When the waiter brought out my son’s pancake, his eyes lit up.
The pancake was as big as his head–bigger, actually. Slathered in powdered sugar, with a smiling face formed by pieces of fruit and a little line of raspberry sauce, the smiling pancake was surrounded by a giant dollop of whipped cream and several slices of bacon.
I defy you to find a more exciting breakfast for a 7-year-old!
That was one of the highlights of a meal I recently enjoyed with my son at The Breakfast Club at Midtown, a new breakfast restaurant in downtown Lafayette, California.
The Breakfast Club replaced the former Patxis Pizza. The shopping center with Patxis in it was going through some hard times. That restaurant closed, but so did Bel and Bunna Books. Venture moved down the block. Things were looking pretty empty.
Now, though, they’ve bounced back. With the Breakfast Club coming in, the once-empty shopping center right on Mount Diablo Blvd now has a classy breakfast spot, as well as a new vintage store, a store devoted entirely to stretching, a nail salon, and more.
Once again, it’s hopping!
Here at the Bay Area Telegraph, we were excited to follow the news about Breakfast Club coming to Lafayette. And once the restaurant opened up, I was just as excited to stop by and try out the food!
The Ambiance
Breakfast Club is in a great spot right in downtown Lafayette. There’s lot of interior seating, with a big bar area.
There’s also a totally renovated dining room.
The inside can get loud, so we opted to sit outside. There are nice tables in front of the restaurant, where you can people-watch on Mount Diablo.
There are also tables in the side alley, which have nice landscaping and feel a bit quieter.
We got a table on the side. Keep in mind that the restaurant doesn’t accept reservations, and fills up fast during busy times. Plan ahead!
The Food
Breakfast Club serves classy and upscale breakfasts. This isn’t a diner, or a casual restaurant in the style of Jack’s in Pleasant Hill. Breakfast Club is more high-concept, with an extensive menu of eggs benedict, lots of breakfast cocktails, and fancy omelets.
With that upscale vibe comes upscale prices! Heads up: Breakfast Club at Midtown is expensive!
A basic breakfast of eggs and bacon will set you back $17, and some of the eggs benedict dishes cost as much as $24. Mimosas are about $12.
For those prices, you do get delicious food, though. When we visited, I immediately ordered an orange juice. I was thrilled to see that it was actually fresh squeezed on site.
Of course, this being the morning, I got a coffee too. Like any good breakfast place, Breakfast Club will keep refilling your coffee endlessly.
I ordered a traditional American breakfast. The pace at Breakfast Club is leisurely, and it took about 25 minutes to come out.
Still, when it did arrive, it was very tasty! I got eggs over easy, bacon, and a hash brown.
Everything was cooked well, and the ingredients felt high quality.
The hash brown was gigantic! I ordered a second one for my son, but it was far more potato than we could eat!
We also got some scrambled eggs on the side, which were well prepared, and which my son really enjoyed.
The highlight of the experience, though, was the kid’s meal.
My son ordered the Mickey Mouse pancake. We were expecting a little kids-sized pancake, maybe with a bit of whipped cream.
Instead, we got a gargantuan monster of decorated dough that delighted him.
There was whipped cream. There were Oreo cookies. There was bacon. There was a token amount of fruit. It was about the best pancake a kid could ask for.
The Verdict
Breakfast Club isn’t a “grab a quick bite before work” kind of spot. It can be busy, and it’s a relaxed environment where you’ll be sitting for at least an hour and lingering over your food. It’s also pricey.
That said, if you’re looking for a place to get classy breakfast food and to enjoy it right in the thick of things, Breakfast Club is ideal. Based on the kid’s pancake alone, it’s also a fantastic place to take your little ones.
I see this as a special occasion kind of place–somewhere you might take your teenager to celebrate the first day of school, or a place to take an out of town guest or client for a long and delicious breakfast.
For casual bites, I’d still turn to Jack’s in Pleasant Hill, or the nearby Sideboard in Lafayette. But for bigger celebratory breakfasts–or a day that you just feel like celebrating life for no reason at all–Breakfast Club is a great place to do it.
I appreciate the quality of their ingredients (I’m a sucker for fresh squeezed OJ). The setting is beautiful. And again, that pancake…
Breakfast Club is located at 3577 Mount Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, CA 94549. You can visit them online.
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A store devoted to stretching??
Great review. The pancake is adorable.