over easy
115,000 eggs — you’ll find them scrambled, poached and fried, in French toast or huevos rancheros, pancakes and omelettes. 115,000 is a big number to try and get your head around, even in one year, but take a seat in a booth at Over Easy on Hollywood Blvd. and it quickly becomes pretty evident.
Owner Steven Jackson recounts the story about how he and his wife Ashley came to own a breakfast place: “We’d just come from a weekend in Oxford, Miss., and had eaten at John Currence’s restaurant, Big Bad Breakfast, there. The food was so delicious but so simple, too.”
Opening up something similar in Birmingham seemed like the next logical step. Having grown up in Mountain Brook and with a background in real estate, Jackson knew just where the restaurant should be. When the Coffee Shop closed and the space on Hollywood became available, Over Easy became more than just an idea.
The doors opened November 2010, and the tables have been full ever since.
“It sounds silly, but the most surprising thing about owning a restaurant is that people show up day after day. It’s like the thing that I hoped for and thought would happen is actually happening! The other surprising thing is the volume and traffic that we are doing here. It is way more than I had originally thought.”
The restaurant’s décor is simple and clean, mid-century modern Jackson calls it, with a balance of yellow, grey and white. There is plenty of natural light, filtered through shades in the front windows.
“Ashley is a graphic designer, and she created the logo, a nice clean design. She also found the hand-screened wallpaper, which is perfect for the look we were going for.”
The restaurant draws the occasional breakfast eater as well as a whole host of regulars, including two couples who come in every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday since it opened.
“While we can’t hold a table for them, we do try and set one a little before 7 a.m. each weekday and start cooking their breakfasts. They arrive at 7:10, and we serve their regular order, just like clockwork.”
While this one group of diners may not deviate from their usual selections, the menu is chock full of many delicious offerings, starting with coffee, organic milks and McEwen & Sons grits from the Birmingham area. Jackson always prioritizes local sourcing.
“In the beginning, there were a lot of people, even grown men, who just refused to eat blue corn grits, including my father-in-law. But now people love them. It was a fun thing to serve, and we stuck with it. And I am really glad we did.”
The menu item he is most proud of is the Italian Eggs Benedict, which features poached eggs, crispy prosciutto and Over Easy homemade basil pesto on a polenta cake. “That was my brainchild. I didn’t know exactly how it was going to work, but we made it and I ate it and it was just what I had envisioned. We have a lot of people who come here just for that dish. It is unique, and in my opinion, it’s just killer.”
Jackson notes that they have no immediate plans to expand the Over Easy empire, but that they are continuing to work at things to make them better and better. Just look at those egg sales alone, and you’ll see they are definitely doing something right.
Christiana Roussel is a Southern food & lifestyle writer headquartered in Crestline. When not attending biscuit festivals or bourbon tastings, there are four chickens, three dogs, two children and one husband who keep her very busy. Follow her culinary endeavors at.Facebook.com/ChristianasKitchen.