Brians' American Eatery

*** Brian's has closed

The Missus isn't really a "breakfast person" in the conventional sense. That is, She sometimes craves breakfast for dinner. And on a recent evening She had a craving for Wheat Germ Pancakes from Brians'. And Brians' serves breakfast all day.

Yes, it's called Brians', not Brian's, after the two Owners, who are both named Brian. I did a quick "handbag check", the Missus had rotated out the "Dior" and replaced it with a Fendi, so hopefully the Dior curse hadn't followed us. We drove up to Brians' which is located on busy Washington Street in Hillcrest, and is one of those popular and sometimes very crowded neighborhood diners.

We have always had very friendly service at Brians', and today was no exception. Since it was still fairly early for dinner, and the sun was out, we decided to sit on the patio.

The Missus ordered Her Wheat Germ Pancakes, but they were out, so She had the Whole Wheat Pancakes instead($5.99).

The full stack of whole wheat pancakes consist of 3 plate sized ground wheat pancakes. The pancakes were slightly nutty, and not overly sweet. The texture was slightly dense, but not as "chewy" as regular pancakes tend to be. With whipped butter, and maple syrup, the Missus stated that these were delici-yoso!!!

I've had a few dishes at Brians', and have found that the portions are always generous, but it's been hit and miss. Though today I decided to pull out all the stops, and order something interesting from the menu.

Yep, I got a Frankie Burger($9.89)! A 1/2lb burger topped with bacon and jack and cheddar cheese. But most of all it's got peanut butter on it! The menu says; "Don't be afraid!"

I'd say that you'll either immediately like or hate this burger, there's no middle ground. Though I'm not a peanut butter lover, I enjoyed the burger. The not overly sweet peanut bitter added a nice creamy richness to the burger, which was pretty darn good on it's own; seared on the outside, moist and tender in the interior. The peanut butter balanced out the saltiness of the bacon and cheddar cheese. The acid from the tomato helped cut through the richness.

The burger came with two sides and I chose fries:

The "natural style" fries, were "bleh", okay, but they got real soggy very quickly and needed alot of ketchup.

I also got the potato salad.

Red potatoes with a light coat of mayo, the salad had a huge amount of "pickle juice" that would have been off-putting on it's own, but in this case, the vinegar helped cleanse my palate of the peanut butter-cheese-bacon richness. I don't think I'd enjoy these as much with anything else. After eating all this I was stuffed silly!

I have always enjoyed the service at Brians', I also like the no-nonsense stuff. For instance we ordered coffee, and of course had ice water. And instead of having to flag someone down for refills they always leave a pot and a pitcher for our refills.

There are items on the menu at Brians' that I do not enjoy, but overall I consider Brians' to be a pretty good neighborhood diner, and the Missus loves those pancakes.

Brians' American Eatery
1451 Washington St
San Diego, CA 92103

Postscript: In case you're wondering why I ordered a Frankie Burger, it's because of our own little "Frankie Burger" - meet Frankie(burger....):

Comments

[DilS]

Several months ago, I succumbed to all the hype, and me and my "missus" headed down to Brians. That night, I ordered what was likely the grossest thing I have ever seen. It was the most disturbing piece of Prime Rib I had ever seen. It was all fat, pink, and very very scary looking. The food is disgusting. I will never be back.

[dietchilicheesefries]

hurray for the fendi bag!

the missus should retire the Dior bag or maybe give it to someone she really doesn't like too much... LOL

wow... peanut butter on a burger, kirk, you are fearless my friend...

[Kathy]

Peanut butter burger - that's a new one. I just might give it a try next time I turn on the grill at home.
Could there be a cuter dog? Frankie looks so innocent and eager all at once!

[Scott]

Wow! Peanut butter - now I've heard it all. Not really probably but close! Good looking burger though, not to mention the potato salad.

How are the omelets?

[Scott]

Oh yes, great dog picture. I've converted my tiny blog to all dog pictures all the time. Never will there be a post without a doggie.

[Jack]

And don't forget, they are open late...24hours on the weekend for the night owls.

[James]

Wow Kirk, I saw that Frankie Burger on the menu before and never had the gusto to really go for it. But since it wasn't the 'Skippy' brand PB it looks a lot more palatable now. I'd need an empty stomach to get it all in though! I wonder if Brians' uses PB from Spread for the Frankie.

When I went to Brians' I usually got the Breakfast Croissant, that's my trusty dish there.

[RONW]

guess you weren't kidding Scott....

[Kirk]

Hi DilS - Thanks for taking the time out to comment. Ugh, the food you described doesn't sound like good eats. How unfortunate, I've never had any dinner entrees or specials at Brians' so I wouldn't know. I did enjoy your remark about "hype", I didn't know that Brians' was really "hyped-up"!

