Whenever we head to my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, at least one visit to our neighborhood favorite, the Real Food Cafe, is in order. A couple weekends ago, we went three-for-three: three mornings in town, three breakfasts at Real Food. It’s not an addiction, we swear.
Real Food embodies everything we love about breakfast. It’s colorful, it’s familiar, it’s welcoming. And the menu is big enough to keep us second-guessing our orders.
Owner Frank Amodeo and his crew recently made our lives more complicated by expanding their menu. Naturally, our three visits included a sampling of the new items. My family is used to the routine now, where they don’t touch their food until I lean in and snap a picture. It’s not an addiction, I swear.
And now, your Real Food new menu item travelogue. First, the Healthy Start Waffle: a big crunchy waffle topped with berries, bananas, yogurt, and granola.
I love Real Food’s eggs benedict, and now Frank has started slinging the Irish Benedict. Take the poached eggs, English muffin, and hollandaise (plus a side of their amazing potatoes), but now add corned beef and spinach. It’s essentially corned beef hash with spinach and hollandaise. Winning combo.
As if their French toast isn’t rich enough, you can now bolster it with the Nutella Stuffed French Toast. Thick French toast with Nutella between the layers, an entire sliced banana (to keep it healthy), and chocolate syrup. Drink some coffee to balance out the sugar coma.
The Loaded Pancake is an occasional special that’s joined the new menu. A hang-over-the-edge-of-the-plate pancake with sausage and bacon in the batter, topped with two eggs cooked to order.
The new menu always includes the arrival (finally!) of Biscuits and Sausage Gravy. Frank and his crew make a thick, very chunky gravy (always good to see). The biscuits are nice and soft. Comes with two eggs.
Another crazy addition is the Wafflewich: scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheddar cheese between the two halves of a waffle. Brilliant.
They updated their already-popular list of scrambles and omelets, too. This is the new Capicola Scramble, with capicola (obviously), spinach, provolone, roasted red peppers, and basil.
And I cannot (CANNOT, I TELL YOU!) resist getting their classic Eggs Benedict. Perfectly poached eggs, Canadian bacon, English muffins, some of the best hollandaise ever, with a gigantic side of the best potatoes. Honestly, this might be my favorite breakfast. I mean, just look at it!
