Hot Plate ***2.5/5 stars

Sooo retro, huh? This southside estab. had been on my list for a while. I thought it was funny that Yelp listed the ambiance as "hipster." I mean, I guess they're not wrong, if kitsch = hipster. 

By kistch, I mean the entire place is laden with knick knacks and paint by number paintings. Which I found fascinating. The lighting is, as you can see, plentiful. Lots of retro lamps hanging from the ceiling. I admit I am in love with the decor. Does that make me a hipster? Fine. But as I have learned from my time on this earth, trying to hard to be different is still trying to hard. And ambiance is something, but it's not everything.

The menu also features some of the artwork that hangs on the walls... It's a pretty standard diner breakfast, which boasted the best pancakes..."not dense, light and fluffy."

 

That's my hipstamatic cappuccino photo. Nice that they have decaf espresso, as many diners stop at full-strength drip coffee.

The pancakes were light and fluffy. Really dang good. BUT not as good as Lowbrow!

I thought maybe it was a bad decision to get mexican breakfast at a traditional diner because this was not that great. Mostly because the egg was way undercooked. I also hate those deep fried potatoes. No sour cream, no avacado and the salsa burned my face off. Some like it that hot. I do not.

Here's the view from the back booth. Must be popular, cuz it was crowded. I'd probably go back and order scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes. They also have cheap beer and wine and burgers on the menu, but they close at 2pm, so don't come for dinner. Now, I'm off to Ben Franklin in my tight black jeans to buy some paint-by-number and a latch-hook kits.