ALSO SERVES: dinner. 719 E. Pike St., 206- 323-6636. CAPITOL HILL $ www.rosebud-restaurant.com
Salvadorian Bakery
Save room for the cookies and pastries (if not an entire cake) at the Salvadorian Bakery.
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There's the ID you know, and then there's the international district you might not know. Radiating from Roxbury Street and 16th Avenue Southwest are Vietnamese noodle shops, a Cambodian grocery store, awesome taco trucks, and my favorite non-food-related White Center businessman, this really sweet airbrush artist who will, for a modest fee, put your pit bull, muscle car, or favorite smokable leaf on a tank top. And then there are the pupusas. Over at the Salvadorian Bakery, these traditional fried cornmeal cakes come stuffed with various combinations of pork, beans, cheese, and loroco, a flower petal that's treated like a vegetable. Curtido, El Salvador's spicy coleslaw, goes on top (you need it to cut the grease; these things ain't light). The bakery serves pupusas all day long, but because the coffee is also so good, I like two (they're smallish, like tacos) for late breakfast on the weekends. And save room for something sweet; the selection of cookies and pastries is amazing. LAURA CASSIDY
ALSO SERVES: lunch and dinner. 1719 S.W. Roxbury St., 206-762-4064. WHITE CENTER $
Sunflour Bakery Cafe
At the intersection of the Bryant, Ravenna, and Wedgwood neighborhoods in Northeast Seattle, this is one of those establishments that can be relied on as a landmark (atop one of the 65th Street hills), a place to meet (plenty of space on weekdays), and a very dependable place to eat (with careful attention to wine at dinner). Breakfast distinguishes Sunflour, though, because they do the basics very well and keep the menu simple, but they add some spice to the list with, notably, a Mediterranean omelet—the best omelet we've ever had—and a smoked salmon scramble. Weekend brunch brings a crush of people to the homey dining room, but there are plenty of employees on hand and tables are cycled with efficiency. Oh, the bakery: Don't miss the sour cream walnut coffee cake. CHUCK TAYLOR
ALSO SERVES: lunch and dinner. 3118 N.E. 65th St., 206-525-1034. WEDGWOOD $
Vera's Restaurant
It's 9 a.m., sun streaming through the plate glass, putting needles into the blonde's slotted blue eyes. She looks unsteady, hung over. Mascara smeared, cigarette dangling, she sits by herself at the end of the counter. "What'll it be?" a server asks. "What you got?" the moll says, then flashes her ivories. I mean, who wrote this place, Dashiell Hammett? I ate here, now I'll see the movie. From the outside, Vera's is challenging; on one side, the metal kitchen equipment is backed up to the windows, giving it the look of an appliance repair shop. Yet through the front door is a set from The Sting: scattered tables and booths, hanging lamps, the blonde. A crowd of young moms and dads with kiddies is a streak of reality. So is the food: My routine eggs Benedict is $8.95 (with mushy hash browns). The brunette alongside me has strawberry waffles with an aerosol squirt of whipped cream for $6.95; coffee costs $3.56. But sometimes the setting trumps the story, and the locals routinely pick this one as their favorite for breakfast. Besides, the service is tops: "Good job, by the way" says the guy who picks up our cleaned plates. The brunette rubs her hand sensuously along the flat surfaces of the booth. "Absolutely spotless," she says. As we part, I flash a passing squint at the blonde. She turns her wet eyes, then smiles a hard goodbye. I'll always remember her, egg in her teeth. RICK ANDERSON
ALSO SERVES: lunch. 5417 22nd Ave. N.W., 206-782-9966. BALLARD $
Wild Mountain Cafe
Perhaps one of the weirdest brunch items in town is found here at this female-owned, green-minded, eggplant-colored home-turned-restaurant. Wild Mountain's Persian Sun is tahini-stuffed French toast topped with pineapple, drizzled with lemon-honey, and served with a side of ham. Weirder still, it works—but then again, I've yet to outgrow a childhood habit of putting peanut butter on my French toast; Wild Mountain's twist is earthier and more refined, but pretty darn similar. Also highly recommended are the roasted garlic potato cakes—which combine everything you love about hash browns and mashed potatoes—that accompany most egg dishes. LAURA CASSIDY
ALSO SERVES: lunch and dinner. 1408 N.W. 85th St., 206-297-WILD. CROWN HILL $ www.wildmtncafe.com
