Snooze an A.M. Eatery, opened its new location in San Diego on November 18, 2011. The restaurant originally started in Colorado where it is quite popular. The restaurant offers a variety of creative breakfast and lunch options and let’s you customize your meals.
I was a little skeptical when I heard Snooze was opening in Hillcrest, an area saturated with brunch options. But Snooze manages to be a serious competitor.
The first thing that hit me was the space. The location is absolutely humongous, with plenty of seating, a bar, and still a lot of open space. The next thing that struck me was the energy of the place. The place might be called “snooze” but I don’t think anyone could snooze while eating here. The walls are painted a cheerful yellow, the ceiling light covers are a bright orange, the booths are blue and green, and the servers wear hot pink shirts. Each of the servers greet you with an enthusiasm that is catching.
By the time I finished ordering, I was so excited about my meal and I hadn’t even tasted anything yet. The menu was another plus. (Full menu can be found online) We wanted to try almost everything listed. Another great thing is that they let you mix and match and customize your order. For instance, FH was having the hardest time choosing between two eggs benedict dishes. The server helpfully informed us that he could do one of each. Sweet!
We started with some brunch drinks.
Hi-C, sparkling wine, grapefruit juice, pomegranate liqueur, St.- Germain liqueur. The drink tasted like grapefruit juice without the bitter edge. I definitely felt like I was getting my dose of vitamin C.
Buggs Bloody, carrot infused vodka and Bloody Mary Mix
I didn’t really taste the carrot, but I enjoyed the spicy kick from the black pepper mixed in the drink. And I liked that it was served with a pickle.
I ordered the pancake flight. I had taken one look at the pancakes and knew I immediately wanted to try them. But I couldn’t decide on just one. Luckily, they serve a flight of three of your choice. I chose the pineapple upside down cake, sweet potato pancake and pancake of the day.
- Pineapple upside down pancake. This is their most popular pancake. It’s a buttermilk pancake with caramelized pineapple chunks, housemade vanilla crème anglaise and cinnamon butter.
- Pancake of the day. I remember it was a Thanksgiving style pancake but don’t quite remember the details of what it was.
- Sweet Potato Pancake. Sweet potato buttermilk pancake topped with homemade caramel, pecans and ginger butter.
I loved the taste of the toppings and of the fluffy cakes themselves. My one main problem with the pancakes though was that they were really sweet. I have a serious sweet tooth, but this was a little too much for me for a breakfast option. The pancakes were so sweet that it really was like digging into cakes. I would have preferred ordering these for an after dinner dessert instead. If you are getting the flight of pancakes, I’d recommend getting a savory side dish and also the sweet potato pancake isn’t quite as sweet as the other two I tried.
FH chose to combine two eggs benedicts:
Chilaquiles Benedict Carne asada steak served on a cheesy, saucy, tortilla stack topped with poached Niman Ranch eggs, smoked cheddar hollandaise, fresh salsa and cotija cheese.
Upstream Benny Honey Smoked Salmon on our house-crafted bacon-jalapeno spoonbread, topped with two farm fresh Niman Ranch poached eggs, cream cheese hollandaise and chives.
I really appreciated that the eggs benedicts were so different. It wasn’t just the toppings that were different, but the eggs were served on completely different bases as well. The flavors were so diverse, but equally tasty and I couldn’t decide which one I liked better. I loved the tender steak and spicy salsa from the chilaquiles. But I also really loved the moist bacon jalapeno spoonbread base of the upstream benny.
After polishing off his plate, FH declared “we have to take people here.”
We left pretty happy with our meal. I realize of course that the restaurant is currently basking in a new opening glow. I really hope they keep up the energy and the tasty food.
Full disclosure: I was invited to attend the opening of Snooze and my meal was complimentary. However, my opinions are my own.
Snooze Eatery
3950 Fifth Avenue
San Diego CA 92103
https://www.snoozeeatery.com/
Oooh, this place sounds good! Wish there was one up by where I live!
You should visit next time you are in Sd. There are several in Colorado and now one in San Diego. The owner chose San Diego for a reason I no longer can remember. Something about him either originally living here or getting the idea while in SD. Anyways, maybe they’ll eventually go to LA.
The pancake of the day was an almond buttermilk pancake with a persimmon compote – it was my favorite! I agree that the pancakes are sweet, but a side of egg or meat would help balance it out. Or, you could just order a single red velvet pancake for dessert!
I’m so excited Snooze is here – we went to the one in Denver and were impressed, so I expect them to maintain their level of tastiness here in SD.
I also love that you can mix things up – your bennys are the two we thought about ordering but didn’t (we got the Ham and whatever the italian one was).
I really love being able to mix it up! Thanks for filling me in on the pancake of the day. I’m so bad at remembering details of dishes and always rely on the menu.