cora's breakfast and lunch

website: http://www.chezcora.com

location: various locations, i visited the unionville location (3760 highway 7, 905-489-2446)

restaurant type: well done diner or typical sit down restaurant, wide variety of western breakfasts

price range: $8 - $20

dress code: very casual, jeans and runners are the norm

ideal for: casual meals (breakfast or lunch only) with family and/or friends

worth grins:
- most options come with fruit
- good presentation of food
- comfortable and fun environment

worth shaking fists:
- can be noisy because of young children
- can be slightly pricey (especially for breakfast)
- only early birds do not have to wait for a table

my tastes:
"cora's" was one of those restaurants that i could not really understand when i first heard about it. the place is only open for half the day, the first half no less being a breakfast and lunch restaurant. economically, it does not make sense to be open for business during the times when people are either in a rush to get to work/school or are sleeping in. after going the first couple of times i started to understand. the place is popular. unless you go fairly early you are likely to have to wait a little for a table.

i think "cora's" is one of those breakfast type places that i would not go on a regular basis simply because of cost reasons. much as i like my sunny-side-up eggs, i would rather not pay in excess of ten dollars for breakfast...even if it comes with intricately cut fruit. i went yesterday and paid seven or eight dollars for breakfast, and that was sharing two breakfast options with between three of us. for the odd occasion of meeting with friends or going with family, i would not mind since it is a fairly nice place to go to first thing in the morning (the most optimal being my bed, especially on weekends).

breakfast food is fairly standard and you have to be a pretty bad restaurant to be able to screw up eggs and sausage. fortunately, "cora's" does not have this problem at all. "cora's" in fact serves your typical breakfast choices with refreshing additions of fruit and some variety in sides. i was particularly impressed with the cinnamon-bun-like bread that came with the "1970's harvest" which was sweet but not overly so. the rest of the breakfast food was at least at par if not a little better: the eggs were done right, the bacon was crispy and not burnt, pancake was not mushy, and the portions were pretty good. the fruit that comes with the breakfast was nice, it would have been even better if they were more fresh and sweeter (so as not to be drowned out by the cinnamon bun or syrup).

overall, i would say cora's is worth trying and going back to again on the odd occasion. the service is good with servers eager to please (refilled the hot water before we even thought to ask). for the price you pay, you do get a reasonable portion of food and it does come in a interesting presentation. i think the only downside is that the variation on what would normally be a typical breakfast screws up my somewhat obsessive compulsive eating sequence but i can handle that...for the most part...maybe...