Brunch: Little Owl

Happy September my fellow piggys!  With Labor Day just this past Monday, I took advantage of the long weekend and snagged myself a spot at The Little Owl for brunch!

Notoriously tiny (or cozy as everyone calls it) and popular, this little neighborhood spot is always fully booked and the waiting list for walk-ins extremely long.  But this Labor Day weekend, I managed to snag a coveted reservation for brunch yay!  I had been to The Little Owl for dinner before and felt meh about my experience.  But I have heard that brunch here is the way to go so what the heck, lets give it a second go!

Located deeeeeep in the West Village, The Little Owl is actually in the building that the tv show Friends made famous.  Look familiar?

The Little Owl is located in the Friends building!

While I had an 11:30am reservation, my dining compadres and I were not seated until noon.  Bummer.  While waiting patiently for our table to finish, we stood outside and watched many many many people come by trying to snag a walk-in spot and walk away unsuccessful.  Moral of the story - come early and/or make a reservation and be prepared to wait a bit.

When you walk in, its a bright space with a homey feel.  I can understand the appeal of dining here - its comforting and relaxing.

Big windows brighten up the dining room (sorry didn't use flash in this pic)

Small yet comforting feel in the dining room

Looking at the menu, not much happened to catch my eye.  Seems to be a pretty limited menu...

Brunch menu!

While waiting for our food to come out, I did love the individual sized jars of condiments!  I had to resist the urge to put these little guys into my bag. 

Ahhh finally...our food!  We ordered the Whole Wheat Pancakes, Grilled Irish Bangers, Poached Eggs, and the Bacon Cheese Burger.  My dining compadres thought the Whole Wheat Pancakes tasted a touch too healthy and were missing some sparkle.  The Bangers were good though. 

Whole Wheat Pancakes and Grilled Irish Bangers

The Poached Eggs were served with fontina sausage biscuits, greens, and hollandaise sauce.  Aka this was Eggs Benedict.  Good thing my dining compadres were gorgeous marketing gals because if I just ordered the Poached Eggs, I would need a second order and/or a side order (no potatoes???) to fill me up.  

Poached Eggs

As for me, I went with the burger.  This was really tasty - great flavor and not dry.  Bacon was juuuust perfect and the dish came with a side of seasoned fries! 

Bacon Cheese Burger

Overall, the food was good and I enjoyed the feel of The Little Owl.  If I walked in not knowing much about the restaurant and/or didn't have to deal with the crazy reservation/wait situation, I'd probably give it a solid Yes vote.  However, with all the hype and the high maintenance reservation situation, I kept waiting for something to wow me. 

Sadly, I didn't get the wow factor during my earlier dinner experience nor did I feel like it was an amazing experience at brunch.  There are many other restaurants in the city with just as cozy spaces, even more memorable food, and most importantly a manageable wait situation.  Coming all the way to West Village for a table that may or may not come my way is too much of a gamble for me.  It all seems to be a bit over-hyped in my opinion anyway...

Piggy says No

The Little Owl
90 Bedford St (corner of Bedford and Grove St)

Thanks for reading - Piggy KK