The Broken Yolk

Huge portions, and extremely close to where I live. Definitely a bit greasy, but it’s at a good price.

This place is good if you want a quick and good breakfast. Nothing amazing or great but good. We had the biscuits and gravy, a breakfast sandwich, and the apple French toast. The apple French toast was our favorite item!

Broken Yolk is an unbeatable value for breakfast in Milwaukee. Unreal breakast/​lunch food with huge portions. If you don’t mind plastic silverware and limited drink menu (canned soda, bottled juice) than come here and eat your heart out. Best french toast, best omelette, best pancakes. They have impressive lunch offerings as well. If you dare, get a wrap on their lunch menu… the wraps are the biggest I’ve ever seen (think footlong). Huge portions of meat and veggies.

Huge servings and tons of options to choose from! When busy, always best to call in for pick up! We Always get the Breakfast Buffet for two. Simple, get the job done, meals.
College scene, super laid back atmosphere.

Coffee in syrofoam cups? Is this a bus station — I’d be okay with syrofoam and crappy tables and a plastic menu board if it were cheaper.

The store manager at this location is pretty nonchalant when it comes to unhappy customers and honestly, most of the workers are a definite reflexion of said manager.
The food is priced pretty well, considering the huge portions of food and I always place large orders for the family and I prefer the Wells St. Location because they make better food and their customer service is way better!
And it’s nothing to walk an extra couple blocks over to the Wells St. Location. There is less seating on Wells St. But I usually take out anyways! :D

Huge omelette offerings with fresh veggies. Weak ambiance with plastic forks and self service coffee with plastic straws.

We stopped to eat breakfast around 9:30 on a Friday morning. The place was not busy and we were able to order right away. It took a reasonable amount of time to get our meal and when we saw it piled high. WOW! I didn’t think I’d be able to finish it but because it all tasted so good, I managed. My daughter was just as impressed.
I ordered 2 slices of french toast, which were fantastic. Perfect amount of egg coating used, just enough sugar & cinnamon that syrup was not needed, and thick. In all, it was perfect. To accompany that, I had a steak, egg & cheese sandwich on a whole wheat bagel. This was very good. This sandwich could have been a meal in itself.
My daughter ordered some sort of combo with sausage, toast, eggs, and hash browns. She could not finish her meal.
All this for $ 17, and we were so stuffed that we skipped lunch and didn’t have supper until after 7 pm that night. The Broken Yolk is a GREAT deal!
The only thing keeping me from giving a 5 star review, was the gal behind the counter. If you’re going to be grumpy, give short, curt answers, and not have a smile for your customers, perhaps this isn’t the line of work for you. That and the fact that they serve the food with plastic forks and knives. I want real silverware!

Some of my local friends raved about this place, BroYo, but I don’t get the hoopla. It’s just another diner/​breakfast. Their food was just alright. I had their breakfast burrito and it was BIG… but it wasn’t a burrito. It was more of a stuffed crêpe with a tortilla. Food is decently priced and you get your money’s worth… probably why it is big with the college kids.

The Broken Yolk is always a bit of an anomaly to me. A good sandwich shop, a vast variety of options for a sandwich, and decent enough service… but there’s always something lacking. I look at the menu and some of their sandwich ideas seem awesome. So, I order it, and it leaves me wanting more. I tried the John yesterday, and thought… chicken tenders, on a roll with some lettuce and tomato… sounds like a great pre-​superbowl extravaganza of a lunch. Sandwich came, and it was… meh at best. Giant chunks of lettuce, 3 giant flopping slices of tomato, some crusty bacon… made it almost impossible to even close the roll to eat it like a sandwich. The chunks of chicken tender were good, but it was just hard to eat it as a sandwich. I usually get something decent from The Broken Yolk, but I’ve never been hugely impressed.

College campus — breakfast food — done right. Packer Cheese Head Omelette — 11 Wisconsin cheeses in an omelette. As good as it sounds. Self serve limited seating is the only negative. Local and family owned — pictures on the wall to prove it. Right next door to the Pabst Mansion.

