This Week's Counter: Slyman's

This time a counter that’s a little bit out of the ordinary – at least as breakfast goes.  While it’s very famous for it’s massive corned beef sandwiches that cause lines out the door during lunch time, Slyman’s down on St. Clair near 30^th is not generally known as a breakfast place.  But it does have a counter, and so we topped in mid-morning to give it a try.

No problem getting seats at the counter, which was not surprising since the lunch corned beef rush was over an hour away.  We were sitting right next to where he cooks getting ready for lunch – endless slabs of corned beef and slicers running non-stop.  It looked great – have to go back for a sandwich again some day (maybe after saving some money – It’s now $12.50 for a basic CB!).

Service was OK, not great – but friendly enough.  food was even better.  Cam chose a bacon and egg sandwich, which he thought was awesome.  Ted had his usual and everything was excellent --- good coffee, potatoes crispy and nothing greasy at all.   Really enjoyable all around and very inexpensive.  Highly recommend going for breakfast if you are in the neighborhood and it’s too early for a pound of corned beef for lunch!

       

Cam says: "Amazing breakfast sandwich, especially the rye. Comfortable counter and OK service.  I give this one 4 frying pans."

                                                       

Ted says: "Surprisingly good considering breakfast is now what they really do.  Next time I'll be adding a 'shot' of corned beef.  Very solid 4 frying pans."

                                                      

This Week's Counter: Kleifeld's

For this week's counter we went out to Willoughby, in Lake County.  We had read about Kleifeld's in the newspaper several weeks ago and decided to give it a try.  The town is a throwback to the early 20th century, with many old buildings along the main street.  And Kleifeld's is definitely stuck in a timewarp -- this place looks like it's right out of the 1950's or 60's.  Wood-paneled walls, formica everywhere, old wooden tables, and the coolest feature of all --several old-style jukeboxes spread along the counter.  

Despite being very small and very busy on a Saturday morning, we got 2 seats toward the end of the counter (fortunately far away from from door -- it was maybe 10 degrees that morning).  We felt a bit out of place because everyone seemed to know everyone else -- this is a real "locals" restaurant.  But the servers were very friends, as we were the diners on either side of us who pointed out the chalkboard on the wall with specials, and made recommendations on what to order.

This is a classic breakfast place -- so that's what we had.  Cam picked one of the specials off the board -- eggs, bacon and HUGE pancakes.  Amazingly he made it most of the way through.  Ted had eggs, potatoes and toast -- boring but very good.  Coffee was fine, and service throughout was great.  This place is a bargain -- amazingly cheap, about $12 for the two of us.  Give it a try if you are in Willoughby!

Cam says: "Amazing atmosphere, delicious bacon, and awesome service.  I give this one 4 frying pans."

                                                       

Ted says: "The combination of great atmosphere and decent food means a strong 4 pans.  Nice to see that an old, family-run place can survive and thrive in modern time."