A Toast to Great Food in Patchogue

“Patchogue is a destination area,” says Terry Scarlatos, owner of the restaurant. “There’s nothing like this here,” he says, referring to the restaurant’s casual downtown vibe, open, airy floor plan and expansive menu.

That sentiment was clear, as the restaurant was bustling on a recent Wednesday afternoon, the establishment’s first week in business. Reservations are not accepted, but Toast will take a phone number and call when a table opens, allowing people to walk around and browse the Patchogue community as they wait.

Longtime fans of the Port Jeff location will happily recognize that the two menus are virtually the same. However, a few new items were introduced to the Patchogue restaurant, a move that has “backfired in a good way,” as Port Jeff patrons are now asking for the additional items, which will be added soon. One other key difference—whereas Port Jeff has dinner and fondue on weekend nights, the Patchogue location is focused on breakfast and lunch. The two are also mirror opposites as far as their busy times, with Port Jeff doing more breakfast plates and Patchogue seeing more business during lunchtime hours.

Breaking from that trend, we stuck to breakfast, as having eggs and toast in the middle of the day is always a treat. Also, the bottom of Toast’s menu boasts: “Fun fact: Toast for breakfast makes you smile. It also makes you funnier, more charming and capable of grabbing a bull by the horns.” How could we go wrong? The menu has various breakfast burritos, eggs any style, waffles, French toast and pancakes on offer.

Kelly’s meal started, as all breakfasts should, with a cup of coffee, and she happily discovered that the hot liquid was served in an oversized mug. She went with the Splendid Benedict, which features two organic poached eggs with a sliced avocado fritter on a toasted English muffin, topped with hollandaise and maple bacon crumbles. The combination was divine. The avocado fritter was lightly fried, giving it enough structure to hold up the poached eggs, but not so much as to be greasy. The maple bacon crumbles gave the meal the perfect amount of meaty bite.

Valerie likes to gauge her brunch spots based on the quality of their French toast, so she ordered the Brioche French Toast with strawberries and crème fraîche, with a side of turkey bacon. Unlike regular French toast, which often tastes more like a mouthful of sugar than a meal, this one had a mellow tartness from the crème fraîche and strawberries. The French toast itself was well prepared. It was evenly cooked, and soft in the middle. It was substantial and filling, but not heavy. The choice of bread was spot-on. She’d never had a more perfect blend of sweet and tangy in a breakfast dish, and the turkey bacon was a great savory finish.

We finished off our meal with “dessert”—the Krispy Nutella French toast. New to the menu, the French toast is lightly coated with Rice Krispy treats, topped with sugar and strawberries and drizzled with Nutella. The divine concoction was sweet, but not overly so, with the Rice Krispies providing the perfect amount of crunch.

Toast also has lunch on offer, and a quick scan of the busy restaurant revealed that the breakfast/lunch eaters were split fairly evenly. Lunch features lite bites, a number of innovative salads, wraps and burgers. Scarlatos recommended the Eggs Benedict Brunch Burger, which features an 8-ounce burger with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce on an English muffin. It sounded like the perfect treat for after a long run, and we’ll certainly be back to give it a try.

Toast Patchogue is located at 46 East Main Street, Patchogue. Open 8 a.m.–3 p.m., Monday–Friday; and 7:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call 631-654-7091 or visit toastcoffeehouse.com.