Food brings people together, so when the need to grow Giardino’s brunch menu came about, owner Karina Kravalis and her head chef Cuco Sanchez created new options.
“We always had a small brunch menu, but we recently expanded our menu because our customers said they wanted more brunch options in the East County,” Kravalis said.
Giardino is an Italian-inspired restaurant in Lemon Grove, which has been open since 2017. It serves classic weekend brunch items, including fried chicken and waffles, omelets and bottomless mimosas, but also offers new takes on dishes such as the brûléed banana French toast and cannoli waffles. There are also fusion dishes: Italian chilaquiles and breakfast pizza.
“We are trying to incorporate Italian vibes and traditional brunch,” Kravalis said. “Sometimes we make food available for a few days as a special and ask customers for their , and the better ones end up on our permanent menu.”
Giardino is not the only restaurant in San Diego County providing unique breakfast options. This guide details nine restaurants serving distinct brunch and breakfast items.
Here’s where to find soufflé pancakes, a birria breakfast burrito, peanut butter and banana-stuffed French toast and mole poblano chilaquiles.
Cafe 222: Viewers and fans of the Food Network might have seen Cafe 222’s peanut butter and banana-stuffed French toast before. It was featured on the television show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate,” and highlighted by celebrity chef and restaurant owner Bobby Flay. The batter for this decadent meal is made with half and half, eggs, orange juice, vanilla, rum, cinnamon and salt. Wheat bread is used, and it is stuffed with bananas and creamy peanut butter. What’s also rare about Cafe 222 is that it lists full recipes of some menu items on its website. One example is its pumpkin waffle, which is made with eggs, whole milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, buttermilk and canned pumpkin puree. 222 Island Ave., San Diego. 619-236-9902, cafe222.com
Fig Tree Cafe: Nestled in northern Pacific Beach is a laid-back outdoor cafe with California-inspired brunch entrees, including some quirky options. One of these is the breakfast sushi. Fig Tree Cafe serves it in three large pieces made with savory scrambled eggs and steamed white rice stacked high, in the form of a sushi roll. The base is wrapped with a thick cut of salty bacon, and each piece of breakfast sushi is topped with a super sweet plum sauce that tastes like the glaze on orange chicken. I’d recommend sharing this dish with two other people, because after eating one, I felt like my taste buds needed a break. Luckily, the breakfast sushi comes with a side of fruit. Fig Tree Cafe also has a fig jam and ricotta cheese-stuffed French toast, pork belly and grits, apple fritter pancakes and eggs Benedict with cauliflower and chorizo. The Pacific Beach location displays lots of green vines, leaves and plants around the cafe, as well as wood tables and counters, surfboards and beach cruiser bicycles. 5119 Cass St., San Diego. 858-274-2233, figtreeeatery.com
Giardino: The Italian-inspired restaurant Giardino in Lemon Grove recently introduced an expanded weekend brunch menu. Some of the choices include Nutella pancakes, brûléed banana French toast and Italian chilaquiles. But what seems most intriguing is the cannoli waffles. It’s a remix of one of its most popular desserts, the cannoli, according to Kravalis. Chefs take the homemade batter and make waffles in the waffle iron and douse them with cannoli cream. Waffles are then topped with pieces of cannoli shells and sliced strawberries. 8131 Broadway, Lemon Grove. 619-825-7112, giardinosd.com
Hash House A Go Go: A San Diego staple that prides itself on delivering “twisted farm food” and Midwest flavors is Hash House A Go Go in Hillcrest. It has options such as a fried chicken Benedict, a meatloaf hash with potatoes and eggs and pancakes the size of a tractor wheel. But what I found most interesting is the sage fried chicken waffle tower. It’s stacked high with waffles, smoked bacon, hot maple syrup, fried leeks and two sage-fried chicken breast pieces on top. This dish also comes with an egg any style. 3628 Fifth Ave., San Diego. 619-298-4646, hashhouseagogo.com
