Breakfast sandwiches show how creative restaurants can be with three simple ingredients: eggs, cheese and bread. And it’s not just the style of eggs, the type of cheese, and the variety of bread that can be fiddled with; different meats, vegetables and condiments also enter the comfort food mix. Available at an increasing number of local spots — and not only for breakfast, but for lunch (and sometimes dinner, too) — we scouted the offerings and settled on five favorites.
— Carole Sugarman
Call Your Mother
This popular chain-let, with its distinctive turquoise and hot pink color scheme, serves up a host of zaftig sandwiches. Great for those who go for sweet and salty combos, The Thunderbird combines a round of maple chicken sausages, Bodega-style eggs, melted American and Cheddar cheeses, and a schmear of spicy honey on a maple salt and pepper bagel. There’s a lot going on here, but it works. Just save room for a chocolate babka muffin. Call Your Mother at Pike & Rose, 11807 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda, (240) 800-3964, callyourmotherdeli.com.
Fresh Baguette
The most interesting part of the Breakfast Le Sud is the bread — in this case, a cro’gel, croissant dough in the shape of a bagel. We’ve seen the online references to a cro’gel craze dating back to 2014 or so, but here Fresh Baguette resurrects the hybrid for a sandwich filled with a bacon omelet and sliced tomatoes and avocados. The flaky dough, sprinkled with Everything Bagel seasoning, comes out thinner and less bulky than a croissant, making it easy to eat — and the filling goes along nicely for the ride. Fresh Baguette at 804 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, and 4919 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda, (888) 648-0009, freshbaguette.net.
Sunday Morning Bakehouse
We love just about everything at this skillful bakery — opened in 2018 by former Pike Central Farm Market vendor Caroline Yi — and the signature Breakfast Sandwich is no exception. Like the shop’s other offerings, it excels in both ingredients and execution, with a tasteful result. Inside a buttery toasted brioche bun spread lightly with house aioli, the thick-cut bacon is smoky and crisp, the scrambled eggs are soft and silky, and the melted Swiss oozes gently. Neither unwieldy nor overly filling, it’s just right. Sunday Morning Bakehouse at Pike & Rose, 11869 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda, (240) 669-8202, sundaymorningbakehouse.com.
The Pretzel Bakery
A few aspects of this bakery’s breakfast sandwiches make it special: Aside from being served on a slider-size roll showered with Everything Bagel seasoning, it’s made from pretzel dough. That dense and malty roll turns out to be a wonderful carrier for the Breakfast Sliders’ contents — a thick eggy layer, melted sharp cheddar and a slice of bacon. After a decades-long stint with their Capitol Hill Pretzel Bakery, MoCo residents Sean Haney and Chad Anthony opened this Potomac outpost in April, and we’re glad they did. There are a lot of carbs to explore here. The Pretzel Bakery at Cabin John Village, 7961 Tuckerman Lane, Potomac, (301) 242-3539, thepretzelbakery.com.
Did we miss any of your favorites?
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