Due in 10 hours

Mmm Mmm Breakfast...

Rise and Shine, Foodies! Your weekend dose of the best BREAKFAST joints in San Diego by Cup-of-Joe

By Joe Flores | 06.14.17 // RWS 305w

RISE AND SHINE my fellow San

Diegan Foodies! Welcome back to yet

another weekend installment of some of the

BEST breakfast spots to eat in SD! My

blogger name is “Cup-of-Joe” for those

breakfast lovers who‟ve just decided to

subscribe to my blog. You‟re in for a real

treat, my fellow foodies! Now, wake up!

Despite the name of the next breakfast joint

I am about to introduce, you are REALLY

going to want to get up outta bed as soon as

that alarm goes off! This week we are taking

a sunrise visit to one of my new favorite

breakfast spots in San Diego thus far—

Snooze!

Story Time

Snooze, located in the heart of

Hillcrest, is an extraordinary and welcoming

A.M. eatery in one of the finest cities in San

Diego. Founded by brothers Jon and Adam

Schlegel, Snooze began waking people up

for delicious breakfast back in April of 2006

in Denver, Colorado. These awesome

brothers had a vision of evolving the A.M.

dining experience through culinary

innovation, an eclectic and energetic

atmosphere, and comfortable and friendly

service (Snooze eatery website). With their

motto being “It only takes a moment to

make a difference”— this is exactly what

Snooze does: makes a difference. Just as I

call ya‟ll my “Foodies,” the Schlegel

brothers refer to their customers as

“Snoozers.” For the past 8 years, Snooze has

brought in a diverse group of customers and

has satisfied the stomachs of thousands

throughout the country—specifically in

Colorado, California, Arizona, and Texas.

Zzzz...Rise and Shine! The Visit

Now that you‟ve read a little about

the history of Snooze, let‟s get down to the

nitty gritty about this damn place that

magically forced me out of bed at 7am and

didn‟t allow me to press my snooze button!

>:O Just kidding. It was completely

voluntary and, well, necessary, after I tell

you about the freakin‟ amazing experience

my partner and I had.

„Twas the night before June 4th, and

all through the house, my stomach was

rumbling, even the mouse (Insert drum noise

that follows a stupid joke). But seriously, I

made sure that I didn‟t eat a heavy dinner

the night before, so that I could splurge at

breakfast and not completely regret my life

choices. My partner, Arnold, and I decided

we were going to try Snooze for the first

time after all the hype we‟d heard from

friends, family, and that one annoying Yelp

app that everyone complains on.

When we arrived at 3940 Fifth Ave.

in Hillcrest, San Diego, we immediately

suffered from the “dang-there‟s-no-parking-

syndrome” that most San Diegans endure.

After fighting with a couple of hangry folks

for a parking spot, we finally found one and

began walking to Snooze. Upon arrival, we

were awed by the signage out front and the

really vibrant orange decor that

accompanied the outside of the building.

The orange chairs outside on the patio made

it easily recognizable and hard to miss. It

really caught our attention and made us

excited to see the inside.

When we walked in, we were

greeted by a young Hispanic fellow named

Joe. I joked that he took my name, in which

he looked at me with a confused face and

chuckled very lightly. Awkward! Joe was a

cool cat indeed—a total hipster with long

hair, one inch ear gauges, and sweet lookin‟

tattoos. I‟m sure he was wishing that he

were wearing his usual attire, which he

probably gets from the hipster store next-

door, Urban Outfitters, instead of wearing

the lime green Snooze shirt he was required

to wear. The first thing he asked for was

how many in my party. When I told him

there were two of us, he immediately

followed up with, “Okay! Right now we are

looking at a 30-minute wait.” My stomach

probably roared loud enough for the chefs in

the back to hear! Arnold and I weren‟t too

stoked for the wait time, however it was a

sacrifice we were committed to make. One

thing we loved was that we were able to

leave a phone number in which we would be

contacted when our table was ready. Very

convenient and high tech! Luckily, we

didn‟t have to go far because Snooze offers

different activities and games to entertain

customers while they wait. Although

horrible at this game, Arnold and I played

“bean bag toss” and failed miserably ;(

Finally, it was time to go in!

