One of my favorite travel habits is checking out local breakfast joints before heading out on the road. When I have a long day of sightseeing in front of me, nothing quite hits the spot like fluffy French Toast. It’s definitely a weakness. Luckily, my lifetime travel partner has the same breakfast obsession, and when we woke up in Morro Bay, California during our splendid Big Sur weekend this past February, Kevin and I had the same idea: we would need some dependable carbohydrate energy before tackling the California coast. After a minute-long Internet search (hey, we were hungry because we were still on East Coast time!) Kevin found Carla’s Country Kitchen, just a few minutes away from our motel.
Have you ever stepped foot into a restaurant knowing the food is going to be great? That’s how Kevin and I felt upon entering Carla’s Country Kitchen. The interior is simple and no-frills – just the way I like it – with a laid-back charm that made me feel like I’d entered someone’s home. Honestly, my least favorite part about traveling is having to occasionally rely on quick and easy take-out meals (I’ve eaten Subway in at least six different countries at this point) and I appreciated that Carla’s had a “homemade meal” feel. And this is for good reason, since all of the food served is made from scratch. No rubbery Denny’s pancakes here.
We both ordered the French toast – we are complete French Toast fiends, both at home and when traveling – and Kevin ordered sides of scrambled eggs and hash browns. The food filled our table, which would come in handy later in the afternoon when we found ourselves at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park with no affordable eatery in sight. For reasons I don’t understand, breakfasts are becoming increasingly expensive, and I’ve seen weekend brunch offerings costing up to twenty-five dollars per person. At Carla’s, every item we ordered was under six bucks.
And it was delicious. I don’t like maple syrup (too sugary), so the quality of French Toast is important to me. Carla’s undoubtedly met and exceeded my expectations. Yum.
Good, budget-friendly food served in generous portions in a family-friendly environment. Perfect, am I right? Our waitress was also incredibly friendly and spent a few minutes talking to us out-of-towners about our plans to drive up the coast. I’ve had a few interactions with less-than-friendly wait staff during Kevin’s and my travels (one server in Germany actually refused to serve us water) and it’s always nice to feel welcomed to place.
Since Carla’s Country Kitchen is quite conveniently located in the center of town, after devouring a delicious breakfast, Kevin and I took all that food energy and wandered down to the shore to check out the spectacular Morro Rock:
Since our visit, I always recommend the town of Morro Bay to travelers looking to tackle Big Sur. With a filling and tasty breakfast and a world-class view of the Pacific, we started our trip off right.
I only realized this after visiting, when I started to write this article, but the old-fashioned vibes at Carla’s Country Kitchen belay the restaurant’s commitment to environmentally-friendly business practices. They recycle cooking oil and feed food scraps to one lucky pet pig, among other things, and I feel more than comfortable recommending a local business that actively strives to do right by our environment. You can learn more about the restaurant and view its menu on their official website.
I was not paid, reimbursed, or offered any free goodies in exchange for writing this post. I simply had a great breakfast at Carla’s Country Kitchen and wanted to help spread the word about this lovely little restaurant. As always, this website is one hundred percent ad and sponsor free, since I firmly believe bloggers cannot remain impartial when they are paid to review a restaurant or attraction. Your trust is important to me, and I would never trick you into reading an advertisement disguised as an impartial review or blog post.
