Nixon's General Store

540 Chatsworth Rd.
Tabernacle, NJ 08088
(609) 268-9800
Website

Deep in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the Pineys know a few things. One is where to catch the Jersey Devil and another is how to make some amazing cheesesteaks. Nixon's is a step back in time, like a gift shop mixed with a local WAWA, and crossed with a high end deli.

You walk in and make your way to the back. The barrels are set up with made-to-order screens that let you pick about any option you can think of. Want your cheesesteak meat in slices? No problem. Finely chopped, there is an option for that too. Add salt and pepper? Copper sharp instead of American (god yes)? They have you covered. You can even get wiz and another cheese. Simply amazing.

I got here at breakfast, so I decided to branch out and go with the bacon cheesesteak hoagie. It had bacon, steak (finely chopped/salt/pepper), lettuce, tomato, fried onions (well done option), and Cooper sharp. You can literally customize these things about any way you can imagine. I have never seen anything to this level of detail off of an ordering screen. Click the link to their sandwiches above and build your own. It's amazing. So one thing, this place is NOT cheap. My cheesesteak as pictured below was $15 and change. But it was worth every penny. The quality was outstanding. Look at these tomatoes.

These ripe beauties (assisted by the seasonality of my visit) we the best looking (and tasting) tomatoes I remember having on a hoagie in quite a while.

As I had just come back from a camping trip in the Pines, I put down the gate on the truck, pulled out the camping cutting board and knife, and sliced up breakfast.

The bread (courtesy of nearby Aversa's Bakery) was outstanding, with perfectly seasoned meat, and the perfect amount of sharp and melty cheese.

Did this sandwich need bacon? No. Was it like a cheesesteak BLT? Yes. Would I do it over again? Without a doubt.

Being the glutton I am, I couldn't JUST get a foot and half long bacon cheesesteak for breakfast, so I gave a nod to the age old Jersey dispute and got a pork roll, egg and cheese. Now one of the best food songs aside, this is a staple of breakfast on the east side of the Delaware. And we love it in Pennsylvania as well. Also - it's pork roll here, not Taylor ham. To quote Jerseyporkroll.com  "In 1910 it was described as 'a food article made of pork, packed in a cylindrical cotton sack or bag in such form that it could be quickly prepared for cooking by slicing without removal from the bag.'"

Nixon's fries the pork roll, tops it with a fried egg and cheese (more Cooper sharp), and then since the sky's the limit here, I added some banana peppers, mayo and hotsauce (the last three due to my computer ordering frenzy).

A simple, perfect breakfast sandwich. This is the food of the working class. And you could do no better.

The Classic Diner (West Chester)

16 E Gay Street
West Chester, PA 19380
(484) 947-0809
Website

Of all of the greasy meals and foods I love, I just don't have all that much love for traditional diners. Mostly, it's because they have shitty coffee. When you couple a basic breakfast platter/sandwich with Folgers, I think to myself, I should've just gone to WAWA. In the same vein, I pretty much hate brunch. It's not the brunch food that I despise, but rather the people who love brunch and the whole circus surrounding it. Also - why is it socially acceptable to drink eight mimosas, or three Bloody Marys AT BRUNCH, but when I order a shot and a beer at breakfast I get the sideways eye? Well, now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about The Classic Diner.

I had eaten bacon from the original Classic Diner in Malvern, but had not actually been there. The bacon is incredible. One day I was cruising around the burbs, butcher shopping, and looking for somewhere to grab food before heading to a party in Pennsport.

Now my love for all things Jewish American knows no bounds. But the Lox and bagel or whitefish and bagel combo takes the throne at breakfast time. Or really anytime. They had one on the menu, and I figured that would be a great starter. It was not cheap at $15, but it was also not small. And Oy Vey, that Lox was worth every penny. Served with a boiled egg topped with Salmon caviar (nice touch), a side salad, capers, caper berries, cukes, red onion, and tomato slices, this was a hell of a platter.

The bagel was nice and chewy, and the tomatoes were in good shape for being so far past season. The crispy cucumber, briny capers, and spicy red onion made every bite the "choose your own adventure" of eating.

These damn boiled eggs were incredibly good. Smooth, silky, with a "pop" of salty liquid in the caviar, I was left thinking about how I was suckered with hard-boiled, deviled eggs for all these years instead of soft boiling the things.

The "classic" eggs Benedict was just that. Fried Canadian bacon (hell yes), a nicely rich yet acidic Hollandaise, perfectly poached eggs, and a toasted buttery muffin. The potatoes were a thing of beauty. Crispy and salty outside, fluffy and hot inside, they were home-fry perfection. Not to mention, the playful olive placement let you make jokes ranging from anatomy to that emoji with the eyes looking to the side...

