I'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE, I CAN SMELL IT

Someone on the internet once said that there is nowhere good to have breakfast in Philadelphia. Man, they must have tried once and had one of those bad cups of coffee at Sandy's Cafe in Fitler Square. Any greasy spoon can make eggs and toast, but even home fries are a dealbreaker.

Before, when one went yellow paging for breakfast eateries, one found lists of diners including the likes of Mrs T's (4th & Chestnut), Little Pete's (17th & Chancellor), the Midtown Diners (four of 'em around Center City), and the bigtime neighborhood staples of the Melrose, Penrose, Mayfair, Oak Lane, Down Home, Oregon, Littleton's, Broad Street and Ridge Diners. (As well as any-Jersey-diner just across the river.) And while these places certainly serve their constituents with that perfect Philadelphian pride/attytood blend, they've relinquished their holds at the top.

So the phillyskyline high cholesterol crack team got to work. We wanted to narrow it down to that perfect, consistent, go-to breakfast spot. That eliminates high end, trendy restaurants who happen to serve weekend brunch. (Sorry, Fork.) Same goes for those perennial 'best pub fare' candidates also in the brunch game. (Our apologies, Standard Tap.) That leaves the aforementioned diner base to battle the places where you'll really) wait to be seated.

... and they're the easy winners. It's no mistake that there are lines at the following places.

5. Blue in Green (8th & Sansom, Center City) (NOW CLOSED!)
Who even thinks to go to Jewelers Row? (Hi Angie.) Pray to your god that, when you go, they have the potato pancakes -- you will never think of them the same. They're unfreakinbelievable.

4. Roller's (Germantown & Rex, Chestnut Hill) (NOW CLOSED!)
They serve La Colombe coffee, they homemake their cream chipped beef with onions and mushrooms and serve it on Metropolitan bread, and you have to walk through the kitchen to use the loo. Yeah yeah, it's in Chestnut Hill -- take your mom the next time she visits you. It's a nice ride on the R7 or R8, she can buy antiques and you can buy cheese at the Cheese Shoppe to take home.

3. Rx (45th & Spruce, West Philly)
Two words: flank steak. Good coffee, good standards, great specials, and old pharmacy decor.

2. Honey's Sit-n-Eat (4th & Brown, Northern Liberties)
Oh, man. If there was once a Jewish family raised in rural Mississippi meals, their offspring opened up Honey's. Latkes, pastrami, potato soup and duh, bagels ... it's all. so. good. It's in an old autobody garage so it's spacious (with high ceilings and windows that open outwards), and it's in Northern Liberties, so eye candy is always served regardless your preference, herbivore, carnivore or otherwise.

1. Sam's Morning Glory (10th & Fitzwater, Bella Vista)
Without fail, without question, without hesitation, the Morning Glory wins. Go ahead -- see if you can spend more than $12 (including the tip) and still walk away. I don't mean "walk away hungry" . . . I mean literally walk away. You'll be so stuffed you'll need a wheelbarrow to clear space for the next victim. The bacon, the tofu scramble, the breakfast burrito, the potatos-they-call-home-fries drenched in their homemade ketchup, the huge biscuit drenched in their homemade fruit spread, the cinnamon stewed(?) apples, the coffee in the double walled aluminum cups that never cool off, and the fritattas, oh god the fritattas. Take your pick: spinach, mushrooms, cheddar, smoked mozz, brie, roasted peppers, ham, (and occasionally) salmon . . . you won't go wrong. If you don't like the Morning Glory, it's because you're either impatient, have no tongue or both.

Honorable mentions include Ants Pants Cafe (G-Ho), Silk City Diner (Northern Liberties, NOW CLOSED!), Big George's (West Philly NOW CLOSED!), Valley Green Inn (Wissahickon Park) and Carman's Country Kitchen (South Philly).

See also: The Philly Sound

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