The First Meal

Egg It On lets you experience breakfast, not just eat it

Maybe when you're out shopping, a café catches your eye and you stop in for lunch, or on your way home from a day out, you drive by a grill and decide to order dinner. But to dine out for breakfast, you have to pull your drowsy head out of bed.

"Breakfast is still a destination," says Rick Leukert, the CEO and operating partner of Egg It On, a new breakfast restaurant in Spokane Valley serving massive portions of sweet, savory and egg-filled dishes. When you decide to go out for breakfast, he says, you get up with that intent and it's your primary reason for leaving the house.

The focus at Egg it On is clearly on the first meal of the day, and the space has a wake-up-it'll-be-a-good-day feel, with quirky black-and-white egg photography, a nostalgic tile wall and bright blues and yellows in between.

The space previously housed Hooters, but that restaurant's two out-of-state owners decided to close it and open this eatery in May using a completely different concept. Leukert says Hooters didn't seem like a good fit for the community and thought something more family-friendly would better suit the demographic.

Next door, the Owl Club Casino, owned by the same partners, recently closed briefly for construction and reopened with a new name. The owners plan to open another restaurant — this one focused on burgers and craft beer — in the same complex in mid-June. You'll also be able to order from the Egg It On menu starting at 10 pm.

Urban-farm fusion is the theme running through Egg It On's menu. Leukert describes it as "big, hearty meals for hardworking people" made with local ingredients, mixed with urban fare featuring well-known products. Their Crunch Berry French Toast ($10), for example, has thick slices of brioche bread crusted with Captain Crunch cereal, topped with fresh berries, a drizzle of raspberry sauce and scoop of pecan butter.

On the savory side, you can get items like sausage pot pie ($10), biscuits and gravy topped with eggs ($10) and sage-fried chicken benedict ($13). Drink your dose of morning vitamins with fresh-squeezed vegetable and fruit juices ($4) or breakfast-style cocktails and mimosas. ♦

Egg It On • 16208 E. Indiana • Mon-Sun, 7 am-2 pm • eggiton.com • 924-9464