Jack's

Breakfast has always been my favorite meal. I eat breakfast for breakfast. I like breakfast for lunch. Had breakfast for dinner just the other night. Breakfast is good. It is the most important meal of the deal, especially when you eat it multiple times a day.
There is plenty of quality breakfast grub in Reno. Peg's has received national attention, having been called The Best Breakfast in America. Reno also got another treat recently when The Squeeze In, a longtime Truckee favorite, opened a location in northwest Reno. The casinos do a fairly decent job, starting with the 99-cent Ham-n-Eggs at the Cal-Neva to an old college haunt, the Purple Parrot in the Atlantis, to the new buffet at the Eldorado.
But there are plenty of lesser-known greasy spoons worth mentioning and this week's Tuesday Lunch went to one of them -- Jack's, an old-time favorite on Victorian Ave. in Sparks. There are a couple things you need to know about Jack's. First, it's old and the decor is straight out of the 1970s. Second, it's gone through some ownership changes in recent years and even closed for a stretch. Third, the service isn't stellar -- my order was messed up this week -- but the food gets there quick and its hot and tasty.
Five of us went there this week, with three suckers ordering lunch and the Angry Pirate and I getting breakfast. None of us were disappointed at all, though I ordered the chorizo omelet and received the chili-cheese omelet. Momentarily annoyed, I dug in and was pleased with mix-up. The point is that you can't go wrong with Jack's. The weekend wait is noticeable, but nothing like that at Peg's. And on a weekday, you can get in and out in a half-hour.
Side note -- At one point recently, there was as an ownership/management relationship between Jack's and the Hometown Cafe out in Lemmon Valley. That's not the case anymore, according to our waitress at Jack's. Regardless, both eateries are solid choices and if you go to the Hometown Cafe, I highly reccommend the Two Eggs and the Whole Hog with Biscuits and Gravy on the side. It is a pure gut bomb, but one of the heartiest breakfasts I've ever had. They also do Joe's Special very well there, better than Peg's even. But not better than the redninja. Never had better Joe's Special than when the redninja used to make it in college.

Without putting too much thought into it, here are my quick rankings of best breakfasts in Reno:
1. Peg's. This is a no-brainer.
2. The Squeeze In. Pricey but tasty.
3. Hometown Cafe. Best-kept secret because of Lemmon Valley location.
4. Jack's. Plenty of options.
5. Archie's. Nothing special, but I've never had a bad breakfast here.

Two others of note:
The Stonehouse Cafe. This uppity joint on Plumb gets rave reviews from friends. I've been there a couple times and just haven't been overly impressed, both with quality of food and the service. Will give it another shot.
PJ and Co. I've heard good things about this place on Wells but have never been. Keep meaning to get down there sometime. Hopefully soon...

A21

The Tuesday Lunch was moved to Thursday this week because one of the primary members was traveling. The rest of us went to the Lil Wal (Little Waldorf Saloon) for lunch on Tuesday and it absolutely sucked. I had high hopes for the Wal when the folks from the terrific Red's 395 Grill took it over a year or two ago and initially was not disappointed. But since the Wal re-opened, the service has gone downhill considerably and the number of solid options on the menu seems to be shrinking. However, the Wal continues to be the top choice around the University of Nevada campus community for happy hour specials and other night-time shenanigans.
Enough about that. The Tuesday Lunch officially took place on Thursday this week for the group's second visit to Amendment 21 in the south downtown area. And we were all impressed again with the quality grub. Ryan went with the Tri-Tip Dip and is still licking his lips. Double-A had a weird salad with apples and nuts involved. He seemed happy.
The new addition to the Lunch went with the grilled chicken sandwich and we all enjoyed eating her french fries. Yours truly had a turkey pesto wrap with a house salad and it also turned out to be a solid choice. All in all, a good meal and we all agree that A-21 is officially on the lunch rotation now. The menu is diverse and has some traditional bar fare with some other great options. The Melt 21 stands alongside some of the great sandwiches in Reno and the pizza is a solid option as well -- I'll personally vouch for the "Man's Best Friend Pizza."
Downside to today's visit was the fact that the place was out of soda. Really? How do you run out of Pepsi? And if you do run out of Pepsi, we aren't you taking 40 bucks to the nearest grocery store for some 2-liters until you get Pepsi again from the distributor? Seriously.
Overall, however, another solid option for lunch in the downtown area. And the nightlife at A-21 is usually very good with a diverse crowd. It will be one of the main stops on the upcoming Santa Crawl.

