Noshing with Sandi: Snooze, an A.M. Eatery

Snooze, an A.M. Eatery, 8861 Villa La Jolla Dr #509, La Jolla, California 92037By Sandi Masori

LA JOLLA, California — The other day I was meeting with one of my publishing clients and found myself in the UC San Diego area.  I was hungry, and while trying to figure out where to grab a bite I remembered that there’s a Snooze eatery in the Whole Food shopping center.  SCORE! I thought to myself and hastily made my way over.

Hidden in the corner of a shopping center, it nevertheless is super busy.  In fact if you want to come during breakfast time – or anytime on the weekends really, be prepared to wait.  They do accept reservations through their Snooze app, so if you want to go on the weekend, I recommend texting ahead.

They are a small chain that originated in Colorado.  They currently have 37 stores, and 3 of them are in San Diego (La Jolla, Hillcrest and Del Mar).  As the “A.M. Eatery” description suggests, they’re only open for breakfast and lunch (closing at 2:30), though they do have a full bar.

It’s a cute little restaurant with custom fixtures and well researched sustainable products.  Like their paper straws- they are the widest, most pleasant paper straws I’ve ever seen.  I spoke with the manager, Clint, and he told me that the straws were no accident; that they actually tested many straws to find the very best ones.  That is the level of thought and detail that they put into everything.  It’s the type of place that asks you what kind of milk you want in your latte and then serves it with a pretty design on the top.

You know how I’m always telling you that I’m looking for food that I can dream about?  Well Snooze’s corned beef hash is one of those foods.  It is THE. BEST. CORNED. BEEF. HASH. ever! They make it fresh with carmelized onions and poblano peppers and while it’s usually mixed with hash brown potatoes, you can request no potatoes, as I did.  The flavor is both sweet and savory.  I’m guessing the sweetness probably comes from the way they carmelize the poblano peppers and the savory comes from the way they prepare the corned beef.  It’s probably not a good dish for someone watching their sodium though.

The bread that comes with it is a thick hearty variety that is good all on it’s own.  I also ordered the Goldilocks porridge which includes oats, quinoa, millet, and amaranth simmered in almond milk with berries, bananas, and almonds on top.  It’s pretty yummy, but I have to admit I like their old porridge better.  The menu changes seasonally, so it may be the fall porridge that I liked, though it’s been a while since I’ve been there, so it could be a permanent change.

They pride themselves in sourcing responsibly and using sustainable farmers and providers for all their products.  They also recycle and compost to divert more than 85% of their waste.  That’s really commendable.

What keeps people coming back to Snooze is the food and the service.  This has been my favorite breakfast place for several years now, and I can say that I have consistently had exemplary service at every location.  Same for the food quality; it has always been top notch, though admittedly I haven’t tried that many of the menu items because ultimately I always want the corned beef hash.  Did I mention that I dream about it??  True story.

All in all, I give them a 9.75.  The only reason that I didn’t give them a full 10 is because I’m still holding onto that very top score, just in case I come across something that absolutely cannot be topped.  So this is probably the highest score you’ll see from me. It is a high recommendation though, and one of the places that’s on my list of where to take people that I want to impress with food.

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Sandi Masori is the food and restaurant reviewer for San Diego Jewish World.  When she’s not reviewing restaurants or helping her clients self-publish their books, she likes to hang out with her two boys, ages 12 and 17.

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