Breakfast at Main Street Pizza Company, Johnson City, TN — April 15 2017
I had been reading over the menu since they released it at the beginning of April even though initially, my heart had sank when I saw their open hours.
See, I’ve been trying to find a good breakfast in Johnson City for YEARS! There is a great diner called Pennyman’s that could make a great omlette on the flat-top, but there are no full-on breakfast restaurants that aren’t fast food biscuits in downtown Johnson City where I live. Literally. For a decade.
There have been a few places that pop up, but they don’t last. The most tragic of them was a wonderful little bakery called C. Mae’s that was on Walnut Street just down from the University I work at. C. Mae’s opened at 7am and I could get the most wonderful breakfast items there! Corn muffin breakfast sandwiches with ham and cheese, bagels, fresh toast, and all manner of special one-off items were all available on my way into work, so I could easily make it by 7:30–8am! It was heaven. Unfortunately, it opened across the street from a McDonalds.
I remember watching the hurt in the owner’s face as she watched dumbfounded as an unending line of cars pulled through the drive-thru seeking processed meats on mass produced biscuits while, not 50 feet away, diners had the opportunity to buy top quality baked goods for an equal, if not better, price!
Rumor was that the location for the bakery was so expensive that they paid more for rent than for cooking ingredients. They lasted about a year before they were forced out of business. They were the last serious attempt at breakfast downtown.
A downtown grocery had promised homemade biscuits with a variety of meats and veggies on them. The owner said they opened at 7am, but after many tries, I decided that this was more of a goal than a fact, since I never found them open on my way to work.
For a while now, Jamie, owner of Main Street Pizza had been assuring me that they were going to start serving breakfast and that I would not be disappointed. I trusted Jamie’s opinion on food. We had spent years comparing notes as I ate off the menus of his various kitchens. I had visited River Creek Farm where most of the MSP produce was grown, and I knew he wanted a good breakfast as much as I did.
When they announced that they were hiring new staff and that the new breakfast menu was going to be complex and delicious, I was thrilled. Then I was crushed.
They opened at 8am. I had to be at work by 8am! It was a bit of a disappointment that I couldn’t go by and have a real breakfast before work, but they are serving it 7 days a week, so that left weekends!
Finally, their first Saturday of breakfast arrived and I couldn’t get out of bed. No real reason. After months of being on the road emceeing events, I really like being home as much as possible, so it’s gravity is often known to keep me orbiting between bed and couch. I finally got out of the apartment at 10am and walked down to Main Street.
The line outside was surprising. Main Street Pizza isn’t a huge restaurant, but I had seen it remarkably full and looking into the window, I could see it was sparsely occupied!
The host told me that there was a 45 minute wait because they had to limit seating for breakfast. I let out a deep sigh and prepared to wait it out.
Fortunately, my buddy Jamie saved me from having to wait long, showing me to the bar and putting the menu I had studied for weeks in my hand!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE MAIN STREET PIZZA BREAKFAST MENU!
I started off with a “Red Beer.” It didn’t clearly state it in the menu, but I assumed it was a version of what I had always known as a “Red Eye,” beer and tomato juice. It may be an aquired taste, but I recommend trying it if you haven’t had one, there’s something about the taste that gives me a feel of a truly hearty breakfast! It came in a big 24 ounce mug I greatly appreciated! (Did I mention I had WALKED down, just in case I had too many of these?)
It was still a dilemma down to the last minute. The bartender was a bit overwhelmed, and it took a little time to get to me, but I was fine with that as I wrestled with what to order.
It turns out that I had probably deliberated too hard because, there being only an hour left to breakfast, the top 3 entrees were sold out. There were no more chicken & waffles, crab cakes, or huevos rancheros. I fell back to a long time Main St. special that had finally gotten a starring role on a menu and a sampler of another item.
Waiting for my food, Jamie wandered back over and we talked about how the breakfast was going. He said that the response had been overwhelming! He knew there was a demand for upscale breakfast items, but they were slammed all week. He explained the long wait and the limited seating was a way to keep up with demand. They had to kind of make a pizza kitchen “work” to cook the breakfast items, and this meant making smaller batches. Less seating allowed them to keep the food coming out at a good pace without getting the kitchen overwhelmed. I thought it was brilliant.
We chatted about the skill of Heather, Main Street’s in-house baker. He said that he knew of her background making her own soaps and cleaners, and though that she might apply the same knowledge to baking and it worked like a charm! She quickly learned to make top quality breads and treats and her skill was still evolving! She had slipped me a home-made danish one afternoon, and it was, literally, one of the best I’ve ever had. I remember it had a slight crispness in the crust that is lacking in most danishes I’ve been served.
Elise, Jamie’s girlfriend and business partner, and a friend of mine since their days at Cahootenanny’s on Walnut Street, was working in the kitchen all weekend to make sure the staff were consistent and kept things moving. He said that next week, he was confident that they would have no problems on their own.
After 10–15 minutes my Appalachian Hash came out of the kitchen with a biscuit on a side plate covered in “chocolate gravy.”
I burned out on potatoes as a child. My parents served potatoes with every meal, and every fast food place shoved fries into my face, and by my mid 20s, (I was kind of over potatoes, even as I kept eating them because, my gosh, fries are REQUIRED with a burger!) Still, I ordered the Appalachian Hash because so many of my friends had raved about it over the previous couple years whenever it appeared on the seasonal menu. What is in “Appalachian Hash?” According to the menu, it is “potato, green beans, okra, Italian sausage, pancetta, fried egg, tomato, and sour cream.”
It was a big plate of pan fried potatoes with veggies and egg and it was spectacular! The potatoes were pan seared perfectly! That was the secret to the success of this dish! All the other ingredients added flavors and textures, but these wonderful potatoes were the star! The egg was soft, allowing the yolk to mix in as I stirred the whole thing up! I was sad when I took the last bite!
This was a great meal by itself. I wouldn’t eat again that day until I had some almonds just before bedtime!
Still, there had been one thing on that menu that I had been wanting to try since the first glance! I ordered a side of “a biscuit in chocolate gravy!”
Jamie had told me about it repeatedly, but I couldn’t wrap my brain around it. He said it was his aunt’s recipe. Make a chocolate sauce and throw it over Heather’s biscuits! It was GREAT! It was like a cake with thin chocolate icing. I highly recommend giving at least a single biscuit a try for dessert!
It was a fun morning of eating really great food! The bill, with tip was just around $26 and worth every penny of it! Main Street Pizza’s breakfast menu stands up against any breakfast place in Asheville, the nearest comparison! Breakfast is only served in the Johnson City location at the corner of Main and Roan St 8am-11am, so, get up early, plan to socialize as you wait for a table, and try breakfast at the Main Street Pizza Company. Tell them Shannon sent ya! You won’t be disappointed!