Inside: Inn on Coventry

For nearly 30 years, the Inn on Coventry has been the quintessential neighborhood restaurant. The original three owners and cooks (the oldest is 96!) have been serving breakfast, lunch and dinner to locals, college students and those looking for a little morning grease to cure the previous night’s happenings at one of the neighboring watering holes.

Food: Just like any good neighborhood spot, you’re known for something. The Inn would like that to be home-style cooking at its best—traditional comfort food that’s likely to remind you of your childhood. After years of visits at every time of day, we think it’s breakfast (and Sunday brunch) that the Inn does best.

At breakfast, which is served all day, you’ll find all the standards—omelets, sandwiches, pancakes and waffles. Under pancakes, you can choose to order the regular buttermilk pancakes, or wisely upgrade to apple cinnamon, orange whole wheat, peanut butter chip or blueberry and cashew. We tried a single pumpkin ($3.49) and were quickly wishing it was a short stack. Simply great fluffy goodness. Pancakes are a specialty and we know why.

There’s also the slightly not-so-common finds like crepe of the day; sausage, gravy and biscuit; huevos rancheros; no carb bennie and meatless eggs Sausalito. There are a slew of omelets to chose from and, of course, their signature eggs Benedict.

Aside from the pumpkin pancake, we also sampled the chorizo scramble ($6.99) with tomatoes, peppers, onions and Jack cheese with a side of toast and hash browns plus the feta omelet ($8.44; more for egg whites) with spinach, olives and tomatoes and a side of toast and hash browns.

The scramble had great, fresh flavor, though we would have liked a bit more heat from the chorizo. The same goes for the omelet (that is big enough to share)—great flavor, but a little more feta and olives would have been nice. The perfectly crunchy and seasoned hash browns are wonderfully addicting and still just as good. Our only complaint here is with the ketchup; they offer Hunt’s instead of Heinz.

Décor: Twenty-nine years in business and this place hasn’t changed. It’s not stylish or current, yet the atmosphere is inviting and comfortable. You almost don’t want it to change because it’s familiar and welcoming. Grab a seat by the window and you can easily spend a couple hours people watching and chatting with fellow patrons and servers. It’s that kind a place—a true neighborhood spot.

Service: Just like you may expect, servers, some whom have been there since the beginning, are friendly and fairly laid back. Food is generally served promptly (though expect a slightly longer wait on weekends) and coffee is instantly refilled. If you’re a regular, you’re on a first name basis with most of the staff and well beyond small talk.

Insider tip: Though the morning is our favorite time to visit, the Inn makes a wonderful turkey chili that’s worthy of a late day visit.

Bottom line: You wouldn’t think this traditional, cozy restaurant would fit within this eclectic, diverse neighborhood. But the two go hand-in-hand and this community wouldn’t be the same without the homemade, comfortable eats the Inn has happily been serving since 1981.