“Thank you for waiting! Your

table for two awaits. Please see

host for further instructions.

Enjoy your meal! -Snooze”

This was the text that I received on my

phone. We dropped the bean bags and ran

up to Joe for our “instructions.” We were

seated by a young woman with blue hair and

tattoos. Erin was her name. Erin was SO

nice! She gave us the small brown paper

menus and asked us if we wanted to start off

with some drinks. Now, what is a sunny

Sunday without mimosas?! Hello?! We

unapologetically ordered our drinks from the

morning cocktails menu. I ordered the

Choice Mimosa, which was a combination

of sparkling champagne with grapefruit

juice, and Arnold ordered the Mmm Mmm

Mimosa, which was made with freshly

squeezed orange juice and pomegranate

liqueur. Ooh yeah, it was the perfect start to

our mini Sunday adventure!

Ooooo, Aaaah-esthetics

Before we could even cheer, we

were immediately enthralled by the

ambiance of this place. I mean, when I say

aesthetically pleasing, I really mean to say

Snooze! The atmosphere, decor, color

scheme—you name it—was on fleek, as the

young people say nowadays (*eye roll). As

we first entered the glass doors, we first

noticed the color scheme. Snooze uses a

very soft blue, green, and orange for their

entire decor. It is very appealing to the eyes

and exhibits a sense of hospitality and

warmth. Before sitting down, we were

surprised by the size of the building. When

we looked up, it seemed as though you

could fly a kite in this place! The ceilings

were extremely high. The walls, although

just simple cement bricks, along with the

visible metal pipes and vents throughout the

place, gave the restaurant an industrial look.

The beautiful wooden floors were a nice

light brown color, totally making it feel like

you were in a modern home kitchen ready to

feast on bacon and eggs.

Since Snooze is an A.M. eatery, their

hours of operation are: seven days a week

from 6:30am - 2:30pm. Because of this,

lighting is never a problem. The large glass

windows along with the large skylight

window on the ceiling allow the sunniest of

suns to beam through the windows,

shedding warmth, happiness, and positivity.

The host staff that greeted us at the door, Joe

and another woman were sure to smile in

salutation and kindly welcome us to Snooze.

Most of the staff wore a light green, blue, or

orange shirt to match the thematic ambiance

of Snooze. I did notice that the manager,

Alecia Velasco, wore a black polo t-shirt.

We were able to decipher which person was

in charge simply by the attire and the

presence of that person. Alecia did a fine job

in greeting customers and leading her staff

in a professional yet relational manner.

Overall, the ambiance in Snooze was

very welcoming. The people who were there

to enjoy breakfast were so diverse and truly

looked happy to be there. Because we were

in Hillcrest, a city known for its LGBT

population, we were accompanied by some

beautiful and diverse individuals and

couples of all shades of color and walks of

life. It truly is a family restaurant full of life

and open-mindedness. We saw husbands

and wives, children, single people, gay

couples, straight couples, old, young, black,

white, and even dogs! Us, being a gay

couple, felt very comfortable and welcomed

in this friendly environment. TEN points for

equality and inclusion, Snooze! Thumbs

WAY UP! :)

Prior to visiting Snooze, I asked

Arnold to research the ratings of this joint on

Yelp, since I don‟t really like the app.

Whatever! He told me that Snooze Hillcrest

had a 4.5 star rating and a total of 4,437

reviews from critics like us all around the

SD area. One dish that stood out within the

Yelp app was the Pineapple Upside Down

Pancake. Being the SpongeBob, tropical,

pineapple lovin‟ guy that I am, it would be a

crime if I didn‟t try these bad boys! Because

I am a social media enthusiast and an

Instagram extraordinaire, I took to the

official Snooze Instagram to see some of the

pictures that people posted. With 31.7k

followers, this account sure does reach the

salivating mouths of thousands around the

globe.

