Community Food & Juice Review

A weekday midmorning breakfast is what I'd like to think of as a peaceful domain, fewer crowds and a time of leisure, for those lucky enough to have the hours free. At Community Food & Juice, this was not quite the case. It was perpetually packed with diners and by lunchtime there were people crowded at the entrance waiting for a table. This neighborhood restaurant specializing in organic, sustainable food was opened by the owners of Clinton St. Baking Company, which should have been my first hint that its popularity would not heed the bounds of common rush hours. Despite this, the restaurant did not rush us and generously allowed us to set our own pace, which in our case was rather slow.

Our bounty included the B.E.L.T.: double cut Applewood bacon, organic egg, lettuce, tomato, mayo, sourdough toast and carrot hash browns. I was intrigued by the carrot hash browns; the orange specks belied their basic fried potato nature. But as hash browns, they were terrific, crispy and flavorful. The components of the sandwich were individually of outstanding quality and together made a nice sandwich, but the mayo was overkill. Caveat: I almost always think sandwiches could do without the mayonnaise.

The whole wheat biscuit sandwich was bursting with scrambled eggs, a chicken-apple sausage patty and Cabot cheddar. Tomato jam and more carrot hash browns filled out the plate. The biscuit was soft and fluffy and though the sandwich was more of a fork-and-knife affair, it was delicious. The sausage patty had lots of spices and was a tad sweet, a beautiful buttress to the eggs.

Unabashed gluttons that we are, we also ordered a shared plate of blueberry pancakes. Clinton St. Baking Company specializes in them and having previously experienced their intense sovereignty over any others in the city, we couldn't resist. Calories, be damned. Their buttery goodness left us rounded and satisfied.