While the name Homegrown Gastropub somehow evokes visions of a run-of-the-mill diner (at least for me), this hotspot is anything but. The highly stylized space features everything from plush green couches that look like they belong in a Victorian home to Gothic candelabras covered in long strings of melted wax.
For those who have dined on the quaint patio overlooking South Virginia Street in Midtown, you may actually be missing out by not stepping inside. Inside, the brick walls offer a sense of nostalgia while the ornate chandeliers above light the space. Overall, there’s a lot to look at while you wait for your food, and that may just keep you distracted from focusing on the menu.
The dishes themselves are on the pricier side, but the portion sizes (shareable for smaller appetites) and quality honestly back up the $17-28 price tag for a breakfast plate.
You won’t find any bacon and eggs platters here. Instead, get ready for a decadent apple cinnamon deep dish fried French toast, topped with caramelized apples and an enormous heaping of house whipped cream.
Or give in to your savory side with huevos rancheros, a grilled tortilla topped with eggs (cooked anyway you like), black beans, chipotle crema, pepper jack cheese, organic jalapeños and tomatillo sauce. For meat, you can choose between bacon or sausage or fake it with a soyrizo.
The list goes on and instead of each item feeling like a variation of the last, it’s all unique. The breakfast tacos, the avocado almond toast and one of the Benedicts are all vegan, satisfying diners with different diet restrictions. Many items are gluten-free as well, including both breakfast tacos entrees and the vegan Benedict (made with organic tofu). For a vegetarian dish, the brick oven frittata, a very fresh and light menu item served with a house made chipotle crema and seasonal veggies, fits the bill.
A fan of Benedicts myself, I struggled to land on one but finally ordered the pulled pork Benedict. The slow-braised pork adds a satisfying salty flavor to the slightly sweet and creamy Béarnaise sauce. The poached eggs were light and, when sliced into, oozed delicious yolk over the homemade buttermilk biscuit, offering a needed element to the otherwise dense (and not in a bad way) biscuit.
The biscuits here, offered as a side choice to many of the breakfasts, served underneath the eggs on a Benedict and present in the house buttermilk biscuits and gravy, deserve their own paragraph. The biscuits are heavy, dense and flavorful—the perfect companion to any meal on the menu (and worth choosing over toast). You’ll have to request butter or jam to slather on top, but the addition only ups the ante on the overall flavors.
If you want to take your breakfast up a notch, make it boozy. There is no shortage of breakfast cocktails made at the full bar, a centerpiece to the quaint eatery. The bloody mary is especially notable, served in a tiki glass with a salt rim and topped with a few extras. Or, skip the booze and have the coffee, poured into chic glass mugs.
Homegrown isn’t just a breakfast spot. The restaurant specializing in locally sourced cuisine serves lunch and dinner, as well, open seven days per week until 11:45 p.m. (and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays). Meaning, if you miss out on the daily offering (served until 2 p.m.), you can still come in and enjoy the ambiance over a pizza or decadent dessert.
