$13 at Hobbit Cafe

What $13 gets you: A whole lot of eggs, an order of fresh pico, and some disappointing fajita beef and veggies.

After a long bike ride Sunday morning, the normal taqueria stop got vetoed, and I found myself at Hobbit Cafe instead. I love Hobbit and knew that with its good food and generous portions, I'd enjoy eating like a pig after a good bike ride. In fact, I'd had brunch there a few times before, and the pancakes and waffles are good (and huge). My group was on the sweaty side, but the staff was still very nice. In an attempt to change things up from my normal waffle, I picked the beef fajita and eggs.

Better judgment tells me that I should probably stick to things that dining establishments are known for. My dining companions, who were incidentally all Hispanic, scolded me for getting beef fajitas at a sandwich and salad joint. I didn't care -- I was hungry, and with Hobbit's track record, I hoped for the best.

What I ended up getting was a huge portion of eggs, beef, onion and peppers, with a little bowl of pico and a side of tortillas. The beef, however, seemed severely over-marinated and was very mushy. The onions and peppers were were also mushy and totally devoid of caramelizing. In an attempt to salvage my disappointing breakfast, I dumped all my pico on the beef. It didn't help, and I simply couldn't get past the texture. I finally ended up scraping the pico over to my eggs and ate that instead.

Recommended? Yes, but next time, I'm sticking to the waffles.