Sunnyside Cafe
Sunnyside is at the Hood Park in Charlestown. They do brunch on weekends and weekdays.
If you see me here on a Wednesday at noon and I'm supposed to be working and I'm having Bloody Marys with my pals, do me a favor. Don't tell my brothers.
Sunnyside has a really fun '80s and '90s retro feel. When you walk in, you're looking at that gigantic hand-painted mural. I don't know what it means, but I like it. The video game machine reminds me of all the favorite games I used to pay a quarter to play at the mall, and any great brunch spot should have a real fun bar.
When you look around, you'll see all kinds of random, fun stuff. There's a sled and a lot of sports memorabilia, including a Tom Brady jersey.
Liam Devlin heads up the Department of In-house Entertainment. I don't know what that means, but I think every organization in America should have one, and I nominate myself to play that role for Phantom Gourmet.
Actually, I already do.
"Sunnyside is a fun, energetic atmosphere. Very friendly place where you can bring all your friends if you want. Perfect to bring the kids. Our menu speaks for itself. It's one of those things where you can get something totally healthy, something totally savory or totally sweet, and there's just a lot of different options."
Appetizers are always important when you're dining out, but when you're going out for brunch, I think they're crucial. I mean, you haven't eaten for 12 hours. You're starving.
The million dollar bacon is definitely a showstopper. I love that presentation. It is double smoked, thick cut. It has some pepper spice and that delicious New Hampshire maple syrup glaze.
I'm not sure I'd pay $1 million for this, but I would pay 100.
A good choice to get started is the French toast sticks. To me, this is like the mozzarella sticks of brunch. You have powdered sugar and French toast fried up, and they serve it with two sauces, a dulce de leche and a maple dipping sauce. Either one is delicious.
"Crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Golden. It is the perfect starter for your brunch."
The cookie dough waffle is sinfully delicious. It's a waffle made with cookie dough, tons of whipped cream on top, and cookie crumbles. This is on the entree section of the menu, but let's face it, it's a dessert.
Anarchy pancakes are a stack of pancakes with shredded cheese, chives, and bacon. I gotta tell you, that's a brunch dish I've never seen before. The red velvet pancakes have white chocolate, whipped cream cheese, red velvet crumbles, and an interesting, unique twist: a white chocolate cigar on top.
If you really want to chow down, get the farmer's breakfast. It is two eggs any way you want them, bacon, toast, hash browns, and on the side, chocolate chip pancakes. That's a lot of food.
The classic Benedict is two sunny-side eggs over a long strip of Canadian bacon, toasted King's Hawaiian bread, a lot of hash browns, and a side of the chef's special hollandaise sauce.
I like to pour it over the eggs and the hash browns. I don't want to waste one little bit of that hollandaise sauce.
Chicken and waffles is a southern dish that has migrated north, and I am so glad because it's one of my all-time favorite flavor combinations, especially at brunch. You have that Belgian waffle and fried chicken. Cover it in syrup and butter.
"Can't decide between breakfast or lunch? Chicken and waffles. Definitely the right move. It is a golden Belgian waffle topped with crispy fried chicken drizzled with maple smoky barbecue sauce, topped with some fresh parsley and salted butter. It's the perfect brunch dish between breakfast and lunch."
If it's not too busy, they have a Bloody Mary tableside cart. Although if you look closely, it's really a Bloody Mary wagon. This has a choice of just about everything you'd want in a Bloody Mary. For me, I like to load it up with a couple of slices of bacon. Of course, you have your traditional celery stick here.
They also offer a slice of cucumber, which I love, blue cheese-stuffed olives, regular olives, pickles, a lemon, and a lime.
To me, this is the ultimate breakfast and lunch drink.
The kitchen sink gets my nomination for Plate Presentation of the Year. This monster has six ice cream flavors, including cotton candy, bubblegum, and strawberry fudge, brownie bites, strawberry sauce, whipped cream, pink and blue crushed candy, and strawberries.
"The kitchen sink is the dessert item that grabs everyone's attention as soon as it comes out of the kitchen. It is a giant ice cream sundae served in a legit kitchen sink. It's everything in the kitchen sink."
"Brunch is something that people love to have at any time of day. How can you turn down pancakes at 2:30 p.m.? It's seven days a week. It doesn't matter because breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You have to come to Sunnyside."
