Breakfast is celebrated in a big way in the South Sound, making it the perfect place for a culinary tour of morning meals.. Whether you’re noshing with friends or family or out-of-town guests, as a couple, or just enjoying time solo, below are some of our top stops for meals to tempt everyone’s taste buds.
Budd Bay Café (525 Columbia St. NW, Olympia, buddbaycafe.com) is a place to peruse pristine water views while picking up tastes of fresh seafood, endless French toast and pancakes, egg dishes and crepes, plus salads, carved meats, and a pretty dessert selection.
Spar (114 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, mcmenamins.com) is part of the McMenamins historic brewery hotel and restaurant chain. Here you can sidle up to the lengthy bar or slide into one of the oversize booths to enjoy vanilla bean French toast; a Hangtown open-face omelet with pan-fried oysters, scallions and bacon; the Route 66 scramble with homemade chorizo, pepper jack cheese and cilantro sour cream; or the 4th Avenue Mess of hash browns topped with gravy and Tillamook cheddar.
Net Shed No. 9 (3313 Harborview Drive, Gig Harbor) provides hearty, wholesome turns of typical breakfast fare inside a cozy historic waterfront fishing shed. Watch colorful kayaks and sailboats glide by while digging into sourdough ricotta pancakes or bacon-drizzled cinnamon rolls, a deep dish of chicken and waffles, or the Mexican-style chilaquiles (an egg-tortilla chip scramble with nachos fixings).
Salty’s Redondo Beach (28201 Redondo Beach Drive S., Des Moines, saltys.com) offers an award-winning buffet arrayed with everything you could imagine: fresh Dungeness crab, oysters on the half shell, bay scallops and prawns; made-to-order omelets, blintzes and crepes; hand-carved garlic-roasted prime rib and a variety of pastas; a selection of hand-tossed salads; and an extensive dessert spread.
HOLLY SMITH PETERSON