Restaurant Review: Half & Half

A few weeks ago, Jessie, Josie, Carolyn and I met up for brunch at Half & Half, the breakfast joint created by the owners of The Good Pie that opened up this summer in downtown Clayton.  I had been wanting to try Half & Half for a while, but it is only open until 2:30 most days, and is closed on Sundays... my most common brunch day!  Half & Half was in the news recently because it will soon be open for dinnertime, but as a completely different restaurant!!!  That's right, early next year, the restaurant will add evening hours, at which time the restaurant’s name will be changed to Medianoche and will serve Mexican cuisine.  Two restaurants in one?!?!  Insane!!!

When we walked inside, we were a little surprised with the atmosphere.  It seemed like they tore down a wall between two separate buildings, and never really meshed them together.  On the right side there were tables and an eating area, and on the left there was a big open area of emptiness, with the bar along the wall and the back side open into the kitchen.  This restaurant has been open for 4 months and it still looks like they are renovating.

Waste of Space

Luckily it was a beautiful day outside, so we could sit on the patio out on the sidewalk and not be stuck inside.  The indoor decor was not the only thing out of whack.  The entire wait staff was incredibly unprofessional, as if it was all their first day on the job.  After waiting a while, they finally brought out Josie's coffee, and luckily we were busy chatting and she didn't get a chance to taste it yet, because a few minutes later they came out and said "sorry, I think we gave you bad coffee."  Sure enough, we look down at the coffee and it has a clear ring of water around the edge of it and it is stone cold.  Rookie mistake for not such a rookie restaurant.

Thumbs down for the Coffee

Luckily the menu looked good!  Half & Half's menu changes each month, with an additional seasonal weekend brunch menu.  In addition to breakfast food, they also have a small list of sandwiches and burgers, but I was there for the breakfast!  This isn't your typical IHOP menu, it is small, and mainly focused on trendy egg dishes.  I ordered the Steak and Eggs which consisted of two sunny side up eggs, hanger steak, potatoes, hollandaise & tobacco onions.  It was really good!  Unfortunately they forgot the hollandaise sauce... but I reminded them and they brought me some on the side for dipping, which is probably how I would've preferred it anyway.  And the sourdough toast was great to sop up the egg yolk and scoop up the steak bits.

Steak and Eggs

Josie ordered the veggie hash with two sunny side up eggs, brussel sprouts, spinach, onions and potatoes.  It came out in a frying pan and looked really yummy too.

Veggie Hash

Carolyn went big and got the french toast.  It was huge and she ate every single bite!  So good!

French Toast with Berries

Overall, the food was descent and a good change from your usually breakfast spots.  However, it was a tad overpriced and the staff still hasn't really figured out how to function properly.  Unfortunately, when Carolyn went back in side to use the restroom she saw a cockroach scurry across the giant empty tile floor.  Luckily she told me after I had eaten, because I'm not sure I would've finished my meal otherwise.  I am also a little skeptical of Half & Half being a breakfast place by day and a Mexican restaurant, with a completely different name, by night.  This place needs to get its act together and start acting like a well established restaurant.