Ok… the last time I went to the broken yolk I wasn’t really a fan. I spent a lot of $$ and got, in my opinion a sub-​par breakfast of french toast and an omelet. The older lady that took my order could have been just a smidgen less rude, but it’s the past. I’m letting bygones be bygones.
Today I wanted breakfast again, so I decided to give them another try. The menu on Unilocal isn’t accurate by far, which probably is why I was so disappointed the last time. I decided I would go into the restaurant and place my order; last time I called it in. OMG am I happy I went in… they have $ 6.95 combos of standard breakfast fare, my previous trip cost me about $ 20.
I got the 2 eggs, hash browns, bacon and toast. I really wanted an omelet, but on this menu they only offer cheese omelets. The lovely young girl at the register let me know they could put my meat in my cheese omelet. The service was way more customer service orientated this time around. They weren’t outright rude the last time, but you could tell the previous lady didn’t give a damn if I spent money with them or not. Last time my food took at 20 minutes to get to me, this time it took about all of 10.
My go to used to be GW, it’s now BY!

I am a fan of the Broken Yoke for many reasons:
1) There are not many options for dining on or around the Marquette area, when BY opened I had a place to meet co-​workers for lunch that wasn’t Qdoba or a sub place.
2) I love pancakes anytime of the day.
3) Affordability
4) Quant-​ness (is that a word) and sense of humor in the décor
5) locally owned
The menu is large (maybe a bit too large) but you can satisfy any craving… breakfast, lunch, sweet, savory… they have it all. The food is affordable and I always leave with a doggy bag. They offer samples and relatively good coffee — my favorite is the hazelnut.
It isn’t fine dining but they aren’t claiming to be fine dining. It has a diner feel to the atmosphere and food. I have always enjoyed what I have ordered. My favorites are the chocolate chip pancakes and the rueben sandwich. Both were delicious.

The Broken Yolk is one of the best, small, family-​owned restaurants I have ever been to. They offer a huge variety of breakfast foods, all of which are consistently delicious. The sitting is very limited so if you go on the weekend I wouldn’t plan on getting a table, during the week you should have your choice of indoor or outdoor seating. The only negative thing I have to say about this place is service is relatively slow, but that’s to be expected about any place that makes your food fresh when you order it.
Overall I think this place is great and is absolutely worth a visit.

Actually 2.5 stars. My husband loved it. I had no idea what to order. This was the only place we could find opened to eat breakfast. I ordered a scramble of some sort. It had hasbrowns, cheese, tons of eggs & gravy with toast. It was the size of a serving platter and could quite well feed my entire family 2 meals. I didn’t even put a dent in it. I felt guilty throwing so much of it away. It was OK but the gravy tasted like it came out of a bag.
I ordered my daughter a sausage, egg & cheese muffin. She didn’t like it and neither did I. The cheese didn’t taste right.
I am not sure what my husband ordered but like I said he loved it. Not my thing but it was certainly his.

My girls and I headed here after we tried taking an infant to the casino for brunch. We were met by security as we tried to enter. Three security gards, seven young women and an infant. We headed to the Broken Yolk after being denied a casino brunch.
The chocolate chip banana pancakes are delicious — I took home half my plate. My friends also loved the blueberry pancakes. The portions aren’t just American. They’re Honey Boo Boo Child American.
As expected, super busy on Sunday mornings, and the tables are a bit crammed together. There were a few banquet-​style tables (like the ones at a bingo hall) and plastic patio chairs to sit on. Employees appear to be college students from the area, and they hustle to get sh*t done.

