Closer than Jan’s House, cheaper than IHOP, cleaner than the average Waffle House. Yet few Guilford students have discovered House of Breakfast. A fairly new 24-hour eatery on West Market street near Blockbuster Video, it offers a wide variety of dishes at reasonable prices.
The building’s new green and white paint job can’t disguise what is obvious to any Southerner: it used to be a Bojangles. Inside, however, a very nice remodeling job has been done; tan-and-cream colored booths are spaced around smaller tables on a beige tile floor. A counter with stools offers more seating. On each of my visits, the restaurant has been spotless and well-lit. The atmosphere is taken down a notch by the ever-present soft rock playing over the loudspeakers, but it makes for amusing conversation.
For this review I broke new personal ground by visiting House of Breakfast at the civilized hour of 5:30 p.m. – as opposed to my usual post-midnight routine. There were a few other diners, but it was by no means crowded.
My dinner companion and I were waited on very promptly by a friendly server. She went on to do an excellent job that evening, staying on top of refills and checking in without being overbearing.
House of Breakfast offers several appetizers, including chicken wings and tenders. We started out with cheese sticks. They were hot and thick, and the marinara sauce was just warm enough.
I threw dinnertime convention out the window and ordered breakfast. My stack of three pancakes ($2.95) was large and fluffy. As it should be in any establishment specializing in breakfast, syrup was already on the table … although warm syrup would have been a nice touch. Hashbrowns were $1.45 plus $0.25 for cheese. They were crispy and hot, and the cheddar cheese was worth the extra quarter. A side order of bacon ($0.95) yielded three large, crunchy strips.
My fellow diner had a chef’s salad (approximately $3) and a steak and cheese sub ($4.50). The salad was big and full of cheese and ham strips. The sub was also sizeable. All subs and sandwiches come with hashbrowns or crinkled french fries, which brings me to my favorite perk: seasoned salt on the fries. Marvelous.
It’s also worth noting that House of Breakfast also offers several dinner entrees, including steaks and chicken dishes. I cannot recommend the spaghetti with meat sauce highly enough. $6.95 pays for a huge serving of pasta with salad and garlic bread.The dessert menu features cheesecake, pie, ice cream, and – oddly enough – baklava.
Our total came to $22.41, but given the obscene amount of food we put away, I didn’t begrudge House of Breakfast a cent. Whatever time of day or night you get the munchies, it’s a solid choice and a great entry into the local late-night restaurant bunch.