Spring Training: Food

Lunch at Matt's Big Breakfast

With three games to attend over three days, many of our meals were eaten at the ballpark: popcorn or some sort of fried or barbecued chicken for me and dogs for Tim. We did, however, get to sample some of the local fare, mostly for breakfast.

We made our pilgrimage to the Waffle House our first morning in town. The restaurant is so small that the kitchen is in the open, right behind the counter. Booths and tables are squeezed in every which way to accommodate as many people as possible. Still, there's usually a line when we go. This time we got there early enough to be seated right away at a booth. The waffles, of course, are good, but it's the hash browns that keep us coming back. You can order them "regular," "large" or "tripled" with or without an assortment of toppings (e.g., cheese, tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, and even ham chunks). We like ours just plain. Even so, they're the best. A great way to start the day!

Waffles, breakfast meats and, of course, 

those hash browns for two

Day #2, we made our way into downtown Phoenix to eat at Matt's Big Breakfast, a great place we first heard about on Guy Fieri's Drive-Ins, Diners and Dives several years ago. Matt's has moved to larger quarters since the last time we ate there in March 2009, but the food was just as good. In fact, we loved it so much we returned for lunch the next day after touring Chase Field, which is located just a few blocks away. Neither of us could resist the BLT: thick-cut pepper bacon with lettuce and vine-ripened tomato on thick-sliced, toasted country bread. I got mine with the homemade cole slaw. Absolutely to die for. You can see the rest of the menu here.

A big breakfast at Matt's

My BLT & cole slaw