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Catching The Wave

So after the adventure (see Rabbit For Breakfast?), and no rabbit to cook on a fire, and all that mud slogging, I'm starved.

Andrea's giving me a ride up to Palm Avenue. She has one of those smart phones.

“Imperial Beach breakfast,” she says into it.

And up pops “The Wave Café.”

Her phone directs us all the way to the beach, and The Wave (809 Seacoast Drive, Imperial Beach, 619-423-9900).

Andrea, in front of The Wave Cafe

And what a find. We squelch in (even though we scraped all the mud we could off our boots, they’re still soaked from the muddy fields). Star the waitress (she’s the one with a star tattooed behind her left ear) greets us like old friends, sits us down, gets two cawfees going.

Star

See they have blue and cream walls, with lots of troppo pictures. Paintings of palm trees, beaches, deck chairs. As I look around, the place is filling up, too.

Price-wise, you’re going from $5 for a short stack to $13 for steak and eggs.

Andrea goes for the Little Kahuna, two eggs with 2 bacon (she could have had jumbo sausages), plus hash browns and pancakes (she could have had home fries and toast).

Andrea's Little Kahuna. Big Kahuna's $1 more, with more eggs/bacon/sausages

I get the I. B. Skillet (peppers, onions, sausage, ham, bacon, scrambled eggs in a skillet, $8.99).

I. B. Skillet

See Dennis Hogan the cook and owner cooking it all in the side kitchen.

Chef-owner Dennis Hogan

Jessica brings my skillet. I think everyone calls her Mama.

Mama

You can eat outside on the street, but we need warming up. Kinda cozy in here. Specially as Star keeps refilling our coffees.

I forget this about IB, but it’s that kind of place, still. Basically country-friendly.

“Great food, but I see there’s no rabbit on the menu,” I say.

“It’s socialization,” says Andrea. “We’re trained to eat only pork and beef and chicken. Why do people feel more sorry for rabbits than for, say, chickens? It’s completely cultural.”

She’s holding the menu. “Of course, I’m an Ohio girl. I've been socialized to love biscuits and gravy.”

I see the menu has B&G with 2 bacon or 2 sausages. Runs $7.99, or $5.99 for a half order.

“Why don’t you have some,” I say.

“No way,” she says. “I’m full. Besides, I feel sorry for the pigs.”

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So after the adventure (see Rabbit For Breakfast?), and no rabbit to cook on a fire, and all that mud slogging, I'm starved.

Andrea's giving me a ride up to Palm Avenue. She has one of those smart phones.

“Imperial Beach breakfast,” she says into it.

And up pops “The Wave Café.”

Her phone directs us all the way to the beach, and The Wave (809 Seacoast Drive, Imperial Beach, 619-423-9900).

Andrea, in front of The Wave Cafe

And what a find. We squelch in (even though we scraped all the mud we could off our boots, they’re still soaked from the muddy fields). Star the waitress (she’s the one with a star tattooed behind her left ear) greets us like old friends, sits us down, gets two cawfees going.

Star

See they have blue and cream walls, with lots of troppo pictures. Paintings of palm trees, beaches, deck chairs. As I look around, the place is filling up, too.

Price-wise, you’re going from $5 for a short stack to $13 for steak and eggs.

Andrea goes for the Little Kahuna, two eggs with 2 bacon (she could have had jumbo sausages), plus hash browns and pancakes (she could have had home fries and toast).

Andrea's Little Kahuna. Big Kahuna's $1 more, with more eggs/bacon/sausages

I get the I. B. Skillet (peppers, onions, sausage, ham, bacon, scrambled eggs in a skillet, $8.99).

I. B. Skillet

See Dennis Hogan the cook and owner cooking it all in the side kitchen.

Chef-owner Dennis Hogan

Jessica brings my skillet. I think everyone calls her Mama.

Mama

You can eat outside on the street, but we need warming up. Kinda cozy in here. Specially as Star keeps refilling our coffees.

I forget this about IB, but it’s that kind of place, still. Basically country-friendly.

“Great food, but I see there’s no rabbit on the menu,” I say.

“It’s socialization,” says Andrea. “We’re trained to eat only pork and beef and chicken. Why do people feel more sorry for rabbits than for, say, chickens? It’s completely cultural.”

She’s holding the menu. “Of course, I’m an Ohio girl. I've been socialized to love biscuits and gravy.”

I see the menu has B&G with 2 bacon or 2 sausages. Runs $7.99, or $5.99 for a half order.

“Why don’t you have some,” I say.

“No way,” she says. “I’m full. Besides, I feel sorry for the pigs.”

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