD went to Washington D.C. and didn't have BRUNCH!! Don't worry, friends. We had brunch and we had GOOD brunch. I will be posting that separately later this week.

XXO.

The fourth brunch spot that we tried was Room 39 located in the KU Med/Volker district of Kansas City. They're a small spot that runs in a farm-to-table fashion. Let me preface this review with the fact that I love midtown, so I was really excited about trying this place. In addition, Ben and I had pegged Corner Restaurant as our favorite (and find ourselves wanting to go back), so I think our expectations were high.

 

When we got there, there was a short wait. This was to be expected as it was brunch time and I still couldn't wrap my mind around making a reservation for breakfast... Anyway, we of course ordered the bottomless coffee, and then perused the menu for things that sounded yummy. Here's what we landed on:

• "Croque Madame" - shaved ham and gruyere on grilled bread with fried eggs and potatoes. (Ben ordered his eggs over easy though).
• "Smoked Salmon Scramble" - house cured and smoked salmon with cream cheese, scallions, and soft scrambled eggs, served with breakfast potatoes and toast.

 

 
Overall, we had heard good things about this place, but it wasn't our favorite. The food was good, but overall, not the best we've had at the places we've been. I did really enjoy the cream cheese in my scrambled eggs - this is not something I'd ever had before - and I really enjoyed my coffee.
Based on the food and service (waiting for things, etc.) we'd give Room 39 a  6.5/10!

The third brunch pick on the list was THE CORNER RESTAURANT in Westport. If you live in the KC area like we do, you know that the weather can be uncharacteristically gorgeous during the winter. When we visited The Corner Restaurant last March it was 83 degrees. WHAT THE HECK? You won't hear my complaining about sunshine in March though. Anyway, the weather was so great that day, not only did we venture out to brunch, we sat outside to enjoy it. Talk about amazing! The sun was shining, people were bustling about, and we had a great breakfast.

We started as we normally do and ordered coffee. We have to be fair and have it at every place, right? At least that's what I'm telling myself... With that said, the coffee was decent, but kind of pricey at $3 per cup. Ouch. Conversely, on the beverage front, I did appreciate the bottle of water that they left on the table for us to refill our own glasses.

 

I NEED to tell you that we had really great service at this brunch spot. Sometimes when you sit outside at restaurants, servers have indoor tables as well and can get busy. Our server had an outdoor-only section so he was able to pay us the right amount of attention, plus he was really funny!! He brought out a plate of condiments at one point and was like "Okay, guys, here's your meal! Enjoy!" and then pretended to walk away. Maybe you had to be there, but I thought it was hilarious. He was just really personable. I've said this a million times before, but I would much rather go somewhere with decent food and great service than somewhere with amazing food and bogus help.

In terms of the meal itself, I really stepped out of my comfort zone on this one. It definitely paid off. I ordered Craw-fish Cakes Eggs Benedict. It was large english muffins, poached eggs, tomato stewed greens, hollandaise, and your choice hash-brown patty or house potatoes. You had your choice of "protein" between ham & pepper-jack, crawfish cakes, sage sausage, and veggie avocado. I wouldn't have normally gone the craw-fish cake route, but the server was highly complementary so I went for it. Everything I ate was fantastic, even though I only managed to eat about half of it - so much food!!

Ben couldn't decide what he wanted, so he ended up getting two different things. He got a half order of Swoonin' Biscuits as well as a Short Stack of Pancakes. With his half order of biscuits he got one biscuit, black peppercorn sausage gravy, two farm fresh eggs, and choice of hash-brown patty or house potatoes. The pancakes were buttermilk. Ben enjoyed his food, but again the portions were massive! He expressed that he was glad he only got the HALF order of biscuits, because that alone was too much food.

 

Overall, we really enjoyed our experience at Corner Restaurant!! The food was great, the service was great, and the weather was fantastic. With that said, for me, the portion sizes and the coffee would bring it down to a 9.5/10!

Over the weekend, I ventured to downtown Liberty to try out GINGER SUES. Last week I asked my Facebook friends to recommend their favorite brunch spots and this was an overwhelming suggestion. With it being Fourth of July weekend, I was expecting it to be busy, but when we arrived we were able to sit right down.

Here's what we ordered:

• Gravy Scramble - A hearty serving of sausage, ham, mushroom and cheddar-jack cheese topped with peppered sausage gravy.
• Crab Benedict - Crab and andouille sausage provide a delicious twist to this classic dish. Served on top of a honey-wheat English muffin with over easy eggs, sliced green onion and Hollandaise sauce with a side of seasoned breakfast potatoes.

 

I had also heard great things about their pancakes, and I was not disappointed. I think when we go back, I may just order a stack of those.

 

What about you guys? Where did you brunch this weekend?

It is my goal with Brunch Broad to point out the best breakfasts, coffees, and brunch experiences for you guys. Sometimes with the craziness of life, I find myself wanting to sit at home and eat donuts in front of the TV rather than sitting out at a restaurant. With that said, last weekend, instead of indulging in the typical brunch, I found myself at DONUT KING in the North Kansas City borough. 

