Jen's is busy, for a reason

A little bit off the beaten track for restaurants in Brunswick is a new breakfast mecca: Jen's Place on Stanwood Street. I love breakfast food, and am always on the lookout for new breakfast-centric places to eat, so I was very excited when I read all the rave reviews on mrbreakfast.com of this new place.

I arrived at Jen's Place for lunch on a Friday. The place wasn't packed, but it was busy. One waitress covered all the tables -- there are about a dozen tables and a small counter facing the kitchen.

Despite being the only person waiting tables, the waitress was cheery and friendly, and didn't even bat an eye when one of her customers accidently knocked a beverage onto the floor.

Jen's Place is not fancy by any stretch of the imagination. It's nicely decorated in a country-ish style with a red, white and blue theme, but it's a bit rough around the edges.

Looks aren't everything, and what really counts at Jen's Place is the customer service (excellent) and the food.

I ordered the cinnamon pancake French toast ($4.99) and a scrambled egg (80 cents) from the breakfast menu (Jen's Place also has a lunch menu with wraps and soups). My meal arrived on my table on a plastic platter garnished with slices of orange. The French toast (Texas toast dipped in cinnamon pancake batter) was divine; perfectly grilled with a hint of cinnamon. Pure yumminess.

Many items on the breakfast menu looked tempting. I was especially interested in the heart-healthy portion, which has a burrito with scrambled egg whites, mushrooms, salsa and fat-free cheddar on a wheat wrap for $4.99.

The heart-healthy portion of the menu also offers a meal called Will Power with four scrambled egg whites with fat-free cheddar, a cup of oatmeal or grits and a plain pancake, grilled muffin or biscuit for $5.99.

The breakfast menu is otherwise pretty much what you'd expect for a breakfast place. You can get two eggs, toast, home fries and coffee for $3.99, various breakfast sandwiches ($3.49 to $4.99), omelets ($3.79 to $6.79), French toast and crepes ($2.99 for vanilla crepes and $4.99 for fruit-filled crepes with whipped cream) and pancakes and waffles (including varieties such as pumpkin, pineapple and coconut and chocolate chip).

Chef specialties include sausage gravy and biscuits for $4.99, southern buttered grits with cheddar and buttermilk biscuit for $3.99, and eggs Benedict for $5.49.

The Features staff of The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram anonymously samples meals for about $7.

Jen's Place