Stanz Café in Larchmont is a place where I have been a customer for years, for their lunch-time sandwiches and salads, which are top notch. I really never paid much attention to the fact that they serve breakfast—until now.
One recent Thursday morning, I decided to check Stanz Café’s breakfasts. Joining me were my good friends, Mela—my breakfast buddy—and Sandy.
We all had the day off from our jobs, and before we ventured off to run our own individual errands, we met for breakfast.
First off, I love Stanz Café's motif: very comfortable with large wooden tables in a warm, comfortable, country setting. Mela and Sandy, who arrived before I did, had never been to Stanz before and were waiting at the table for wait service. New customers have no idea that you have to order at the counter, pay and then wait for it to come out and be brought to your table. While they were waiting for me, no one approached their table to inform them that they had to go to the counter first. Once I got there, I explained how it worked.
I wondered how many new customers are left sitting and waiting to be served. My friends suggested that maybe a small display card on the tables could explain to go to the counter first.
Sandy ordered the whole wheat French toast and scrambled egg whites with asparagus. The French toast was cold—not a good start—but the egg whites were good. Mela and I shared a goat cheese, asparagus and caramelized onions omelet with home fries and country grain bread.
We also tried the sweet potato pancakes with banana slices on the side. Neither one of us had ever had sweet potato pancakes before, and we were willing to try something new and interesting. The omelet was done well and very good, and the pancakes were also delicious with a hint of cinnamon. The sweet potato flavor in the pancake was not overbearing. We loved the country grain bread, and the home fries tasted freshly made. There was real butter on the side, and the syrup was a good quality maple.
The only disappointment was the coffee. The hot coffee thermoses are lined up on the counter for self-service. Mela tried the flavored coffee first, and it wasn’t hot. We both had the regular coffee and agreed it was not impressive.
Let’s put it this way, no one had a second cup.
The price of breakfast was average at $28.20 without tip.
Honestly, I am on the fence about returning for breakfast. I love Stanz’s lunches, but a really good cup of coffee can make or break a breakfast meal for me.
But then again those Sweet Potato Pancakes were mighty good!
Stanz Café
26 Chatsworth Ave.
Larchmont
914-833-9760
Mariann Raftery, creator of Somebody's Mom blog, cooks up comfort food recipes for families here at home, as well as sending homemade cookie care packages to our American soldiers overseas. Somebody's Mom Cooking videos at http://www.youtube.com, search "Thesomebodysmom".
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