This place has terrific eggs $50 and Under

Let's do breakfast!

There's Denny's and Friendly's, McDonald's, Roy's a lot of places to choose from. But our choice on a recent weekday was a restaurant that makes breakfast part of its name -- Breakfast Shoppe in Severna Park.

The place specializes in all manner of eggs, waffles, pancakes and French toast. There's a page in the menu for salads, soups and sandwiches -- perhaps a choice for those arriving later in the day and preferring lunch. But not on Sundays, when only breakfast is served. And not too late, because the place closes every day at 2 p.m.

We had a craving for eggs benedict, and found ourselves debating which kind of eggs benedict. There are six varieties on the menu, ranging from the traditional with Canadian bacon to the "Holstein Benny" with fresh veal cutlets sauteed with Swiss cheese.

Bonnie ordered a double "Perfect Benny" ($5.95) with spinach, onions and Canadian bacon, topped by the Shoppe's freshly made hollandaise sauce. It turned out to be a Perfect Florentine, however, as the cook-in-training forgot to plop on the bacon. (A cheerful waitress quickly brought out three slices when informed.)

David's choice was a special of the day, a French Fruit Club ($5.95), with three layers of French toast (they make it with thick-sliced, Jewish-style challah bread) sandwiching an assortment of fresh and canned fruit and topped with fresh-whipped cream and a dusting of powdered sugar.

(Although the quantity of his order was ample, David mooched a taste of the Benny and the accompanying home fries and might have licked the last smear of hollandaise off the dish, had we not been dining in public.)

The Breakfast Shoppe, which seats about 45 and often has a waiting line on weekends, is described on the menu as "a simulation of my Great Grandmother's kitchen with all of the antique kitchen utensils accumulated over the past years."

It did have that feel, but whose great grandma? Ernie Shepherd said it was probably the great grandma of Scott Ploussard, who sold him the restaurant (and the wording) four years ago.

But there's no doubting the utensils that hang on the walls -- grinders, strainers, steamers and mashers, and some you can't figure out what they are. Customers have donated some, said Shepherd, who operates the business with his wife, Nancy.

Why breakfast?

Shepherd, who grew up in Baltimore's Highlandtown, said he moved his family for 14 years to the Virgin Islands and operated two small restaurants in St. Thomas serving breakfast and lunch. "We got used to being closed by 5 o'clock."

Moving back to this area five years ago when their twin daughters went to college, the Shepherds looked around for a restaurant and found the Breakfast Shoppe. Their daughters have finished their first year as teachers in Baltimore, and the Shepherds, who commute through the Harbor Tunnel from their home in the Rosedale-White Marsh area, are still scrambling eggs.

Terrific eggs.

The meal, with one ever-refilled coffee and one large orange juice, cost about $16 before tax and tip. We carried out a half-dozen blueberry and iced cinnamon muffins to savor later.

Editor's note: Once a month, Dave and Bonnie will explore Anne Arundel County eateries in search of a good meal for two, priced under $50 (before tip, taxes and muffins).

Breakfast Shoppe

Where: 342 Ritchie Highway, Severna Park, 410-544-8599.

Hours: 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., seven days a week. No lunch or carryout on Sundays.

Prices: Children's menu, starting at $1.75; Specialties up to $6.95 for a top-of-the-line double Benny; a $2 "sharing charge," except for children under 8 and seniors over 65.

Credit cards: MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Diners Club, Discover.

Rating: *** 1/2

Ratings: * -- a culinary wasteland; **** -- culinary heaven

Pub Date: 6/26/97