If you do a little bit of reading on their website, Donut King offers 36 different types of donuts. Photographed above are some of my favorites:

• Fruity Pebble
• Triple Chocolate
• Vanilla Frosted
• Classic Glazed

Three of the four donuts listed are cake donuts, but they have many regular donuts as well. I have never had a donut from DK that I did NOT like.

In addition to donuts, DK also offers miscellaneous pastries, cupcakes, and coffees, so it really is a great go-to spot for sweets that opens early and closes late!

What is your favorite donut shop??

After trying  out Farmhouse, the second KC brunch stop was Genessee Royale. GR is a unique venue (an old converted gas station) located in the Stockyard District within walking distance of Kemper Area and KC's big haunted houses.

To be honest, I had never even heard of GENESSEE ROYALE until we picked it off the list to visit. My family used to have season tickets to the Attack/Comets when they played at Kemper, and I really don't remember Genessee Royale being there - I was really young though, so maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. I hadn't been back down to the area much since the teams moved to other venues.

When we got to the restaurant we were put on a list behind a couple of other groups. Luckily, we didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes to sit. Overall, the entire venue was really precious. With a combination of garden furniture, old chairs, and antiques on the walls, it definitely had a really laid-back vibe. On top of that, the coffee was a local brew and DELICIOUS. You know me and my coffee.

 

For our meals, we ordered the following items. Naturally, we tried each other's meals and both were amazing.

• The Freemont: a gorgeous breakfast that included a runny egg, fried chicken, spiral cut ham, red eye gravy (coffee based), and a biscuit
• The Steak Frites: perfectly-cooked skirt steak, homemade fries, sunny-side-up eggs, lettuce, and parsley-shallot butter.

 

There are two major things that I want to comment on about Genessee Royale before I wrap this up.

1. The portion sizes were absolutely PERFECT. I left the restaurant feeling full, but not TOO full.
2. Second, the service was incredible. I think at smaller places like this, a lot of the time, they try to turn tables quickly to get everyone in and out. I thought this would be especially true here since they only serve breakfast or lunch, not both, due to kitchen size... BUT everyone was so nice, so attentive. Even servers who weren't ours were getting us coffee refills, asking about our food, and chatting with us.

I would definitely go back to Royale for brunch again. It was an amazing experience. My rating for Genessee Royale would be: 9/10.

Before diving into the the brunch world (exclusively), I kept a personal blog where I outlined major events in my life, brunch outings, etc. Upon a lot of reflection, I lost the drive to constantly post fluff updates on my life and wanted to focus more on what has now become "Brunch Broad." With that said though, I have already been to and "reviewed" a number of hot brunch spots in Kansas City. I think that what I'll do is copy those posts from my former blog and revise them a little bit for this format. Check them out as they're posted for some great restaurants to try!!
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My husband and I started reviewing brunch spots back in January 2015 when I found this list of the BEST BREAKFASTS IN KC. Since then, the list has been updated and I've made a few changes along the way. The pace was roughly one place per month, but with holidays and such there are still a few to try.

The first place we tried was FARMHOUSE. Farmhouse is an eclectic little place down off Delaware and Main near City Market in Kansas City. They are open all day, have a full bar, host live music, and are sourced from a number of local farmers (so cool!!).

Let me just be honest with you, if you know me well enough you know that I am not a huge breakfast person. Part of my intention with going to these brunch places was to branch out and try new things. When we arrived, I remember being happy that when we got there, instead of breakfast, they had a BRUNCH menu. It made it feel like a little bit of an easier transition for me into all of these breakfasts! This is so funny now because I love love LOVE brunch.

Here are some shots of our food, and then I'll give you my opinion on the experience. As I revise this, I have added new commentary in an italicized font.

 

 

Okay, so first thing is first... when we got there, the hostess asked if we had a reservation. For 10:30am on a Sunday morning. Now, I'm not delusional to believe that brunch isn't a busy time on Sunday... but... a reservation? Huh. Interesting. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long (15 minutes?) and it gave us time to peruse their menu. They had options from build-your-own omelets, to chocolate chip pancakes, to brunch burgers, so we had a ton of things to choose from. This is so funny to me now because I make reservations every time I brunch somewhere now! It is so much easier to have a reservation and not have to wait.

I noticed while we were waiting that they served their coffee in French presses to each table - how neat! Here's what we ordered --

• Brunch Burger: Pork sausage patty, lettuce, onion, bacon cream cheese, fried egg, on a salt and pepper bun.
• Lord Kenzo: Two house-made biscuits, cheddar cheese, pork sausage patty, pork sausage gravy, over-hard Windhaven Farms' egg

Now, when it comes to my food, let me tell you... I've never had anything like it. It was DELICIOUS. My only complaint is that the cream cheese made the bun slide around a little bit, so I had to cut my burger into four pieces to eat it, but what a menial task to face in trade for something so fantastic. All of the ingredients tasted fresh, everything was seasoned well, and to top it off, I had homemade fried potatoes with my burger which was just the icing on the cake.

I would definitely recommend this restaurant to others. Due to a server who was only seen a couple of times, I gave Farmhouse a: 9/10.