When Mike Topolovich purchased North Avenue Grill six years ago, I don’t know that he had any plans on expansion. As soon as his customers found the neighborhood diner, however, they knew they wanted more.
The demand led to an expansion of North Avenue Grill’s footprint, thanks in big part to the space next door becoming vacant. A few months ago, a similar vacancy down the street prompted Topolovich to branch out even more, opening MidTown Grill in the former John’s Sandwich Shop.
Fans of NAG might do a double take at MidTown Grill, as it’s practically the same layout as NAG before the expansion. The storefront space has a long diner counter with stools opposite a row of booths (though these are larger to easily seat six) and an open kitchen in the back. The menu is similar as well, with classic diner fare, but smaller and with more of an emphasis on breakfast, since MidTown is only open for breakfast and lunch. It’s quaint, neighborly, and what everyone loved about NAG when it first opened.
I’m always on the lookout for new-to-me brunch items, and one in the “shareable” category of the menu easily won me over. Deep fried bread pudding ($6 on the menu, though I was only charged $5) is made by cutting dense bread pudding into cubes, then deep frying and serving them up hot with powdered sugar. The outsides have the taste and texture of funnel cake, while the bread pudding inside is creamy, soft and full of cinnamon. They were impossible to resist and would do well at the State Fair or dipped into one of MidTown’s milkshakes.
My sugar high easily achieved from an appetizer, I went for a slightly more healthy main. The shroom chicka shroom skillet ($11) included sliced chicken sausage heavy on the sage, mushrooms, spinach, tomato, onion and pepperjack, served over ribbon potatoes (think hashbrowns but with thinly shaved potato slices) and topped with three eggs. There was plenty of cheese and fresh spinach, but the ingredients could have used a bit more cooking as there was almost no browning. Over-easy eggs were on point, however. Other skillet options include the Irishman ($12) with corned beef, Swiss and hollandaise, or the chorizo and avocado ($11) with peppers, pepperjack, salsa and sour cream.
If you’re starving, the Pasadena breakfast sliders ($9) will fill you up easily. Two not-very-small biscuits are made into sandwiches with an egg, lots of melted cheddar, and your choice of sausage patties, bacon or ham. The biscuits were melt-in-your-mouth and overflowing with filling, making a fork and knife necessary. Signature ribbon potatoes on the side were crisp and piled high. For something more unusual, try the Southern turkey sliders ($9) with deep fried turkey, over-easy egg, Swiss and cranberry sage relish on the same biscuits.
Three types of pancakes are offered, and you can try them all in one pancake flight ($10) with sweet bacon pecan, multigrain with plantains, and cinnamon swirl. Creme brûlée French toast ($9) has a shell of caramelized turbinado sugar, a sauce of macerated berries and crème anglaise. On the savory side are street breakfast tacos ($11) with either chorizo or beef barbacoa mixed with eggs in corn tortillas, or a pork belly sweet potato hash ($11) with eggs and a vegetable slaw blend.
Burgers ($9-$13) are done differently here than NAG. They’re smaller with quarter-pound patties for a more diner-like version. Other wraps and sandwiches, like the yardbird ($11) fried chicken breast with Korean gochujang chili sauce and the “better dig the pig” ($12) with a brat patty, pork belly, gouda and bacon-onion jam, make up the lunch menu. A seared ahi tuna salad ($12) and a 5-grain power bowl ($12) with grains, greens, avocado and beets offer some lighter options.
Milkshakes ($6) are over-the-top creations with ingredients like marshmallow whip, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, and crushed pretzels. If it’s a little too early in the morning for that, there’s always local Valentine coffee and Riverwest-based Brew City nitro. Whether you head to MidTown Grill for breakfast or lunch, you’ll get a top-notch diner experience just like its sister restaurant down the street.
