Fire Sign Special ·
You’ll have to get up early to beat the crowds at Fire Sign Café on the West Shore, but it’s worth the wait for the breakfasts they serve until 2 p.m. If you’re going solo, you’re more likely to get served immediately if there’s a spot at the small counter.
Made-from-scratch items have been the hallmark of Fire Sign since it opened in 1978, which has generations of locals and visitors coming back time and again.
I start every visit – breakfast or lunch – the same: a housemade latte made fresh behind the bar. Occasionally, I’ll add in a fresh-squeezed juice (with orange, grapefruit and carrot juice made fresh daily), but their wonderful lattes are also on my order.
Fire Sign boasts a vast menu for both breakfast and lunch with many house specialties like Joe’s Special, a scramble with a mix of ground beef, spinach, garlic, Italian spices and Monterey Jack, the Fire Sign Reuben with sauerkraut (or the turkey version, Fire Sign Rhonda), or one of many benedicts with half and whole orders for the Bakers with sausage patties, the Veggie with avocado and tomato, the Cape Cod with house smoked salmon or the traditional with Canadian bacon.
For a midweek lunch, my sister Michelle Allen and I ordered the Fire Sign Special and the Veggie Potatoes, respectively.
The Fire Sign Special features two eggs any style (she went with poached), veggies potatoes and a side of toasted, the daily based special or an English muffin. One thing about Fire Sign Café – you’ll never leave hungry. The portions are huge (I only order halves when available), but you’ll want to savor every bite. This is the case with the Fire Sign Special, as Michelle finished off the eggs and a good deal of the potatoes.
I wanted something hearty during this visit so I went with a half order of the Veggie Potatoes, which is more than enough, with a dinner plate-sized portion of home fried potatoes topped with mushrooms, bell peppers, green onion and jack cheese, with a side of salsa. I also splurged and ordered a side of the delicious Hollandaise.
Some of my other favorites is the Tostada with spinach instead of lettuce, the pancakes (buttermilk, whole wheat or buckwheat) or the Nut & Seed Waffle with the housemade Hot Blue-Raspberry Sauce and the Fire Sign Crepes served with the Hollandaise sauce.
I’ve always had a great meal during every visit (probably in the hundreds by this point) at Fire Sign, so go ahead and order whatever looks good, then go back and try the rest.
Fire Sign Café is located at 1785 West Lake Blvd. (Highway 89) across from Sunnyside Market and is open daily until 2 p.m. for lunch and breakfast (both served all day). To-go orders also are welcome. For details, call (530) 583-0871.
By Katherine E. Hill