Madi: Normal Heights is home to a chic cafe with a diner atmosphere serving American, Mediterranean and Mexican-inspired brunch food. What caught my attention on Madi’s menu was the white bean shakshuka. It’s offered in a bowl and has the consistency of a chunky chili soup with Mediterranean spices, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper and garlic. The dish was spicy and tickled the back of my throat, but there was a good balance of heat that was not overpowering. The poached egg was cooked perfectly and the golden yoke added a depth of creaminess. The shredded carnitas were moist and had a slight crispiness on the edges, giving a nice saltiness to balance the savory of the white beans and poached egg. I could have this dish any time of the day. 3737 Adams Ave., San Diego. 619-915-5522, brunchlikemadi.com
Mike’s Red Tacos: Growing up in parts of Mexico and living in San Diego County most of my adult life, I can vouch that breakfast burritos are not all built the same. In most parts of Mexico, they are skinny and typically filled with two food items. They are meant to be a simple and quick grab-and-go meal. But this is not the case in San Diego. One example of a complex breakfast burrito is the one being created at Mike’s Red Tacos. The birria breakfast burrito marries two McDonald’s-style hash browns, refried beans, salsa fresca, scrambled eggs and shredded birria on a flour tortilla with grilled cheese. Plus, customers get birria consomé for dipping. There is also a salsa bar with various options to add some extra heat. Mike’s Red Tacos is located in Clairemont Mesa and the Midway District. mikesredtacos.com
Morning Glory: The menu at Morning Glory in Little Italy is filled with extravagant breakfast favorites and flavors from around the world. Some of these include a French omelet with goat cheese and chives, Mexican café de olla and breakfast dim sum. Two menu selections that stood out for me were the soufflé pancakes and the Morning Glory ginger fried rice. The soufflé pancakes are prepared with a classic flapjack batter that is whipped with egg whites and cooked in molds to maintain their shape. Morning Glory’s chef said the pancakes “rise into light and airy golden-brown pillows.” They are topped with berries, whipped cream and powdered sugar. The Morning Glory ginger fried rice is a mix of sautéed vegetables, such as peas, broccoli, carrots, onions and scallions in a garlic-ginger butter. It is tossed with soy, sesame-infused white rice and pork belly and topped with sunny-side up eggs. 550 West Date St. Suite C, San Diego. 619-629-0302, morningglorybreakfast.com
Mujer Divina Brunch Café: Local birria fanatics know of chef and restaurateur Priscilla Curiel’s birria bone marrow tacos. And San Diego County coffee connoisseurs have probably sipped on Mexican-inspired caffeinated beverages from Curiel’s Mujer Divina Burrito & Coffee House in Chula Vista. Now she is dishing out a full breakfast menu at her new restaurant, Mujer Divina Brunch Café, which opened in April. Breakfast items here mix Mexican cuisine and American classics with a distinctive spin. Its pancake options stand out, including the orange carrot pancakes, which contain minced pecans and walnuts, an orange glaze and shaved carrots. They are coated with cinnamon sugar and whipped cream cheese. The hummingbird pancakes are served with bananas, pineapples, pecans, whipped cream and a homemade jam. The strawberry cheesecake pancakes feature a whipped cream and strawberry jam, cheesecake and fresh strawberries on top. The mole poblano chilaquiles come with homemade tortilla chips and are dressed with Mexican crema, queso cojita, white onion, cilantro and scrambled eggs or two sunny-side up fried eggs. 214 3rd Ave., Chula Vista. 858-275-0913, instagram.com/brunchmujerdivina
Richard Walker’s Pancake House: For the first time in memory, I was given a laminated card with instructions for how to eat a pancake. This is exactly what happens when customers order the German pancakes at Richard Walker’s Pancake House. This baked breakfast item takes about 20 minutes to cook; It’s worth the wait. The German pancake takes up an entire plate. The edges are slightly crispy and curved to resemble a bowl, and the center of the pancake is soft and chewy with a yellowish color. The dish tastes like egg and custard. The instructions say to spread butter, squeeze lemon juice and sprinkle powdered sugar onto the German pancake before eating, adding a creamy, zesty or sweet flavor. The pancake is enormous, so I recommend sharing. The business has four local locations: Carlsbad, Del Mar, La Jolla and downtown San Diego, with the original one in Illinois. richardwalkers.com
