Caitlin’s Restaurant – Denver, CO

I’ll never understand why restaurants are named after people with common names. You’re basically declaring that the food is so boring you can’t think of anything better to name it than “Joe”. Caitlin isn’t that common a name, and believe me, the quality of the food at Caitlin’s isn’t all that common either.

Breakfast isn’t exactly a new concept, and aside from slabs of bacon as thick as my thumb, there’s nothing unusual or innovative about breakfast at Caitlin’s. But it also happens to be one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had. I said it was boring, but I never said that boring was bad. The pancakes are perfect, fluffy pillows of battered buttermilk at its best, the hashbrowns are crisper than Waffle House and far superior to the soggy mess at iHop, and there’s nothing better than mixing them with the gooey yolk of a goopy over-easy egg. And thank you, Caitlin’s, for actually understanding the definition of “over easy”.

Caitlin’s is the kind of blissful boring you can only hope your daily life will be. It’s consistently delicious and amazingly tried-and-true. Everything errs on the delicious side of standard and that’s what makes it memorable. Breakfast at Caitlin’s feels as much a household name as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and although I don’t know who Caitlin is, I definitely think she deserves to be a cult classic too.