CityView Magazine

Hungry for more? All of these neighborhood breakfast spots serve up enough good food, conversation and local color to satisfy any appetite: Haymont Grill & Steak House 1304 Morganton Road 910.484.0261 Mon – Sat 6 a.m. – 9 p.m. Sun 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. Hilltop House 1240 Fort Bragg Road 910.484.6699 Tues – Thurs 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Fri – Sat 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. Sunday brunch, 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Horne’s Cafe 124 Hay Street 910.480.4184 Mon – Fri 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. Sat 7a.m. – Noon JK’s Family Restaurant & Deli 125 Owen Drive 910.485.3711 Mon – Sat 6 a.m. – 8 p.m. Sun 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Lindy’s 3001 Raeford Road 910.485.6247 Mon – Sat 6 a.m. – 8 p.m. Sun 6 a.m. – 3 p.m. Rainbow 3708 Ramsey Street 910.822.0431 Mon – Sat 5:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. Sun 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. Zorba’s 2919 Raeford Road Mon – Sat 6 a.m. – 10 p.m. Sun 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. 40 | Winter • 2010/2011 Breakfast of champions | Oscar Davis and his daughter Candace Barnes get an early morning laugh. The breakfast bluebloods are loyal, a tribe that relishes the feel of heavy coffee mugs in cupped palms, eggs served with a side of conversation and the feeling of being up and in the world before everyone else. The actual owner, Pete Skenteris, points out that the table sits in what once was actually the kitchen itself. “My kitchen was Metropolitan Life Insurance and what are now the other dining rooms were First Citizens Bank and Haymount Shoe Shop,” he said. Since buying the building and its 12 parking spaces in 1967, Skenteris has expanded from the original 60-person capacity into room for 250 guests. The family atmosphere and high food quality, however, have stayed the same. “It’s not fast food and it’s not what I call ‘big box’ food,” Ayers said. “I guess that’s why I’ve been eating there for 38 years.” Down the road a bit, another group of loyal breakfast-goers frequent JK’s Family Restaurant and Deli. On the menu bagels with cream cheese and Greek omelets with feta cheese and tomato sit next to breakfast staples like eggs with country ham, pork chops or steak. To make the military feel at home, there’s even S.O.S. biscuits and gravy, served with a mix of sausage and ground beef. Customers are greeted by the buzz of conversation, from the waitresses who know most of their customers by name and the diners engrossed in cross-table conversation. “I would say 75 percent of our customers come in every day or at least a couple of times a week,” said Missy Mercer, one of the morning waitresses. Even those customers dining alone wind up engaged in conversation with each other, talking about local events, hobbies and, inevitably, politics. “You think people are grouchy in the morning, but a good cup of coffee and a smile does wonders,” Mercer said. One regular, Ron Rock, has eaten at JK’s almost every morning for the past 10 years. What keeps him coming back? “Breakfast just does you a whole lot better than lunch,” Rock says. “The waitresses do a good job, and they’re always around to fill your cup.” Like most of the regulars, Rock is a standard bacon-and-eggs man, but they all admit to occasionally mixing things up with JK’s famous made-from-scratch hotcakes. Mercer recently shook things up herself by starting a Facebook page where she posts messages and photos of the regulars.

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