Recently I was invited to come back and check out Snooze AM Eatery. Snooze AM Eatery originally opened a location in Hillcrest (which we visited!) but there’s a newer spot in Del Mar as well. Their roots are in Denver and I’m glad they made the trek out West since their breakfast items are totally delicious.
We went on the morning of the Super Bowl so while it looked crowded to us, our waitress told us it was actually “slow” for them. I’m sure this place is usually completely packed. If you’ve ever just driven by a Snooze AM Eatery then you’ve seen the crowd hanging around outside waiting for a table.
Lucky for us we didn’t have to wait for a table (yay) and we were able to start right off with some delicious freshly squeezed orange juice. I love that they have their own glassware with their cute symbol/logo.
[candy apple pancake]
Our waitress surprised us by ordering a pancake for us right off the bat. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have ordered this pancake myself and that would have been a shame. I think the word “candy” in the title would have shied me away but it actually wasn’t overly sweet. It is a buttermilk pancake filled with caramelized apples and topped with caramel apple glaze, whipped mascarpone and a sprinkle of spiced pie crumble. The spiced crumble was probably my favorite part of the pancake. It had a great slightly spicy crumble full of flavor that really added to the flavor of the pancake.
Here’s a little peek at the pancake itself. The pancake was so soft, light and fluffy with a bit of the apple on the left. The apples had the skin still on but was soft enough to match with the pancake. So good!
Breakfast overview.
[Ham Benedict III and Chile Verde Benny]
The cool thing about Snooze is that you can really customize your breakfast by mixing and matching anything on the menu. In fact, they encourage you to do this! Whereas other places don’t want you messin’ with their menu, Snooze will glad make your plate as customized as you want. I didn’t go too crazy here but I got two different Benedicts.
This is the Ham Benedict III, a benedict closer to the classic version of eggs benedict. It has an English muffin topped with shaved hickory smoked ham, poached eggs and smoked cheddar hollandaise. Usually Canadian bacon is used but their hickory smoked ham was a really excellent replacement. It had a subtle smokiness and the ham was quite tender. I loved the smoked cheddar hollandaise as well, which gave the whole thing an extra kick of spice and flavor from the extra creamy sauce.
This is the Chile Verde Benny which was made with slow cooked pulled pork over a stack of green chile sauced tortillas and melted cheese with poached eggs and green chili hollandaise. There was also a pico de gallo on the side and it was all topped with cotija cheese. This item turned out to be much better than I thought it would. There was a little stack of four tortillas that were grilled so they had a little extra bite and crispiness. The pulled pork was heavenly and that creamy green chili hollandaise was to die for! I couldn’t believe how good it was since I usually shy alway from green chilis but this sauce was really on the creamy, decadent side.
[snooze spuds deluxe]
Jake picked out this dish, the Snooze Spuds Deluxe, which is basically their yummy hash browns covered in melted cheddar and jack cheese, scallions and then filled with “extra stuff”. Jake picked beef barbacoa (because uh, when was the last time you saw that at on a breakfast menu) and I picked caramelized onions as the other filling. Jake added an egg on top for extra richness and this made for an incredible dish. The hash browns are cooked nicely here and this was almost like eating a plate of nachos… but with hash browns instead of chips or fries!
I also selected the pancake of the day for another sweet treat for us. This was probably the only “miss” for us that day. It was a buttermilk pancake topped with “muddy buddies” or “puppy chow” – you know, that sweet stuff they make with Chex, peanut butter, chocolate and powdered sugar. That was sprinkled on top and it tasted kinda of old and stale on top of the pancake and just made it too sweet overall. It was only a daily special though so at least they’re always trying out new flavors to see what works and what doesn’t.
T picked a breakfast sandwich called the B.E.A.T. sandwich. It comes with belly bacon, a fried egg, arugula and sliced tomato served with bacon-tomato aioli on a toasted ciabatta roll. I broke off the end pieces of the bacon to try and DEAR GOD why didn’t I order a side of bacon?! The bacon was perfectly crisp with a good portion of meat to fat creating the ultimate bacon-y bite. And I didn’t even the sandwich, just the bacon! T loved this thing, obviously. Jake and I were already starting to get full from sharing everything else, oy.
[omg french toast]
We had talked to the manager, Justin, for a bit and he asked if we had tried the french toast. We told him we hadn’t and he pretty much said it was totally necessary for our lives and put in a little order for us. And I have to say that Justin was right on the money because this was probably the BEST french toast I’ve ever had. It’s named the “OMG” French Toast because whoever sampled it first, her first words after eating a bite were “Oh my god”. Haha!
This crazy good french toast uses Bread & Cie’s brioche and is stuffed with mascarpone then griddled and topped with vanilla crème, salted caramel, fresh strawberries and toasted coconut. The outside has that perfect amount of outside crispiness while the inside is creamy, soft and fluffy. The creme and caramel and bits of toasted coconut flavor and sweeten the french toast in place of your usual maple syrup. It’s just enough sweetness to make you fall in love with it. The sliced strawberries make you feel like you’re at least making the effort to be healthy.
Snooze AM Eatery is really serving up over the top, excellent quality breakfast food with chill, laid back service. Their “anything goes!” approach to the menu and the variety of items available to sure to satisifty your sweet tooth or your savory side. I’m gonna need that french toast and a side of bacon again in the very near future…
Snooze AM Eatery
3435 Del Mar Heights Road, Suite D3
San Diego, CA 92130
858-703-5300
Hours:
Mon-Fri 6:30am – 2:30pm
Sat-Sun 7am – 2:30pm
Disclaimer: I was invited to dine at the restaurant through a PR firm. Our meal was complimentary. All opinions stated here are my own.
I’ve only tried the Hillcrest location and since it was a weekday, early morning, it wasn’t crowded. My sis likes their pancakes but I think they are too sweet. They do have interesting combinations. I know Bert would like their Eggs Benedict offerings.
Bert would probably also like their peanut butter pancake! I think it might be a PB & Chocolate pancake, I can’t remember, we got it the first time we went. The Del Mar location isn’t super far from where I work, been thinking lately about popping in for a late lunch there and hoping it isn’t crowded.
Your description of the french toast pretty much makes me want to go stand outside of Snooze and wait for it to open right now.
And the pork chili verde benedict!!! I would totally order that. Sounds amazing.
Hahah! Damn, it was good french toast. I make this brown sugar syrup for pancakes instead of maple syrup that tasted kind of close to their sauce on top. I should probably document it for the blog someday… I wish I was eating that french toast for breakfast right now. Le sigh.
We went here for Dennis’s birthday last april but gosh darn it, can’t remember too many details (didn’t take notes) so I’ve got these awesome pictures in a draft, waiting for a revisit! I think everything was a bit too sweet on my visit though. I loved the OMG french toast as a sample during taste of hillcrest but didn’t seem the same in full form. Me thinks a revisit is due anyway!
Hi Lynn! I think if you only have pancakes and french toast the meal can seem way too sweet. I kind of think that whenever I only order those. I always want something savory and sweet with my breakfast so it balances out a little better. Gosh, I don’t remember trying any of their samples during Taste of Hillcrest! That’s a great sample to give out.