A Tale of Two Brunches: Jimmy’s and Juliette

I am fortunate to live in a place like Williamsburg, where people LOVE brunch. There are so many great spots, and I visited two of them in the past two weeks.

The first one was last weekend during the marathon. Ange and I woke up (somewhat hungover), to the sounds of screaming marathon-runners and the cheering supporters on the side. What would you call those people? Athletic supporters? Maybe not. So anyway, we decided to go watch them a little considering it was a gorgeous day. After a few minutes we realized that watching all these people exercise was making us hungry, so we decided to try to go to Egg. Yea..good luck with that one. So we tried the next best thing (or I guess the closest next best thing?) which is Juliette, right next door on North 5th between Bedford and Berry.

Juliette had only a 20-minute wait during prime brunch time, so I was happy about that. I was also happy after reading the menu and seeing something called Roasted Banana Stuffed French Toast. We looked at each other and just said, "um…we HAVE TO get that." It's awesome to have friends who get me and my appetite. So we started with that, which was like a little plate of happiness topped with rainbows and sprinkled with joy. SO good. Sweet and fluffy with a slight crust on the bananas, mashed bananas inside the french toast batter, and topped with candied walnuts. I salivated just thinking about it. The only thing that MAYBE rivals this was the vanilla bean french toast at The Smith in the East Village..

Juliette French Toast 1 
Drool..

After we gorged on that, I still wanted eggs. I'm obsessed with eggs. Two things I eat everyday (or try to) are eggs and spinach. I eats me spinach. I ordered the Farmers Breakfast, and Ange got the Eggs Benedict. Both good, but I think Eggs Benny always trumps two eggs over easy with turkey sausage – doesn't it? I always get eggs benny so I like to change it up every now and then. The turkey sausage was really good though – nice and spicy. Overall it was good, maybe not as good as Egg, but it's a solid second option.

Juliette Eggs 1 
Farmers Breakfast

Now, if you want to go a little more crazy and a little more fatty, head over to Jimmy's Diner on Union Ave. I thought they were closed, but do not believe that; I got a tip that they ARE indeed open, AND they supposedly make really good chicken and waffles. Who the F doesn't like chicken and waffles?? So I told Hal that we need to go asap and of course, he was game. This is why we're friends.

This place is damn small, but I guess the real estate term for it would be "cozy". We went around 12:45 and it was a 30 minute wait. Ehhhhh ok. For chicken and waffles I'd wait it out. So we did. Once seated (countertop, at the bar, but we didn't care), we were given two fairly big donut holes (like Munchkins on steroids) rolled around in cinnamon sugar. Yum. Then Hal noticed that they have shakes, so we got the mocha shake (these are also available with alcohol – yay!), which was more chocolate, less mocha. Still good though.

Now..the pièce de résistance. Just…look at that monstrosity. I know, I know. I probably gained 5 pounds just from eating it, but we split it, so it made me feel ok about it. The chicken was REALLY juicy and the skin was crisp and salty, just the way perfect fried chicken should be. The waffle was nice and soft, and the country gravy put it over the top. Or maybe the syrup did. I actually really liked the syrup with it. For those of you who have never tried it, I know it sounds weird, but I promise you it is worth a shot. The combo of salty/sweet is what makes this dish so famous..

Jimmys Diner 1 
Gluttonous..but worth it.

Again, I needed my eggs. So I got the 3 egg scramble with turkey sausage, chedder and tomato. Oddly enough, not that great. The cheddar didn't have a lot of flavor and I had to put A LOT of hot sauce on the eggs. The home fries were really good though, as was the cornbread. Hal got the "Tater Haven" which was tater tots covered with eggs, pepperjack cheese and guacamole. Clearly the better decision, even by description. Sigh…ordering fail on my part.

Of the two brunches, I'd go back to both for sure – it would just depend on what I was in the mood for. But for other meals, Jimmy's had a lot of awesome late night foods on the menu like Disco Fries, Fried Pickles and Sticky Rib Tips…so I have a feeling if I go back anywhere soon, it will be Jimmy's.    

 

Juliette
135 North 5th St (btwn Bedford and Berry)
718-388-9222
 
Jimmy's Diner
577 Union Ave (btwn Frost and Richardson – nr N 10th)
718-218-7174

 

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