Julie’s Diner on Route 11 in North Syracuse is my favorite breakfast place. I know I wrote about Stella’s Diner back in February, and I do like Stella’s, but for my money Julie’s is the place to go.

I’ve been going to Julie’s for a very long time. When I first started going it was called Waffleworks, and at the time I really wasn’t a waffle eater. But when the product is in the name you just have to try it because you assume it’s their specialty, and boy did they get it right. It did change hands a couple of times after that, but the restaurant is basically the same as it was back then only they did add a little extra space for more seating. It’s owned by a lady named Christine, but was formerly owned by a guy named Julie, who also owned Nestico’s, but he passed away a couple of years ago.

The strange thing about this post is that you’re not going to see a picture of a waffle. Normally when I go in to Julie’s I request a bacon waffle, which obviously is broken up bacon cooked right into the waffle. Not many people know about it, but it’s a holdover from the old days and because I’m one of the regulars they always make it for me. It’s not a Belgian waffle, which means it’s not overly thick, but it’s just absolutely wonderful. Some people will put whipped cream and strawberries on their waffle, but that’s not my style. I’ve even seen blueberries on waffles and I think I once saw chocolate chips, but I’m not sure about that.

What you will see here is a picture of the omelette that I often get. This was a ham and American cheese omelette with onions, and it was absolutely delightful. They use real eggs, and this sucker is bigger than it looks on the plate. They will usually give you home fries but I don’t eat home fries so I tell them to save that food for someone else. I always get English muffins if I don’t get a waffle, and I’ll admit we will have our little battles with English muffins because sometimes they’re not toasted enough and sometimes they’re over toasted. But that seems to be a thing with English muffins because even at home I have problems getting it right sometimes.

The best part about Julie’s is the atmosphere. These are some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet. And the food comes fast, which always works because normally it’s breakfast and when you want breakfast you just want to eat it as soon as you can. They do serve lunch, but I’ve never gone for lunch. At one point in the past they used to have dinner on the weekends, but I think they’ve ended that.

And you can’t beat the price. I can get my omelette and my waffle and the total is always going to be under $15, even though I add soda. I don’t know of any other places you can go to get meals this inexpensive. I always get an omelette with a waffle, but if I get the omelette and leave off the waffle the price is under $10; you can’t beat that.

I have brought a lot of different people to Julie’s and not one of them has ever said they regretted it. As a matter of fact, they end up bringing other people to Julie’s, and I’d like to think that I’m one of their biggest supporters. They’re also a big supporter of me as a news story and picture that I had in the newspaper one time is on their wall, and a couple other people I go to Julie’s with are also in the story.

Frankly, any time you can get a restaurant that knows who you are and that you can get along with the people who work there and enjoy the food, that something special that you can never replace.