Breakfast, at my table, requires two simple but crucial elements: Coffee, and bread. The coffee must be robust but rounded, strong enough to dissolve the last bits of sleep in one's eyes but not so strong as to dissolve the mug in which it's served. The bread may be of any of a number of variants - muffin, bagel, baguette, crusty, soft, or sweet, depending upon mood.
Panera La Mirada hits this notes with perfect pitch, serving these simple breakfast requirements in a way that feels like a real splurge (but won't bust anyone's wallet). There is always an array of tempting pastries to tempt the palate, cookies, bars, and other agglomerations of calories, but for my purposes the bagels are best, with a perfect balance of chewiness to crispiness - and, for the 'Everything' bagel, a very satisfying savouriness. They'll toast it twice if you prefer it darker, as I do, and if you insist, there ARE flavoured coffees on tap (if you like coffee that tastes like something besides, well, coffee!).
As noted previously, BIOLA students gather here in great milling herds, grazing between classes. But they're at church on Sunday morning, so go then if you prefer to miss that crowd. ;0)
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