Ann About Town and the Hidden Breakfast Restaurant

This week, I discovered a restaurant I had never heard of, hidden inside a restaurant I’ve known about for years.

Searching options for our weekly takeout dinner, I came across “Breakfast House.”  On a map, the location proved to be in Hannah Plaza at the same address as Pizza House. On Facebook, a search for “Breakfast House” takes you to “Pizza House,” where a post announces that on March 26 of this year, breakfast became a thing. (You can all pretend you knew about this already, but I’m not sure I’m buying it.)

I won’t take up much space here on Pizza House in general. If you live in or near East Lansing, you have undoubtedly eaten their pizza, salads, and sandwiches in the restaurant, at parties, and at catered business lunches. Because I’m not a big pizza eater, I have personally consumed at least 100 of their original Chapatis and would gladly eat 100 more. Suffice it to say they have earned a solid reputation for high-end pizza and a lot of other well-prepared options, as well as good service for in-house and delivery eating. It’s also always been a generally upbeat place to eat and drink good beer, wine, or cocktails, no matter the occasion.

But back to breakfast. The Breakfast House menu, for those of us who love breakfast food, is a wonderland: pancakes, waffles (including a Belgian option), breakfast sandwiches, French toast, breakfast burritos, omelets, biscuits and gravy, corned beef hash. It looked promising, but I was skeptical. Would the pancakes be those rubbery things made from a mix? Would all of it be fresh and made in-house? How could they possibly make all of these things in their kitchen on top of all of the things they were already making and maintain quality?

I don’t know how they did it, but their breakfast is just as good as their deep dish. We ordered based partly on variety, partly on personal preference, and partly based on what we thought would travel well in a takeout box. For the latter reason, we didn’t order pancakes, waffles, omelets, or anything (like the corned beef hash) topped with eggs cooked sunnyside up. That being said, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to find out Breakfast House had some miraculous way of packaging delicate food so that it was as good at home as it would be in the restaurant. You can also pick it up and eat it in the parking lot, in your car. All of your friends are doing it, whether they admit it or not.

Captain Carnivore ordered the basic Breakfast Burrito, filled with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, potatoes, and bacon. Other options were a Farmer’s Burrito or a Veggie Burrito, but had the Captain ordered a veggie anything I would have suspected foul play. The burrito was well-filled, the bacon still crisp, and the eggs moist. He also ordered the Classic Bacon, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich, on a croissant. (The other choice is a biscuit.) He enjoyed the sandwich but kept reminding me that he COULD have had a Glazed Donut Breakfast Sandwich had I been more open to sausage, eggs, and cheese, between two glazed donuts. I’m hoping you’ll try that one and let me know how it is; I might let him have one on his birthday.

I ordered Country Fried Chicken & Sausage Gravy, which is uncharacteristic because I generally hate all gravy. This, however, was kind of wonderful. The chicken was generous chunks of white meat, clearly hand-battered and fried to order. It was the very opposite of every previously frozen piece of chicken you’ve ever been served in a restaurant. The sausage gravy was mild and really, really delicious in combination with the spices in the chicken breading. The sausage gravy was so good, in fact, that the container somehow ended up on the Captain’s side of the table, and he was dipping both his burrito and sandwich in it. I think next time we might try to talk them into a side of sausage gravy.

We ordered a cinnamon roll for the Captain because it was a hard week, he loves them, and he was denied a sandwich involving glazed donuts. The roll was missing from the order, so I called and was immediately promised that they’d bring it to us. Within half an hour, the cinnamon roll was delivered to our porch. It was still warm, and it was truly fantastic. These are, after all, people who know dough.

It’s hard to imagine a situation in which ordering breakfast food would be the wrong choice. Kids love it, adults love it, and people who are still awake in the wee hours after a few cocktails really love it. There are plenty of choices for vegetarians, and I’m thinking next time I’ll try the Veggie Burrito or a Spinach & Feta Croissant.  The dine-in option also creates a whole new venue for breakfast meetings in East Lansing.

Breakfast House delivers (did I mention that because Pizza House is, well, a pizza house, they are way ahead on the delivery game?) until 4AM. You may also choose to pick up your order or dine in. And don’t forget, sometimes there’s nothing better than a piping hot order of banana pancakes eaten in your car, watching the traffic go by on Hagadorn.

Pizza House/Breakfast House is located at 4790 South Hagadorn Road, in the Hannah Plaza.