No. 24 rewrite

THE OMELETTE PARLOR

Shout it from the rooftops: The Omelette Parlor is Colorado Spring’s best homestyle breakfast place. Not a morning person? Cold and gray outside? Never you mind. It’s always summer on the farm here and the hens lay golden eggs—the better to make delectable omelettes, of course. (And skillets, pancakes, and Belgian waffles.)

Consistently voted “Best Breakfast”, “Best Omelette”, and “Best Hot Cakes” by readers of both the Independent and the Gazette, the O.P. delivers. Meet the stars of the omelette show:

The Godfather: Italian sausage, green peppers, onions, mozzarella, marinara

The Great Chili Cook Off!: cheddar cheese, pork green chili

11-Miles or Almost: “almost” crab, avocado, Monterey Jack

Others include W.J Palmer, Founder (the baked potato omelette I ordered and very much enjoyed); Manitou Springs V.F.D.; and I quote, NO MEADOW MUFFINS HERE (diced green chilies and cheddar, with sour cream on the side). Humor and a local history lesson wrapped in a breakfast treat Julia Child would have endorsed? Hallelujah, I love homecookin’.

Served with every breakfast entrée is a whole-wheat English muffin, fruit, and country-style potato medallions that taste like they were fried up in Grandma’s big black skillet, perhaps by Grandma herself.

The menu also boasts some glorious pancakes that arrive fluffy, hot, and thirsty for syrup, and a made-from-scratch Belgian Wonder Wa-full you might have to share with yourself later on, for lunch. And if you can’t make it happen on your first visit, do come back to try the skillets, especially if you’re in a lumberjack competition afterwards. With options of chorizo sausage, red peppers, rib-eye steak, green chili, and various cheeses, Mount Elbert, Alamo, and Cowboy Hall-of-Fame, among others, are hearty, colorful, and HUGE.

Breakfast is served all day, but traditional lunch offerings abound. Sandwiches piled deliciously with fresh veggies and meats, with nicknames like Kissing Camel and The Bronco, and salads packed with all sorts of creative goodies—snowpeas, guacamole, or hot bacon dressing—are good choices. There’s also homemade soup and green chili by the cup or bowl.

Of course, skeptics clamored for a negative word about this place, so what the heck? I’ll gripe a little: the outside signs are run-down and need touch-up paint. The ancient children’s booster seats should be replaced. The women’s bathroom floor was missing a tile or two, and yes, the omelettes would have been even better had they arrived to our table piping hot. Otherwise, the service was accommodating, the coffee flavory. There were murals on the wall depicting the secret lives of hens and roosters, and the price was right. Allow me to cast my vote into the big Colorado Springs hat and concur: The Omelette Parlor rules the roost.

900 East Fillmore Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80907

719.633.7770

www.co-spgs-omeletteparlor.com

Hours:

Open Daily, 6am – 2pm

Estimated cost per person: $6 – $10.