Look at the rich yolk, and the crispy edges of the ham. Delicious. You would be hard pressed to find a better rendition, and even I can't hate on the brunch here. Also - it is BYOB, so plan accordingly with a bottle of Yukon Jack and a 40 of Bud Ice if you want to keep it classy.

Bittersweet Kitchen

18 S. Orange Street
Media, PA 19063
(610) 566-1660
Website

There are some great places in "Everybody's Hometown" but the go-to breakfast spot, Seven Stones, has really dropped off in the recent past. Good thing a newcomer stepped up to take the throne. Bittersweet Kitchen has a medium sized menu, casual dining room, and great food. Take, for example, my scratch biscuit with bacon, egg, and cheese. The biscuit was reminiscent of the legendary Red Lobster version, except made from real ingredients and not totally shitty.

The bacon was cooked well, and the egg nicely peppered and folded below. A solid breakfast sandwich all around.

The Huevos Rancheros featured sunny-side up eggs, corn tortillas, house-made beef chili, cheddar, tomatillo salsa, pico de gallo, avocado crema, and breakfast potatoes. The eggs were perfectly sunny-side up, the ingredients all were fresh, and well proportioned.

One of my favorites was the pickle chips. I ALWAYS love fried pickles, even at breakfast, and these were very well breaded, crispy, and had a nice spicy dipping sauce that I could have used on my biscuit.

Another side, the blackened brussel sprouts with bacon, had a delicious char, plenty of salt, and were tender yet not overcooked. A definite winner, even for breakfast.

My final taste was the sweet potato and black bean chili. I am always a sucker for anything served in a skillet, and although next time I would try the beef version (I already had beef in my Huevos), this was not a bad rendition of veggie chili. The cornbread was delicious, and I used it to mop up the oil left from the sprouts. The coffee is also quite good, which is very important for a breakfast joint. There was not much to complain about here. I think I know where I will be going for the hangover breakfast in the future.

Frankie's on Fairview

604 Fairview Road
Woodlyn, PA 19094
(610) 543-2300
Website

I am not inherently a breakfast person. Although I do love a hearty weekend breakfast, lunch is my favorite meal of the day, and in that regard, I don't cover a lot of greasy spoons. Frankie's was not on my radar as I don't frequent Woodlyn, but last Saturday I hopped on the motorcycle and decided on a breakfast ride. I found myself near Frankie's, and hot damn, I am glad I stopped in. Frank the owner is a food service veteran, and it shows. I heard rumors of him expanding, and if he keeps the product consistent, I think a lot of folks will be saying "Sabrina's USED to be the best" (I for one have NEVER been impressed with Sabrina's).

They have a rather large menu, with breakfast and lunch offerings. They even offer some vegan options if you don't like real food.

The coffee was Lavazza, and it was a huge step up from typical diner coffee. One of my biggest pet peeves with breakfast spots is when they have gourmet food and crappy coffee; that's an automatic cheesesteak off the rating. Not at Frankie's though.

The "Ultimate Biscuit" was a must order. One plate, containing at least 3 meals' worth of food. It housed buttermilk fried chicken, applewood smoked bacon & two sunny side up eggs, served open face on a biscuit with sausage gravy. Yes, all of those things rolled into one pile of savory flavor.

The chicken was prepared Japanese Katsu style, thinly pounded and panko fried; it was tender, juicy and the outer shell stayed very crispy throughout the time it took me to down this entire load. The gravy had a hint of maple, and was filled with chunks of sausage. 2 perfectly sunny side up eggs doused with some drops of sriracha, usually something I would complain about as it tends to overpower, but the heat cut through the richness of this dish and the sparse application was just right.

The bacon hid underneath, and I was so happy to dig into a slice as I cut into the fried chicken. Perhaps my favorite part is that I was JUST about to complain about the lack of bread, as I had completely forgot about that delicious biscuit resting underneath this mountain of calories. And then there it was. In all its crumbly, buttermilk glory.

Nicely seasoned/peppery gravy and well fried bacon.

Look at that biscuit hiding under the pile of dreams.

Never one for moderation when heavy dairy-based sauces are involved, I also tried the creamed chipped beef (or SOS). This iteration was served over Texas toast. I absolutely LOVE SOS, and this certainly did not disappoint. The dried beef was tender and salty, the bechamel was creamy and well spiced. To further the indulgence, the Texas toast acted as a carb-centric vessel to deliver indulgence to my overwhelmed taste buds. I was basically like this when the dish hit my lips.

The crispy potatoes were fried very well, and as had been the standard for all other things throughout this meal, very well seasoned. To perfection.

This is a perfect breakfast spot. Hands down one of the best I've ever experienced. As I waddled back to my motorcycle, I was already planning a return trip to try out their lunch menu. I have to recommend this as somewhere that could stand against any of the famous breakfast/brunch spots in the area. Every dish I saw served would have been a winner, though ordering something other than my staples is going to take some effort.