For the most important meal, 5 fun and over-the-top breakfasts at the Jersey Shore
Has your New Year's resolution to eat healthy worn off yet?
If so, these are the breakfasts for you.
Avocado toast and oatmeal, they are not. But starting the day with a dish that is exciting, creative and a little over the top is fine now and then — especially on weekends. You can have that egg white omelet tomorrow.
Here are five fun breakfasts to try at the Shore.
French toast bowls at Meemom's, multiple locations
Breakfast meets dessert in Meemom's French toast bowls, featured on the restaurant's new winter menu.
The dish is made from crispy, bite-sized pieces of French toast bites loaded with toppings. The bowls are available in peanut butter cup, with Reese's Pieces, peanut butter sauce, chocolate sauce and whipped cream; Cinnamon Toast Crunch, with churro bites, cinnamon maple glaze, vanilla sauce and whipped cream; Cookie Monster, with Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate and vanilla sauces and whipped cream; and banana split, with strawberries, bananas, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles ($15).
And Meemom's knows French toast. The dish was a favorite of its namesake, owner Camryn Monteforte's grandmother, and a focus of the menu when Meemom's first opened. Today, each of the restaurant's three locations serves more than 20 varieties of French toast.
Go: 1825 Route 35 in Wall, 732-359-8544; 1383 Route 35 in Middletown, 732-856-9499; 56 Chambers Bridge Road in Brick, 856-473-3733; meemoms.com.
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The 'Cereal Killer' at Shore Good Eats 'n' Treats, Neptune City
Shore Good Eats 'n' Treats is known for making fun food, like pot roast egg rolls, cheesesteak grilled cheese, and cheesy bacon ranch butterfly fries.
The same is true for breakfast, when the menu includes a dish called The "Cereal Killer." This is a cereal-infused Belgian waffle topped with whipped cream, more cereal, and a drizzle of vanilla and strawberry icings ($10.99).
Bring your sweet tooth!
Go: 120 W. Sylvania Ave., Neptune City; 732-770-2530, shoregoodeats.com.
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Coffee flight at The Skillet, Freehold Township
Can't decide which coffee to try? Order them all!
The four-cup coffee flights at breakfast and brunch spot The Skillet come hot or iced, and customers can choose from flavors like brown sugar, s'mores, salted caramel, coconut mocha and coconut mint ($18.50 for iced, $20.50 for hot).
For an over-the-top brunch dish to go with your coffee, try the tomahawk steak breakfast board. It comes with a 40-ounce steak, sliced and served on a board with waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, eggs and toast ($135, feeds four to five people).
Go: 300 Mounts Corner Drive, Freehold Township; 732-308-3350, theskilletnj.com.
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The Speakeatery, Asbury Park
Like Shore Good Eats 'n' Treats, The Speakeatery is know for fun, creative, tasty food — such as the Turk Diggler, a Thanksgiving sandwich with smoked turkey, garlic parmesan mashed potatoes, bacon gravy and cranberry aioli on buns made from stuffing.
You have to wait until November for that one, but a right-now breakfast option is Top O' The Massacre. The hearty breakfast sandwich has the usual eggs and cheese, plus hash browns, sausage gravy and three kinds of breakfast meat — sausage, bacon and pork roll — on a round roll ($15.25)
Go: 705 Cookman Ave., Asbury Park; 732-898-9456, thespeakeatery.com.
The 'Big Country' at Jersey Shore BBQ, Point Pleasant Beach
This dish, which has been served at Jersey Shore BBQ since owner Douglas Walsh added breakfast service last fall, is rib-sticking in the best way.
The "Big Country" is an open-face plate of biscuits, fried chicken and sausage gravy with eggs on top ($15). It's a favorite of head chef Danny Brown.
"We make the buttermilk biscuits fresh every morning," he said, "and I love a good savory breakfast."
For something different, try kolache (or klobasnek), a new addition to the breakfast menu. A Czechoslovakian-inspired dish that is popular in Texas, the restaurant's kolache is sweet bread stuffed with sausage and cheese. A sweeter option with cream cheese filling also is available.
Go: 710 Arnold Ave., Point Pleasant Beach; 732-899-4400, jerseyshorebbq.com.
Sarah Griesemer joined the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey in 2003 and has been writing all things food since 2014. Send restaurant tips to [email protected], follow on Instagram at Jersey Shore Eats and subscribe to our Jersey Shore Eats newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jersey Shore restaurants serve over-the-top breakfasts
