breakfast burrito at Capitol Garage |
It's funny how you can be aiming to go to one place and then end up someplace different entirely. We were going for Sunday brunch with the intention of going to Cafeteria 15L. Turns out, they don't do Sunday brunch. And so we ventured across the street to Capitol Garage.
I've known for some time that they are supposed to have a pretty good brunch. I'm just not that big of a brunch person. Of any meal during a week you can pick, Sunday brunch is the one where you probably have to deal with the most waiting. I think it even beats Friday or Saturday dinners. You just have that "after church" crowd, late sleepers, and weekend family gatherings to contend and compete with. And, as evidenced by 15L being closed, somewhat fewer restaurants.
But it just so happened that it was a Sunday and we were hungry at lunchtime. We would have to deal with it.
We put our names down and took a seat out on an outside bench. It was probably the last warm weekend of the year and it was a beautiful day to wait. We were told there was free coffee and my date went to get a cup. Meanwhile, I checked the tips on Foursquare. There were a lot of suggestions for food, but what really was noted was to expect slow service. We might be waiting for a table for a half hour and an hour for our food. Luckily we had nothing else to do and time to kill.
The half hour estimation was fairly accurate. As was the comment about slow service. We did appreciate one little touch. They give you a little fruit plate each as a sort of breakfast appetizer. Mine had a slice of cantaloupe, half a kiwi, slice of pineapple and two strawberries. Nice.
My date ordered the breakfast burrito that is pictured above. Scrambled eggs with chorizo, black beans, cilantro and pico de gallo wrapped up in a large flour tortilla, topped with fresh avocado, manchego cheese and jalapeno hollandaise, and a side of garage potatoes for $13.95. It was definitely very generous and with plenty of spicy chorizo.
I was faced with a lot of choices, especially in the Benedicts category. They have traditional, Greek, Norwegian, Crab Cake, and La Bajada. I chose the latter with tender pulled pork cooked in a chipotle peach sauce, served over a grilled english muffin with fresh cilantro, manchego cheese, jalapeno hollandaise, fresh avocado and crispy tortilla strips. Also for $13.95. It's hard to see it as it looks like a messy pile, but it was good. The chipotle peach sauce was zesty with a good bite to it. This worked well with the nicely poached eggs which gave it that yolky creaminess. The crunch of the tortilla strips added that extra texture element. My only complaint was that the side potatoes were just luke warm. They held a lot of promise which was lost by them not being hot.
I just stuck with water that day. But note that they have your choice of unlimited coffee, OJ, or mimosas for $6.95.
Overall I'd say their reputation for brunch is well deserved. I'll certainly be recommending it when people ask me for where to go on the weekends.