One of my more established traditions of our annual trip to Lake George is getting up early one morning and hiking from downtown Lake George up to Prospect Mountain via the Prospect Mountain Trail that approximately follows the old incline railway route. After arriving back at the trailhead in late morning, we almost always follow it with another tradition: eating at Lake George’s The Breakfast Spot.
While Lake George has a rather a lot of decent breakfast options (see my previous Lake George reviews for a cross-section), we keep coming back to The Breakfast Spot for a handful of reasons. First, it has a convenient location (as opposed to, say, the otherwise fine Lone Bull which is a good 10 minute drive), being right downtown a half block off of Main Street, and easily walkable from both the Tiki Resort and the Prospect Mountain trailhead. And unlike most of the other area breakfast spots that go for some sort of North Woods Cabin Rustic Chic look, The Breakfast Spot mixes up going for a solid “1950s diner” vibe that actually fits in well with the general Lake George mid-century time capsule vibe. And it is apparent that a lot of other people like The Breakfast Spot since it’s also home to a third Lake George tradition of ours, and that’s waiting a good half hour for a table at The Breakfast Spot.
The basic menu at The Breakfast Spot is “American Diner” food, with a very wide selection of omelets, pancakes, French toast, various egg plates, and the like, but I find myself regularly coming back to one menu item they do quite well: the Monte Cristo sandwich. This classic variation of the French Croque Monsieur, this combination of slightly sweet French Toast with savory ham and cheese is a breakfast classic, but its popular seems to wax and wane over the decades; these days it mostly seems to be a pretty rare occurrence on breakfast menus. But it’s always been a favorite of mine, whether done in the “French Toast” style, or the more elaborate deep-fried style that Bennigan’s made popular in the 1980s (as a side note here, I highly recommend the historical take on Bennigan’s and other chains over at the excellent but only occasionally-publishing Broken Chains Blog). The version served up at The Breakfast Spot is the French Toast style, but it is very nicely executed: two nice, thick, and well-egg-battered slices of Texas toast all crisped up, a few thick slices of smoked ham, a folded scrambled egg, a layer of melted Swiss cheese, and a light glazing of Hollandaise sauce, and this was a very good breakfast sandwich, especially dunked into a bit of maple syrup. The home fries served alongside are also some of the better in the area, with a nice combination of sweeter red potato tender on the inside but well-crisped on the outside.
On this particular trip, Carol opted instead to go the omelet route, opting for their American Signature Omelette, a three-egg folded omelette filled with bell peppers, onion, bacon, and cheese, so this is basically a bacon-oriented variation of the classic Denver Omelette. A nicely cooked omelette with the bacon and cheese inside, the bell peppers and onion were served atop (I prefer mine inside, but this worked here), and the kitcshy touch of a little American flag tucked into it. Overall, a good omelette, served up with the same good home fries.
It’s a bit pricey, and the waits can often be long, but really, I see the attraction to The Breakfast Spot. It’s got good food (and a great Monte Cristo), friendly staff, and a nice inviting interior. So while I’ll often look elsewhere for a faster breakfast, I’ll probably continue to make a stop there one of my annual Lake George traditions.
