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There's a sort of art form to a good breakfast, and LAist is extremely dedicated to unearthing the city's best. We take our breakfast seriously. We like choices, quality, substance, invention of ingredients, and that hard-to-come by feeling of satisfaction after a morning meal. A good cup of coffee and efficient service helps, too. Recently we made the foray down to the restaurant-heavy section of West Third Street, past The Grove and on the way to shopping heaven, AKA Robertson Boulevard, and to Doughboys.
It was late morning on a weekday, so we avoided the crowd and chaos we'd been forwarned about, and were seated right away in the expanded back section--we dig the egg-crate ceiling--and got right down to the menu. Joy and delight abound: Choices! So many choices it was staggering. Fun egg-centric options like Jelly-rolled omelets ($8.50) and Scrapple with dirty eggs ($8.75) danced before our eyes, but Doughboys is a bakery, and we were up for some baked goods. Perhaps some of their legendary stuffed french toast ($8.25)? We had to rule out the PBC&B, which is a peanut butter, bittersweet chocolate, and banana sandwich dipped in egg batter, grilled, and served with raspberry dipping syrup ($8.50) only because we were fairly certain it would kill us. So we went for the Sourdough semolina waffle, which came with a cool, creamy, lightly sweet topping of mascarpone cheese and a generous side of tangy-sweet cherry compote ($6.95). Our fellow breakfast adventurer opted for the Breakfast sandwich ($8.50) which is bigger than your head and oozing with melted cheese. We indulged in a little plate of cheese and onion covered potatoes to share ($3.95) and of course, cups of coffee.
The food at Doughboys is excellent. It's hearty, it's clever--but not too far afield. The portions are extremely generous, and a great value at the pricepoint; it's always nice to take good breakfast leftovers in a to-go box. Our waffle was light and fluffy, and the mascarpone and cherry compote made for the best accents imaginable; neither too sweet nor too overpowering. We were amused but also a little iffy about the syrup that comes served in recycled plastic personal care product bottles--for some reason we kept worrying that aloe vera gel would come dripping out instead of maple syrup! Just a little Doughboy quirk, and we didn't really mind it The place was bustling with friendly waitstaff and counter folk who were also dealing with folks taking out tons of their gorgeous baked goods that tried to seduce us from their display cases and shelves. The worst part was the bathroom, which they seem to share with the next-door Mexican restaurant, and you can only get to via the kitchen. We almost lost our recently digested meal when we walked through there and had to endure some strange smells back there. But we kept it together, and we'd love to keep going back to Doughboys, if only to move through the enormous menu and try some different things.
Doughboys
8136 West Third Street
(323) 651-4202
