Welcome back to our look at the very best Penticton and area has to offer, as chosen by you, our amazing readers, and presented by our friends at Visit Penticton.
Today, we focus on food. Not any old food, mind you, but the meal that’s long been heralded as the most important of the day. And often the yummiest too. We’re talking about breakfast!
In Penticton, there’s no shortage of great breakfast spots. Whether you’re after a leisurely multi-course feast or a quick grab-and-go snack, you’ll find ample choices throughout the city.
Just look at the names that were nominated but didn’t quite make the medals. Long- established brekkie favourites like The Nest, Shades on Main and Tootsie’s Diner in mid-town and the Bear’s Den Restaurant in the North Gateway region. And stylish, hyper-popular downtown newcomers like Wayne and Freda, Honey Toast Café and The Black Antler -- none of which even existed before the summer of 2019.
Feeling hungry? Let’s move on to our top three.
Just how hungry are you, anyway?
Founded in 2009 in the same heart-of-the-city location it resides in today, Terry’s Comfort Food with Attitude offers a wide variety of culinary options throughout its daily breakfast-to-mid- afternoon operation window. But as the name suggests, Terry’s specialty is filling empty stomachs with wildly generous portions of regionally-sourced comfort food.
The first item on the menu is the appropriately titled “Big Easy” It features three eggs, three strips of maple bacon, two slices of grilled ham, three sausages, and servings of hash browns, pancakes and toast. Whew!
There are plenty more oversized offerings beyond the Big Easy, though Terry’s will appeal to moderate hungers too with more traditionally sized offerings like wraps and muffins, hot and cold cereals, and of course, Eggs Benny.
Want quirky? How about a restaurant named after the Norse god of trickery that’s situated in the same space as an ancient automotive tire shop, sandwiched between one of the funkiest
thoroughfares in the city and Penticton Creek?
It’s called Loki’s Garage, and it burst onto the Penticton scene in 2020 just a few paces away from trendy Front Street on the edge of the downtown core. But as quirky as it may have seemed at first glance, Loki’s Garage -- with its huge garage door and spacious patio out front -- was in fact as homey and as comfy as they come.
Serving up a blend of made-from-scratch European-inspired but North American-tweaked comfort food -- as highlighted in its selection of tasty sandwiches -- Loki’s quickly grew a fan base.
And then it adopted that approach and started serving brunch. And the love affair kicked into high gear.
Today, Loki’s Garage does its silver medal-worthy, made-from-scratch brunch seven days a week, from early morning to early afternoon. Favourites and best-sellers include stuff like Bacon Bennie, Chicken with Waffles, Chorizo Hash and Brunch Paella. No trickery about that.
Long one of Penticton’s most celebrated eateries, The Bench Market is no stranger to Accolades.
And for good reason. The building, idyllically situated just a couple blocks from both the waterfront and the beginning of the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) Trail on the scenic road to the Naramata Bench has been around for decades. And the current management team has been on the scene since the early 2010s.
In that time, The Bench has become a neighborhood hub. Virtually every day of the week you’ll find its pretty outdoor patio loaded with folks -- locals and tourists, hikers and cyclists, walkers and rollers -- gathered together over food and drink.
And what food and drink it is. The Bench doesn’t do dinner at all and closes by 3 pm, but that only allows it to focus even more on its crazily popular breakfasts, lunches and weekend Brunches.
Sample breakfast items include the Bench Breakfast Burrito, Smoked Salmon Benny, and Avocado Toast, and a selection of healthy cereals. Brunch features a trio of scrumptious takes on Eggs Benedict, along with waffles and sausage & egg plates.
Better still, The Bench is all about good practices. Its coffee comes from locally-roasted organic beans. Its meats and eggs come from ethically-treated, BC-raised animals. And its niche grocery section features local artisan goods.
Good enough for gold in 2022? Our readers certainly thought so.
Click here to see our runners up!
