Coffee Talk: September 2006 Archives
Puccino's is an Italian coffee shop with two locations in Metairie: one on Veterans and Kent (which is just past Transcontinental) and the other on 17th Street, across from Morning Call and near Lakeside Mall. We went to the location on Veterans yesterday for breakfast.
Puccino's bills itself as a coffee shop, but it's got a full-service kitchen, as is evidenced by their extensive breakfast menu. You order food and/or drink at the counter and pick up your food at the kitchen window when your number is called. Wife ordered their French Toast, while I had the "Classic American Breakfast," which is 3 eggs (any style), bacon or sausage, grits or hash browns, and toast. In addition to food from the kitchen, Puccino's offers a good selection of coffee cake, danish, rolls, and bagels.
The place wasn't all that crowded, so service was pretty quick. I had a large dark roast coffee and Mrs. YatPundit had fresh-squeezed orange juice. Puccino's uses one of those machines where you literally toss whole oranges in the top and it produces juice. We hadn't sat down more than a couple of minutes when they called our number.
Wife's French Toast was pretty good, four slices of wheat toast dipped in a thick, eggy batter, fried up, sprinkled with confectioner's sugar, sliced diagonally in halves, and served with two strips of bacon. That's just how she eats it, so no further additions or changes were needed.
I ordered my eggs over easy and they came back over medium. This isn't a deal-breaker for me; I don't mind them a bit overdone, so long as they're not hard. I ordered sausage and grits for a traditional Southern breakfast. The grits were a good consistency, not runny, and the toast was done just right and lightly buttered.
Of course, a nice atmosphere and good company go a long way in marginalizing any gripes one might have with a meal, and this breakfast was no exception. The tab came to just under $20, and I tipped a couple of bucks on top of that.
What separates a place like Puccino's from a full-service restaurant are the little things. Ordering at the counter, picking up at the window, getting your own silverware, butter, syrup, etc., are all reminders that the beverages are their main product. It's a good compromise, however. The atmosphere is most definitely a step above your average diner, and CC's/Starbucks don't cook a hot meal.
The bottom line: If you're looking for a good, tasty breakfast and you don't mind if you're not waited on at the table, Give Puccino's a whirl. If you need to work a bit, both locations have free Wi-Fi Internet access, so bring your laptop.
