Sunny Point

Sunny Point is pretty much Pinky’s back from the dead with some vegetarian options added in. It’s not the best I’ve ever had, but it definitely hits the spot for greasy breakfast when you’re hungover. I’ve tried a couple veggie options and they were ok but I usually stick to the norm. Prices are a tad steep for what you get ($ 6 for a breakfast sandwich) but portions are large, which makes up for it. The thing that still bothers me about this place is the service. Every time I call, IF they pick up I get put on hold, and I’ve been hung up on many times. They also occasionally mess up small details of my order. The last time I ordered fried eggs and they gave me scrambled. Not a huge deal, but the place was completely empty so I was surprised. Cash only!

The best thing that could be said for Pinkys was that it was so inconsistent that it occasionally reached edible. After my breakfast this morning this incarnation won’t get a second chance to show it can aspire to be inconsistent. I want so badly for this place to be good and it just isn’t. I love dives, I love greasy spoons, I love neighborhood, cheap eats. Sunny Point is none of the above.
My block in Graduate Hospital is wonderful… kids play in the streets, responsible, mature professionals are my neighbors and every year the block gets more attractive. It’s quiet, it’s pleasant and it’s ideally situated as a central point to everything in Philadelphia. The only down sides are parking and food. Parking rarely bothers me because we bike and walk everywhere. The food though… the food is a problem. There are VERY few restaurants here relative to the demographics and the ones we do have almost uniformly SUCK. If you think Sidecar is a good bar, serves a good beer, or serves edible food, you know squat about bars, beer or food. Sardine Bar is an improvement, but still has room for improvement. Pinkys Point, or whatever it’s called this week, SHOULD be a neighborhood oasis, but it manages to further blight local dining.
My wife and I usually do the expensive, fancy brunches as part of our routine on Saturday mornings, but when she works… I’m left to my own devices. I just feel weird eating solo at Sabrinas, Morning Glory, etc. When I’m eating breakfast alone, I want cheap and fast. Typically that means Snow White in Center City, but I was too hungry to walk the extra blocks. I decided to give the new version of this place another chance… despite very bad experiences with the prior ones.
I should have left immediately when I saw the same incompetent server who usually leads to a bad experience running around in the weeds. It wasn’t even that busy. She’s very friendly and she tries very hard… she’s just ALWAYS in the weeds, very flighty and never in command of her environment. I remember waiting so long for her once that I just left and went hungry until lunch. Today was possibly worse, but, against my better judgment, I stayed.
From the time I walked in it took over 10 minutes to sit down because there were numerous dirty tables. It took another 5 – 10 minutes just to get coffee, and she ran away before I could place an order. She forgot my water. I sat from the coffee delivery for 5 minutes before I got fed up… walked over and rudely placed an order while she was doing something else. I felt like a schmuck, but it was getting out of control. I had to flag someone down to get a single coffee refill. When my food was FINALLY served, I asked for water AGAIN. She forgot again. A few minutes later, while she was refilling the soda fridge (that couldn’t wait until after the shift?), she looked at me and said «Oh…you wanted water». She forgot again. She then served water to someone who had just walked in and FINALLY got me one a minute later. It was insane.
The omelet was slightly below average diner fare. It wasn’t awful, but it sure wasn’t good. The eggs were undercooked, it didn’t have enough ham and the onions I asked for were missing. The wheat toast was served after the breakfast, cold, and lacking butter. No pepper on the table. The home fries were the weakest link of a weak breakfast… cold and soggy fried up frozen tater cubes. Flavorless. I didn’t finish and I’m an eater.
There aren’t many times I don’t tip, but I didn’t tip. I just could not wait to get out of there and this is definitely the last time I try this. They can change names again, but until I see new staff and a new menu, I’m not falling for it. If you want good, cheap diner eats… Snow White.