Hi DCCF - LOL, man! The peanut butter tasted pretty good on the burger.

Hi Kathy - Frankie thanks you! Have you ever made Shoyu-Peanut Butter-Miso Grilled Chicken? It's really good stuff.

Hi Scott - I prefer the omelets at Perry's. I also don't care much for the salads at Brians'. But the omelets aren't bad.
I did notice all of the dog photos that now populate Your site.

Hi Jack - Thanks for the reminder, I forgot that they are open 24hrs on the weekend.

Hi James - The burger is very filling, and I think is a bit on the "rich" side, so being hungry is a must.

Hi RONW - LOL! The Missus wants to set up Her own Blog with just pictures of Sammy & Frankie....

[Joan]

Kirk,
I must not have read the menu very thoroughly the last time I was at Brians', b/c I never knew there was a burger w/ peanut butter on it :) I don't think I'm as brave as you, but I appreciate the description! And, your Frankie is too cute! When do we get a Sammy pic? When you do another Sammy Sushi review?

[Maureen]

When peanut butter and burger are put in the same sentence - that does sound scary. However, when I think about it the sates in Thai restaurants have a sauce served with it made with peanut butter. The West African dish - groundnut stew - is a curry with peanut butter in the sauce. I bet Barbara Fisher at Tigers & Strawberries grinds up some nuts for some of her Asian dishes. So.....maybe it's not so scary now. Something to ponder and maybe even try out.

[J.P.]

Maureen's comment reminded me about the Filipino dish "Kari Kari" - ox tails and veggie's stewed in a PB based sauce. Good eats and one of those dishes that taste even better the next day. Darn it, now I'm hungry for some Filipino food.

[Green Turtle]

It's scary when run-of-the-mill restaurants are charging about $10 for a burger nowadays. Kinda makes Carls Jr's $6 restaurant style burger commercials seem out of date. I dunno, I still prefer Jack in the Box's $3.99 bacon cheese ciabatta burger. Have you been to Bollweevil's? The Serra Mesa edition of the Pennysaver recently has been having some buy 1 get 1 free 1/2lb burger coupons in it. I guess I just don't like the feeling of overpaying for something, like the time you went to Taste of Italy for those $10 bleah sandwiches.

[Kirk]

Hi Joan - I think there's a "smattering" of Sammy around:

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2005/08/ez_take_out_bur.html#comments

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2005/11/chchchain_popey.html

Not tired of my Sammy's Sushi posts - I haven't been there in about a month - I've got to think of something interesting....

Hi Maureen - Actually sate was the first thing that came to mind. Though this is alot different.

Hi JP - I guess people get kind of freaked out when they see peanut butter and hamburger in the same sentence. Let's see peanuts are the "norm" for many dishes, but not really for a burger, no? BTW, in the Karekare that "Lola" makes, the peanut butter taste is not really that strong, especially after we add the bagong.....

Hi Green Turtle - Well, this isn't fast food. Well let's see what does a quarter pounder cost nowadays? So think two of those with a large order of fries, and another side....does that come close to like $8? It was alot of food and tasted better then most fast food burgers...though I'd still enjoy a Fatburger on the Char alot more.

[Kirk]

Hi Green Turtle - BTW, Bollweevil is coming up. Didn't know they had a "Serra Mesa" location - I know they have a branch on Clairemont Mesa and Ruffin Rd......

[Pam]

awwww! lookit frankie and his rainbow scarf...too cute!!! i don't know if i could have done peanut butter on a burger. maybe next time i bbq at my place, i'll try it. uh, then again...

[Kathy]

Hi Kirk,
Do you have a recipe for the shoyu peanut butter miso chicken? I really want to try it!

[Rachel]

Hi Kirk!!! Have missed your eating adventures. You were indeed adventurous with the Frankie burger. I have noticed that americans have a intense love affair with peanut butter. Alot of Aussies are allergic to peanuts I think the figure is something astounding like one in five hundred or something like that. Too bad as its nice in lots of ice cream and candy :) Look forward to catching up to some of your food :)

[Dils]

Kirk,

The "hype" I was speaking of pertains to the fact that the restaurant is ALWAYS packed. (I live down the street)

:)

[Kirk]

Hi Pam - The burger was pretty good - though not something I would crave.

Hi Kathy - I'll email you the recipe when I dig it out. It's really easy, something like 1/4cup white miso, 1/4cup Aka miso, 1/2 smooth peanut butter, 1/2 cup shoyu, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup beer, chili flakes, garlic and ginger - marinate chicken thoghs overnight - then grill.

Hi Rachel - Welcome back, we've missed you!

Hi Dils - Gotcha', but then again, under that criteria, there's alot of restaurants that could qualify!