Restaurant Review: Ernie's Café and Steakhouse

For breakfast, Columbia has some great options fairly close to campus. When I told my friend Audrey, who has lived in Columbia for most of her life, I was going to write about the best places to have breakfast, she said, “Oh, you’re going to Ernie’s?”

Columbia residents have voted Ernie’s Café and Steakhouse best breakfast for several years. One of the waiters, Nathan Fuch, is even in a documentary about Columbia service workers. You can watch it here.

The restaurant has one door to enter and one to exit. Inside, there is a long white counter with red bar stools and some tables. The restaurant looks and feels very much like a 1950s or 1960s diner. The kitchen is open and located just to the right of the bar, so I watched the cooks make my French toast. There’s so much cute décor. From the pictures of Audrey Hepburn on the booths to a Specials menu that says, “You. You are special.” Ernie’s made me smile.

Ernie’s serves breakfast the entire time it is open. However, it does close early -- at 2 p.m. I had the special, which includes hash-browns, your choice of French toast or pancakes, your choice of breakfast meat (don’t worry vegetarians, they have meatless sausage!) and your choice of eggs. I also had a glass of orange juice. I’m not entirely sure if it was fresh squeezed or not, but it was good. The eggs were great and did not need any seasoning. The hash-browns actually tasted like potatoes and not just French fries. The French toast was good and came with a warm dish of maple syrup. It was good with and without the syrup. I was very full afterwards—Ernie’s is a good place to get a lot of food.

I can see why Ernie’s won. However, if you have a little extra cash on Sunday, I also recommend Sophia’s brunch. The portions are large, and the Monkey Bread is incredible. There’s a wide variety of unique plates, such as Bacon Pancakes, that you can’t get anywhere else in CoMo.

This review is a part of Jennifer's weekly column where she dines and reviews some of CoMo's favorite restaurants.

By: Jennifer Beatty | Image: Source