Hoboken vs. Jersey City: Breakfast

Turning Point, Hoboken

Turning Point was established in Hoboken in 2007. It is located at the corner of 14th St at Frank Sinatra Dr along the water in Hoboken. They have multiple locations throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I visited on Saturday morning just before 8:30am. 

The order: Avocado Toast with 2 eggs, black coffee; Wilber Skillet [scrambled eggs filled with crushed bacon, potatoes, avocado and diced tomato. Topped with melted Monterey Jack cheese], iced caramel latte with almond milk. 

Location:

Turning point is located at 1420 Frank Sinatra Dr in uptown Hoboken. The location is somewhat hidden right now, as there is construction in the area, but this does not stop the droves of people visiting the restaurant. 

Atmosphere:

Turning Point describes their restaurants as "tastefully decorated with soothing natural colors,
rich wood trim, lush live plants, large windows allowing plenty of natural light, comfortable dining areas, gas fireplaces, a private meeting area, a dining counter and outside seating for warmer seasons" which I would agree with. The restaurant is very welcoming, and the large windows at the Hoboken location look out to the NYC skyline. There are also large and small booths to sit at creating cozy gathering spots. 

Menu/Selection:

Turning Point has a traditional breakfast menu selection, along with some unique offerings, such as skillets, extravagant waffles, french toast and pancakes. My husband and I both prefer savory breakfast options, but we did see a number of sweet things go by, which looked really good.

They also have a number of beverage selections, like french press coffee, lattes, fun hot chocolates such as Reeses Peanut Butter Cup with Hot chocolate, peanut butter sauce, whipped cream and mini Reeses cups {yes, please}. They also have almond milk for lattes which is much appreciated for my lactose intolerant husband :).

Service/Wait Time:

We arrived at Turning Point at 8:25am, requested a booth by the window, and were seated right away. I think we beat the crowd arriving before 9am. We have been to Turning Point a number of times after 9am, where we had to wait at least 20 minutes because it was so busy.

The staff was pleasant. About five minutes after we were seated, our server came to fill our waters and asked if we were ready to order. I did think it took longer than it should have to come over to us considering it was not that busy. It did give us time to look over the menu, and we were ready to order when he arrived so it worked out fine. Our server was very nice and smiled a lot, which I appreciate. Our food arrived about 20 minutes after we placed our order, which again, I thought was a long time considering it was not that busy.

Food:

We enjoyed our meals, but we did not think it was anything special. I had the Avocado Toast with over-easy eggs. The toast comes topped with avacado, tomato and cracked pepper, but the toast was barely toasted so it was pretty flimsy to try to eat. The over-easy eggs were made perfectly. My husband had the Wilber Skillet, which was good, but somewhat dry.

avacado toast with eggs^

Wilber Skillet^

SamAM Cafe, Jersey City

SamAm Cafe is in Jersey City's Paulus Hook neighborhood at 112 Morris St. They are a small cafe and use locally sourced ingredients. We visited SamAM Cafe on Tuesday morning about 7:30am.

The order: The Classic Breakfast Sandwich {farm egg, thick bacon & cheddar on ciabatta}, black coffee; Classic French Toast {vanilla wash, butter & maple syrup}, green tea. 

Location:

SamAM Cafe is on Morris St in Jersey City hidden between various residential brownstones. If you didn't know if was there, you would miss it. It is walking distance to various transportation like the PATH, Light Rail, and NYC ferries, so it is easily accessible for many. 

Atmosphere:

SamAM Cafe is quaint. It occupies the space of a first floor of a brownstone, so it a small, narrow space, but has a tremendous amount of charm. You walk in to a counter where you can get your order to go, and there are about ten small tables to dine-in at. Lots of wood furniture and fresh flowers also give off a rustic, homey vibe. They do not have any booths, which I really like in a breakfast place, but their atmosphere is cozy enough without them. I also do not think they would have any space for booths. 

Menu/Selection:

SamAM Cafe describes their menu as "[a] celebration of good simple food. our daily menu changes seasonally and is sourced locally!". They have a number of breakfast sandwich options, along with breakfast entree options like Huevos Rancheros, Biscuit & Sausage Gravy, and Chicken & Waffles. Their menu is on the smaller side, which makes sense as they are a smaller cafe and everything is locally sourced. 

Service/Wait Time:

We arrived at about 7:30am, and we were the only people there. We were told to sit anywhere we liked, so we did. A server came over right away, and poured us water. We could see 2 people working when we first arrived, and they seemed very busy getting ready for the day. This did not take away from our service, as they were very attentive to our needs. We waited about seven minutes to receive our food after we placed our order. As we ate, the tables filled up, and more servers arrived. Again, I still felt like our needs were attended to just fine. I could see specials listed on the mirror above the counter in the front, but our server did not inform us of these; this would be my one complaint. 

Food:

I had the Classic Breakfast Sandwich, which I was pleasantly surprised with. It was larger than I thought it would be and came with homefries! I am rather critical of homefries, and I thought these were very good - cooked and seasoned very well. The sandwich had eggs, cheddar cheese and bacon, which all melted together very well, and I thought was great. My husband ordered the French Toast and loved it! 

Classic Egg Sandwich^

French Toast^