Danny's Diner - Somerville, Mass

We stayed overnight in Boston before driving up to Maine on Sunday. I hopped on Chowhound and did a quick search of breakfast places in the area. One that had good word-of-mouth was Danny's Diner in Somerville, about 4 miles from our hotel on Beacon Hill. We packed up our bags, got the car from the valet, and headed over.

Danny's is on the end of a rather run-down looking block across Beacon Street from a Star Market. Since there were very few spots and tons of snowbanks on the side of the street, I opted to park in the Star lot and we hoofed it over to Danny's from there. Unlike the rest of the block, inside Danny's was nearly brand new. They opened in July 2007 and it looks like they gutted whatever had been in that spot. A long bar with stools and several tables along the wall made up the seating. A cooler in the corner held soda and other drinks. We took a seat at a free four-top. Four or five other groups/couples were enjoying breakfast when we arrived.

The menu was very straightforward. Sections give simple descriptions of the items. Tara decided to get a bacon and cheese omelet and I got a hash omelet. We decided to get a side of hash browns too. When the waitress came to take our order, we found that a bread/muffin/pancakes comes as a side to the omelets. Each category had several choices. Tara got wheat toast and I got pancakes. After running through them for each of us, we both forgot to get hash browns. I walked over to the counter to add them only to find out that they are included. We both got cokes from the cooler that were at about 33 degrees. Nice and cold.

As we waited, we overheard bits and pieces of conversations around us. Having gone to college in central Massachusetts and spent a lot of time around Boston, the local accents made me feel right at home. The patrons ranged from a group of four or five older locals to younger couples who might have come from Harvard to folks who just walked over from their apartment. Danny himself was doing the cooking and I believe our waitress was his wife. While Danny wasn't a local judging by his accent, his wife certainly was. It also appears that Danny's had a lot of regulars, as the group behind us was planning on having breakfast there for the foreseeable future.

Our omelets came up in turn and they looked incredible. Taking up fully half of a large oval plate, they were with what we judged were about 5 or 6 real eggs each. No yellow generic egg mixture here. The other half of the plate was a generous helping of hash browns. Tara's bacon omelet looked to have been cooked a little longer than mine and wasn't quite a fluffy, but it had a great flavor and I preferred it to my hash omelet. While i found mine really good, the extra crispness of her omelet made it stand out for me. I also got two five or six inch pancakes and Tara had her toast. We managed to finish Tara's omelet, toast, my pancakes, and 2/3 or so of my omelet, as well as a good portion of the hash browns, before we had to give up. Despite the sparse menu descriptions, what were listed as $6.95 omelets came with more than enough extras to leave us stuffed.

With three cans of coke, our bill came to under $20. Given the quality and quantity, this is definitely a good deal. If we need a breakfast place on our next trip, this is definitely high on our list. They also serve sandwiches, subs, and other things, but we didn't have a chance to try them.

Danny's Diner
298 Beacon St Somerville MA 02143