WakeUp LA: Toast

Enjoying a latte at Toast means getting there early. Early.

Here's what you know about Toast whether you've been there or not: it can get insane. Insane. The late breakfast/long lunch crowd swells in proportions that are greater than the restaruant's ability to contain them. If you've never eaten at Toast but have driven by at, well, most hours of the day, you know what we mean. Nuts.The photo at the top of Toast's website perfectly captures the madness, with people crowded inside, people crowded outside, and a line of hungry people that give you the "come on, eat fast, I'm hungry too" eyes.

There's a trick to Toast, a "toast-trick" if you will, that we'd like to share with you: go early and go often. Meet a friend for breakfast at 7:30am on a weekday and you'll have the place mostly to yourself. It is cozy (although they're currently doing some weird expansion or re-decoration which we don't quite get), the staff is so friendly it kind of blows your mind, and the food is great. Best of all: no waiting, no dirty looks from tomorrow's would-be starlets while you nosh.

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Our favorite part about Toast is the lattes. They're creamy and oh so good in a way that even King's Road can't match. Really. If lattes didn't make us jitter without food, we'd say their lattes are such heaven, you don't really need anything else.

But if you do - their french toast is divine (as it should be, with a name like Toast) and if you're up for lighter fare, their scramblettes (that's an omlette that is scrambled) are very good. You can choose from egg whites or whole eggs and they'll toss just about anything in there, from in-season veggies to turkey sausage to feta. You can order these same ingredients in an omlette (where the eggs "encase" the ingredients, our waiter informed us), but why would you order a plain old omlette when you can say "scramblette" out loud. It's kind of fun. Say it. Scramblette. See?

Feta & spinach Scramblette. Scram-blette.

Fresh fruit and toast with a turkey sausage and spinach s-c-r-a-m-b-l-e-t-t-e.

If you'd like to be bad at Toast, that can also be arranged. They have a case of baked goods and pastries that will seriously challenge your will to eat a healthy scramblette for breakfast. We were tempted to order a latte and a big fat piece of red velvet cake instead. Either way you slice it (the toast and the cake), Toast mostly lives up to the lines outside. Just, you know, go when you don't have to wait in them.

Toast Bakery & Cafe
8221 West 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323.655.5018