The Broken Yolk definitely gets my vote for Best No-​Frills Breakfast Food in Milwaukee.
The place has a VERY laid back atmosphere (feel free to wander over in your PJs), and a décor that is about one step above a high school cafeteria… in a good way.
The french toast is out of this world. It’s served on texas toast and absolutely smothered with cinnamon and sugar, which forms a delicious crispy crust on the toast. The muffins and chocolate chip bars are to die for, absolutely and unapologetically stuffed with 80% more blueberries/​chocolate chips/​etc than you would ever find in your average muffin.
My only complaint about the place… and I realize this makes me crazy… is the AWFUL menu layout. It’s a sprawling board with everything in exactly the same font size, and lists wayyyy more than it has to. Like… under breakfast sandwiches, it lists:
— Egg and cheese sandwich
— Egg, cheese, and ham sandwich
— Egg and ham sandwich
— Egg ham and sausage sandwich
— Egg cheese and sausage sandwich
…all followed by the respective prices. I get it. You have egg sandwiches. Why not just list egg sandwiches with all of the respective toppings you can get, and let me figure out which combination I want? It’s definitely a little overwhelming for a first time visitor. I would definitely recommend sneaking a peak at the much more user-​friendly menu online before coming in for the first time.
Other than that, it’s perfection all the way.

I was in town for business and had about three hours to kill from my early flight to my first appointment and I’m really glad I stopped here.
I don’t remember exactly what it was called, but I think I ordered the eggs and bacon breakfast. Little did I know that I would get this huge plate with three eggs, five pieces of bacon (!) and the rest, almost half of the plate, filled with hash browns. Four. pieces of toast were tossed on top and I picked up a Dr. Pepper to wash it all down.
Guess how much the meal cost?
$ 6.
Yes, $ 6… and it owned!
I’ve read other reviews about long lines. I went on a Friday morning at about 8:30 and didn’t have any problems, but I could see there being a backup on the weekends with higher traffic so plan accordingly.
Anyway, I’m not sure when I’ll be back in Milwaukee, but I’ll definitely stop by The Broken Yolk.

The Broken Yolk was the first place I ate after moving to Milwaukee a few years ago. Approximate calculations show I have been back roughly 75 times since. It’s not the type of place you’d go to impress those looking for an epic brunch experience but it has always provided a solid meal with more food than I can usually handle. When the menu states your breakfast has 1 egg and toast, they may as well say it’s an ostrich egg — the portions are so gigantic you could split the house breakfast with two others and still be satisfied. Don’t write off TBY as a breakfast-​only establishment. The lunch/​afternoon menu items are just as delicious, whether you’d like a burger, deli offering, or chicken parm sandwich.
Most items are priced under $ 5 (including fries or hashbrowns), making this a staple for students and the budget conscious alike. As other reviewers have mentioned, the coffee is pretty terrible — but as nice and helpful as the owner is, I’m sure he’d change the style/​availability if asked. I usually brew my own and bring with.
My favorites on the menu are the 1) french toast, 2) bagel breakfast sandwich, 3) turkey club, 4) chocolate chip pancakes (so good you’ll think you’re eating a giant cookie for breakfast), and 5) amazing muffins — blueberry, please.
Summary? Nom nom nom. Commence eating a filling breakfast without spending a ton of your hard-​earned cash.
Tips: Go early (right at opening) or be prepared to wait upwards of an hour, especially on Saturday mornings. Take a moment to step back and look at the extensive menu before jumping in line — when it’s busy the friendly staff will often jump through the line to take orders. And if you’re really hungry, call ahead (early) and pick your food up to go, because seating is limited.

I love The Broken Yolk. Loooove it. As a total breakfast junkie, I could eat here nearly every day. The menu is extensive– eggs, breakfast meats, French toast, pancakes, hash browns, muffins — and it even goes beyond breakfast. The Broken Yolk offers a variety of fare to keep even the most anti-​breakfast diner appeased. The best part? Super affordable gigantic portions. You will not go hungry here, my friend.
My personal recommendations? 1) Egg, American cheese, and sausage breakfast sandwich on a plain bagel. 2) Chocolate chip pancakes. I don’t know how it’s possible to make something so simple as pancakes awesome, but they do it. Consistently. 3) Blueberry muffins.
Tip: Go at off-​peak times. There is seating both indoors and outdoors, but it often fills up quickly. You can also call ahead with your order or order for take-​out.