It’s no secret that Terry and I can usually be found at Tucker’s on Sunday mornings. One day, when we had to go to breakfast early -- Tucker’s doesn’t open until 9 a.m. or so (I think!) -- we pondered where to eat (home was not an option!). I suggested Echo, which Terry, in his two years of living virtually around the corner, had never visited.

Echo is an upscale greasy spoon. It has similar food to Tucker’s, with a slightly -- OK, very -- different look and feel. Echo is all white and yellow and summery colors, and it's filled with older people fresh from church or people wearing big sunglasses, hung over from a party. There are some in tennis whites (seriously!) and on their way to the courts, and don’t forget the families with multiple strollers and designer baby bags. Such is life in the only breakfast place on the Hyde Park Square.

As pretentious as some of the clientele may be, the menu is completely unpretentious. It’s your basic diner menu, complete with daily specials (their Amish fried chicken sounds great!), and a killer breakfast menu.

I selected Glier’s German Greats: two eggs, goetta, potato cakes, baked apples and I chose raisin toast as my option. I have no idea why I was in a German mood that day, but I was. The eggs, soft-scrambled, were appropriately cooked, and the potato cakes, which were silver-dollar size, with a fluffy, mashed-and-grated potato inside and crisp outside, were different from what I expected. I expected a traditional potato pancake but they were still delicious.

I could have used more of the baked apples -- mostly because I love baked fruit -- but what I had was nicely cooked with cinnamon and sugar. The goetta was crisp (as it should be!), and I’m impressed they had raisin bread -- a childhood favorite.

Terry got -- well, it wasn’t on the menu -- two fried eggs, goetta, grits and an English muffin. Again, his goetta was crisp, and everything else was good -- what you’d expect from a diner. No real surprises there.

Echo also does lunch and dinner (I love their chicken salad) -- all standard, classic diner-esque fare. We’ll try it for dinner sometime soon -- but Echo is certainly an option for us for breakfast when we don’t go to Tucker’s (or want some variety).

PHOTO CREDITS
Photographer: Julie Niesen

Julie Niesen
		About the author:
		When she's not freelancing or writing her restaurant column for Cincy Chic, Julie Niesen is writing for her own blog, wine me, dine me (in Cincinnati). Send her an e-mail at jniesen@cincychic.com
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Last update: 13-07-2009 00:19

Published in : Magazine Items, Social