big city bread (athens, ga)

After visiting the Athens Farmer's Market on an early Saturday morning, I met up with a couple good friends for breakfast at Big City Bread. Unfortunately, my dear companions decided to show up late - 35, freaking minutes late. Hungry, decaffeinated, genuinely pissed off and tortured by the smell of fresh coffee and baked goods, I sat in my car. Waiting. After checking daily e-mails, random Tweets and going through half of the 1984 album, my punctual friends finally arrived.

Screw the relaxing, Euro sidewalk like atmosphere - I headed straight for the food. I caught a glimpse of the daily specials while walking in and decided to go with the tomato, basil, garlic, bacon and provolone omelet. CYP2E1 VPal got the salmon, egg and cheese bisuit while the ever trusty Ryne got the bacon, egg and cheese biscuit. Coffee for all of us was an absolute and we decided to go with the Big City Blend courtesy of Jittery Joe's.

The bakery offers a variety of baked goods ranging from cakes, cookies, croissants, your basic baguettes and everything in between. Their French bread must be popular because they were all out when I tried to get one. Perhaps next time. Staff is friendly and helpful in choosing your food.

After ordering, you pick up a numbered pole much like a BBQ restaurant and choose your own seats. While the seats inside looked cozy and welcoming, it was too nice of a day to pass up eating outside. A minute after seating ourselves, the food started to come out. Extremely fast and quite unexpected. (However, we did notice that people who ordered after us got their foods pretty late. About 15 minutes I'd say) Maybe the bigass SLR camera gave it away that I was here for a review.

(bacon, egg and cheese biscuit)

 (salmon, cheese and egg biscuit)

The biscuits were quite large and had a good crust. It wasn't as soft as I like my biscuits to be but they weren't dry and butterless. I've had better elsewhere but my friends seemed to enjoy them. And to see them happily enjoying their breakfast on a Saturday morning is all I can ask for.

(delicious.)

I have to say, I wasn't really impressed with the omelet when it was presented. A meager, half of a strawberry placed next to a seemingly well cooked omelet. Oh well, what I really care about is the taste anyways and my friends - it was cooked extremely well. The omelet wasn't dried out and a semi-circle of coagulated sponge but quite light and delicate like a French omelet. The inside, a mixture of tomatoes, basil, garlic, bacon and provolone that was seasoned well and combined in proper proportion. For those wondering, the garlic wasn't overpowering and it complimented the rest of the ingredients with its slight undertone.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with Big City Bread. I like its calm, neighborhood and streetside like vibe where families and friends can enjoy their meals outside. Birds happily eat the crumbs beside you, dogs await in anticipation to get fed and toddlers are running about without a care in the world. I'm hoping to get my hands on a French bread next time and try their french toast with mixed berry syrup. A great, getaway from busy campus life and a new favorite for weekend breakfast. I leave Big City Bread as a happy man.