Uncle Vinny Sure Knows How To Make Pizza

The Tuesday Lunch was without one of its primary members this week, but the Tuesday Lunch is not about one man, so it went on as scheduled.
This week's stop was a new place in town, Uncle Vinny's Pizza over in Sparks. This place just opened the doors last week and the grand opening is slated for next week (once they get the liquor license and all that jazz). But its clear that this place knows what it is doing, at least for the lunch crowd.
Having sampled all of the area pizza buffets in town, Uncle Vinny's immediately goes to the top of the list. They had four pies available at all times, along with streak fries and some of the cheesiest, greasiest (translation = best) garlic bread I've ever had. The salad bar was solid -- it's my kind of salad bar when, instead of the fake processed bacon bits, there is actually a tub of real bacon pieces.
Vanilla Gold especially like the Hawaiian Pizza at Vinny's. There was another pie there that had chicken on it and what seemed to be ranch dressing as the sauce. Not sure what it was, but it was solid.
And the price is right -- $6.99 for the all-you-can-eat.
I have to wonder about the location, however. Uncle Vinny's is going to draw a nice lunch crowd from the area businesses but it is lacking proximity to any real residential area. I hope it works out for them because I think they have a fine operation. I feel the same way for Big Guy's Pizza way out on Red Rock Road off 395. Those guys might just have the best pizza in Reno, but can they survive out there? They've been around for nearly a year now, so hopefully that is a good sign.
So that brings up a question. Who has the best pie in town? I have to put Big Guy's up there alongside the longtime favorite J.J.'s Pie Company. Uncle Vinny's debuts in the top five, along with Pub-n-Sub and the Sicilian pie at Nu Yalk Pizza. I think I still have J.J.'s in the top spot right now but I reconsider that with every trip to Big Guy's. Those are the clear-cut top two, in the humble opinion of Johnny Blue.

The Imperial ... not just for boozing

A buddy recently moved to Reno and for the past few weeks, the Tuesday Lunch has been spent getting him acquainted with Reno eats. Some of the stops have been my normal haunts but we have also tried some places new to both of us. (I'll try to catch up on previous stops, but let's stay current for now)
This week's Tuesday Lunch was the Imperial Bar & Lounge, off downtown on Arlington by the river.
My only previous trips to Imperial had been purely nighttime social stops. It has built a nice rep for being a hot spot on the downtown bar scene and usually draws a pretty interesting range of people. So I was pretty surprised when I found out that they there was a lunch menu or even a kitchen. Perhaps that says something about the time of day that I am at Imperial.
The menu was not long but had some diverse options outside of the pizza section. My buddy Ryan went with the pizza (pepperoni, sausage, onions and black olives) and was impressed. I had a grilled chicken panini sandwich with goat cheese, bacon, pesto, tomato and a basil salsa. Great stuff. Service was fine and the atmosphere was cool. There was some good music going and the Imperial is always a good place to people-watch with the huge windows on the front.
The only drawback was that, even on a Tuesday afternoon, the place still smelled like a bar. And not the smokey smell, but more like somebody forgot to wipe down the tables and chairs and then mop the floor kind of smell. Not very appealing when you are sitting down for a meal and you have the feeling that someone might have recently puked within about 15 feet of where you are sitting.
Overall, however, I'll go back. Meal was reasonably priced and the menu, while not large, certainly had some other items (meatball sliders, fish tacos, baked mac and cheese, etc) that I want to try. And Johnny Blue is committed to supporting deserving downtown businesses first.