Argo Cafe

Can you believe that it's already been a month since I started this little blog? Happy one month! In celebration of this day, The Team (from here on in, I figure that we can consider Kimmy, Rozalyn and myself as The Team) decided upon the Argo Cafe, which can be found on West 2nd Avenue and Ontario Street (1836 Ontario Street). It's open from 7am til 3pm, breakfast is served until 11am and then the lunch menu opens up afterwards. In addition to The Team, you can welcome back Cam, from last week, and a new friend, Amber.

The Argo has apparently been around for the past 60 years. When we walked into the place, you could certainly feel the old vibe of it. Small, comfy booths with coat trees, which is perfect during this time of year when we're bundled up in winter coats. One of the co-owners was making up the new menu boards at the front of the cafe, and greeted us warmly. It was also at this moment that Kimmy noticed the "cash only" sign and, as we all know, no one carries cash anymore! So, Kimmy and Amber headed out in search of an ATM, which the owner kindly pointed them to.

"You'll want to head up to the Brinks building, which is just up on 5th," he said.

"What about the gas station over on 2nd?" I asked.
"They don't have one anymore. Someone ran a stolen truck into the store, lassoed the ATM and drove off with it... twice! So yeah, they decided that they weren't going to replace it again," he explained.

With that dilemma out of the way, Rozi, Cam and I sat and drank our coffees ($1.50 with free refills, I believe. I didn't actually see the price) that our server brought us. This guy's deadpan humor and plain-spoken conversation was right up my alley. Y'know, the kind of talking that makes you laugh on the inside because it sounds so serious when you know that it's all a joke. Anyway, after about 10 minutes, Kimmy and Amber finally came back, cash in-hand. They sat down and we all examined the menu, which was simply written out on chalkboards on the wall. Hey, it's a good way to save money, avoiding physical menus and all. The menu was condensed, but still quite varied, with a selection of bacon & egg-type specials, french toast, omelettes, steak & eggs, etc. For some reason, I feel that ordering "off of the menu" would be a very viable option here, and I may just try it one of these days. Regardless, we all came to our decisions and the following ensemble is what came about:Me - "The Platter". A slice of French toast, two eggs scrambled, three slices of bacon, two slices of brown toast and pan fries. ($7.25)Rozalyn - Steak and Eggs. Ordered rare and sunny-side up, along with two slices of brown toast and pan fries. ($9.75)Kimmy - Cheese Omelette. Just a plain ol' omelette with two slices of brown toast and pan fries. ($6.25)Cam - "The Platter". French toast, over-easy eggs, bacon, brown toast and pan fries. ($7.25)Amber - "The Platter". French toast, over easy eggs, bacon, white toast and pan fries. ($7.25)

It only took a mere 5 minutes for the French toast to arrive, along with the butter and syrup for it. It was also right then that we realized that there was only one set of cutlery for 5 of us. Not a problem for the staff here, as it seems that they psychically heard us thinking it and 4 more sets of cutlery were placed upon the table. Kind of a shame, as I was hoping that Amber would just use the one set to feed all of us individually, kind of like a bird mom. (hahaha) Anywho, back to breakfast. The French toast looked and tasted amazing. It was done just right, not burnt and not soggy. After about another 3 minutes, the rest of the food arrived. All of the dishes looked quite lovely, and the portions were just the right size. The toast may have been slightly under-done, but definitely not bad at all. Rozi's steak was done to medium-rare, which was to be expected, since that's just how steaks are. It was actually why she ordered it rare, so yay for forethought! Otherwise, everything was tip-top and grade A. For the next 5 minutes or so, silence befell the table. Finally, Amber piped up, "I love it when the table goes silent."

"Well, that just means that we're all enjoying our food that much," I replied.

And it was true, the food definitely kept us all enthralled til the last of it was in our stomachs. This was another one of those situations where I ate all of my food without thinking twice. The same went for the rest of the team, as well. Yes, for the 5th week in a row, we chose another awesome breakfast joint. As per usual, I suggest the Argo to anyone and everyone, except for vegans and people who don't like a good breakfast. If you don't fall into either of those categories, then please, go to the Argo Cafe soon! I know that I'll be returning.

(From L-R: Jesse, Cam, Kimmy, Amber & Rozi)

Stay sharp, kids
Jesse