Varsity Inn Restaurant

First of all, I don't know to which Wallingford inn their name refers.  Maybe one used to be near this excellently-located cafe, but now it's surrounded by a mix of industrial buildings clinging to their leases and fancy new condos with art in the entryways.  This is no wonder.  The view outside their front door (though not outside their windows) is down towards Gasworks Park and south across Lake Union.  This is a lovely place to have breakfast on a sunny day when you'd like to go for a stroll afterward.

I have a very limited perspective on their food, because every time I go there I eat the same thing: the spinach, swiss cheese and almond omelette.  It's a two-meal portion for me (one-meal for my sweetie), and it's served with crisp hash browns on top, and a toast side.  They even have rye bread, which I enjoy as a treat.  The omelette is stuffed to capacity with spinach.  They could spread the cheese around a little more and it wouldn't go wrong, but I really like the additional texture of the almonds, and this works very well as a leftover.  In general I'm going to say this is no place for a gourmet, but it's clean, pleasantly local, and will suit a decent variety of American standard appetites. 

• address: 1801 North 34th Street
• parking: street--but not usually difficult
• cost: reasonable.  Around $9-12, say.
• quality: fine; well-prepared and not too greasy, but NOT fancy
• wait: there can be a bit of a line on weekends, and the waiting area may be outside, but it sometimes the line moves quickly.  Do a drive-by to check.
• coffee (since this is Seattle): no espressos, I think.  Frequent refills on the adequate drip coffee though.
• menu/variety: pretty impressive variety of breakfast foods, plus lots of sides.  Small lunch and dinner menu also available.
• extras: I like the rye option.  Also, the wait staff has been around for a while and if you like the place you may get to know them a bit; what I've seen of them is very nice though not suck-uppy.
• payment: credit ok
• website: none found