Breakfast in the South Bay

Breakfast. It is often toted as "the most important meal of the day". It is deceptively simple. For some reason, it's also so easy to do incorrectly. In the South Bay, food is much less ritualistic than in the North and West. It is easy to find ten bad places for every good one. Here are some of the shining stars for the day's first meal:

Stacks, Campbell - Stacks serves delicious plate after delicious plate of amazing food. They cook every dish to perfection, and they dole out quite a bit of food for even the smallest budgets. Pancakes are their specialty, but they do almost anything else you could want for breakfast. The Crab Melt - fresh Dungeness Crab meat loaded onto a piece of French Bread and covered in melted cheese and avocado - is to die for. Also, they have great service and are very good at controlling crowds.

Scramblz, San Jose - Scramblz, with walls covered in yellow and plates covered with food, is a sure stop for a great breakfast. There are plenty of options, and deals are abound. They serve four pieces of bacon, two eggs, french toast and strawberries with whipped cream for a great price. That's all one meal! Adding to that, nothing they make disappoints - it's too good to.

John's, San Jose - John's is much better known for Greek and Italian fare, but they serve a mean "American" breakfast, too. Pancakes, French Toast, Eggs Benedict - they have it all, and at a reasonable price. While not as good as the first two options, John's is still sure to please any restaurant goer.

So there you have it. To my, albeit, limited knowledge, these are some of the best stops in the South Bay for breakfast. Still, I'm sure you can find many, many other places to munch in the morning, even ones that fail to serve a "traditional" American breakfast.

Market Skirmish #1: Nijiya Market vs. Safeway

Nijiya                                                 Safeway

Produce: 5                                          Produce: 7
Price: 5                                              Price: 7
Decorations: 3             vs.                  Decorations: 7
Service: 4                                          Service: 6
Range of Goods: 5                       Range of goods: 8

Total: 22                                          Total: 35

Safeway is the winner. As much as I hate to say it, Safeway wins. While Nijiya specializes in Japanese cuisine, Safeway has food from many places on Earth. Also, Nijiya's white walls can't beat the "charm" of Safeway.

Special: The San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area is a major center for food and art, rivaling even Chicago and New York City. Nearly everywhere you go in the region, you'll find dozens of restaurants close by. From fast to formal, Italian to Japanese, the area has it all. Fresh ingredients created by sustainable farming techniques are huge here. Seafood is also of major importance to the region. The Bay Area also has many famous restaurants, including Chez Panisse, Gary Danko, Scoma's, and the French Laundry. It is a region with culinary depth, as some of the most delicious restaurants are never heard of, such as Zazie in Cole Valley, San Francisco. But you have to be very careful where you go in the Bay Area, as well. In Willow Glen, many of the worst restaurants are highly toted, while the best are rarely visited. The same is true throughout the rest of San Jose and Campbell. In San Francisco, though, I've found it's hard to go wrong, as the last half dozen places I've dined at have been spectacular. In the Bay Area, it's very easy to end up at the wrong place, but when you find a gem here, it shines brighter than any other in the nation.

Special: The Sunshine State

Florida, the Sunshine State, is known for it's tourism industry and it's plethora of flat land. It isn't common knowledge that Florida is a culinary superpower. And, some of the best restaurants in the state are rarely seen. Along the backroads outside Tampa, there is a small shack that is rarely open. When it is, it's packed with people looking for today's catch, grilled and placed on a bun. Many restaurants in Florida resemble this. Tarpon Springs is a little known Greek community just North of Tampa, but it has some of the finest establishments in the region. Sometimes, you have to avoid the big cities to find the best stops. Orlando, with every theme park under the sun, has a tourist driven restaurant industry, and driving through downtown, you have to look very hard to find any restaurants at all. Still, though, if you look just past the surface, just past the high rises, that is, you'll find gold in the most unlikely places.

Special: Chained

People always talk about the issues with obesity in America. And it's true, according to NationMaster.com. By their charts, America has the highest obesity rate of any major country in the world, at nearly 31%. Much of this is a result of America's growing dependence on fast food chains. As parts of everyday life become faster with new trends and new technologies, people rely more heavily on quick meals. This is how restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King, Taco Bell, and KFC continuously prosper. But now, it appears a new type of chain is taking form - the healthy kind. Leading the surge is Chipotle and Jamba Juice, both committed to serving quick, fast food that is tasty, yet full of healthier ingredients. And by tasty, I mean tasty. Chipotle serves food on par with many sit down restaurants, and blows dishes produced by the aforementioned unhealthy chains out of the water. Jamba Juice serves healthy, but delicious smoothies and baked goods. Both are popular, and both are examples of the kind of restaurant that needs to be placed ahead of mega chains such as McDonalds and Burger King, who care much more about your money than your jean size.

Restaurant Skirmish #2: Yuki Sushi (Santa Clara) vs. Gombei (San Jose)

Yuki Sushi                                           Gombei

Decorations: 9                                   Decorations: 5
Service: 8                                             Service: 6
Food: 9                         vs.                    Food: 9
Atmosphere: 8                                   Atmosphere: 6
Price: 7                                                 Price: 7

Total: 41                                               Total: 33

Winner is Yuki Sushi. Yuki Sushi in Santa Clara has such a great atmosphere, backing up the awesome food and the great decorations. Gombei, though equal in food, falls apart in the other categories.

Restaurant Skirmish #1: Zazie (SF) Vs. Scoma's (SF)

Zazie                                                  Scoma's
                                                        
Decorations: 9                                 Decorations: 9
Service: 7                                           Service: 7
Food: 8                             vs.             Food: 7
Atmosphere: 9                                    Atmosphere: 7
Price: 6                                               Price: 3

Total: 39                                           Total: 33

Zazie wins here. Scoma's was just too overpriced, and the atmosphere couldn't overcome Zazie's. Otherwise, it was a close battle.