Great Omelets, Bad Coffee

After the Vegas Marathon, where I ran the half marathon and my dear friend Nikki got up at 6 a.m. on a Sunday to cheer me on, we decided it was time for some really greasy food. My post-running brain wasn't functioning that well (for the record, I finished in 2:16, and it was my sixth half marathon), but luckily I could come up with the best breakfast spot someone close to the finish line at Mandalay Bay: Omelet House.

I've been going to this Vegas institution for the 13 years I have lived here, and it's as popular as ever. The parking lot in the nondescript strip mall is always packed, and that was, of course, true on a Sunday morning. Luckily we only had to wait a few minutes for a table -- running makes me hungry! The place is charming in a diner kind of way: simple, fun, hole-in-the-wall, and definitely locally owned, which is what we really like. There's tons of homey decorations -- think chickens, roosters, country-inspired signs -- which are cute, but we wouldn't want them in our house.

At Omelet House, the omelets really are so big you should split one, which we did. We chose the delicious B.B. & C. with broccoli, bacon, and cheddar cheese, a combination we had not had before. Just as Nikki had predicted, our little table couldn't hold all the food, as we also ordered a short stack of fluffy pancakes. We had enough carbs and protein to last us for several marathons. A huge highlight were the home style potatoes, which were crunchy, yet clearly cooked (not fried), and just heavenly. Yes, we ordered another portion. All omelets come with a choice of several sides, and as always, I chose the very satisfying banana-nut bread, which could be a mini-meal in itself. Unless you just ran a marathon, do yourself a favor and order a baby omelet, which is plenty. Service is efficient and the waiters are busy, yet friendly and responsive.

The only downside to Omelet House is the coffee, which is some of the poorest we have tasted at any breakfast joint in town. I don't remember poor coffee from previous visits, so our hope is that it was just a bad pot or two.

Omelet House
2160 W. Charleston Boulevard (at Rancho)
Las Vegas, NV 89102
(702) 384-6868

--By Judy Jenner