“Snooze re-energizes the way

you think, feel, and ultimately

eat breakfast.” -Snooze IG

Foodie‟s Favorite Part [Food, duh!]

The time has come for me to share

the actual pieces of heaven that we

consumed that fine Sunday funday. When

Erin gave us the menu, we weren‟t just

thinking about alcohol, okay? We wanted

food too! In browsing the brown, eco-

friendly paper menu, I admired how

informal the menu was in regards to the

simplicity and lack of capital letters for the

main options. The food options included

silly and creative puns that would make

anyone LOL. Our options were: flavors

from the hen, the art of hollandaise, our

sammies, sweet utopia, like a feather, and

ahhh la carte. For those who are already

familiar with my favorite choice foods are,

you know that I LOVE a mean eggs

benedict! I decided to choose from the art of

hollandaise section and order the

Chilaquiles Benedict which was, according

to the menu, “Flavorful barbacoa beef over a

stack of ranchero sauced tortillas and melted

cheese, with poached cage free eggs, roasted

poblano hollandaise, pico de gallo and cotija

cheese” (Snooze). Yummmmmy! Of course

I wouldn‟t be the same Cup-of-Joe without

my actual cup of coffee and side of crispy

bacon. I ordered the House Coffee and was

able to utilize the little “build your coffee”

station located next to the bar full of a early

mornin‟ foodies and drunkies like myself.

Don‟t judge me, okay?! I added four packets

of brown sugar and half-and-half as usual.

As we sat and chatted about what we

were going to do with the rest of our day—

kaBAM! Our food was being served to us at

our bright orange table. We waited no more

than ten minutes for our food. Those chefs

were fast indeed. Now for the food that

made my life. When Erin placed the hot

plate in front of me, I was filled with

happiness and immediately took my phone

out to snap a picture, „cause ya know, that‟s

what the cool people do. The aroma of the

sizzling barbacoa beef and medallion style

hashed browns made my mouth instantly

water. The egg was perfectly poached and

fluffy for my liking and the pico de gallo

smelled fresh and ready to be eaten!

Arnold, being the sweet-tooth havin‟ person

he is, ordered from the sweet utopia section

of the menu and got the OMG! French

Toast, which was bread stuffed and topped

with vanilla creme, salted caramel, fresh

strawberries and toasted coconut. Because

my plate was so damn good, I didn‟t even

have time to look at his because our eyes

were glued to our plates in disbelief! But

here was his plate:

Overall, the service was AMAZING

and the food was just that as well. After

finishing our mimosas, coffee, and two

plates of food, we were kindly greeted by

Erin again with a few thank you‟s and the

bill. How inexpensive! Our total was

$38.76. What a steal! Especially for the

amount of food and beverage we consumed.

As we walked out, stomach bloated and all,

we said our farewells to Joe and Erin and it

was reciprocated. Such nice, friendly

people!

Egg - cellent Experience Indeed

All in all, the numerous rhetorical

strategies utilized by Snooze A.M. eatery

included the customer service, aesthetically

pleasing ambiance, the promotion, the decor,

and the friendly welcoming environment

help maintain and gain new customers

around the Hillcrest area. These intelligent

uses of rhetoric are beneficial to the Snooze

business as a whole and really satisfy both

customers and employees as well. People

really feel like a family when they eat at

Snooze restaurants. Arnold and I felt so

comfortable and most definitely compelled

to come back a second time—this time with

friends and family so we can show off the

food that we got last time and be able to say

“I told ya so!”

Cup-of-Joe’s Final Rating

My fellow hangry foodies, it‟s time for my

final rating for Snooze A.M. Eatery Hillcrest.

You ready? No? K, I‟ll wait. Now? Okay too

bad here it goes….

SNOOZE receives:

9.5 cup-of-joe’s / 10

THANKS TO ALL for visiting this week‟s

installment of Rise and Shine, Foodies!

If you are a breakfast lover like myself, please

be sure to hit subscribe so you can get all the

latest reviews of the best A.M. eateries in SD!

Cup-Of-Joe OUT :}