New York has its coffee shops and Maine has its diners, casual dining joints distinguished by epically good, bad, or better fare. Where that puts a place like Bernie’s Foreside, tumbling onto the Route 1 strip mall of shops in Falmouth, is somewhere in the middling rank. When I’m in the area, though, I often stop in for breakfast or lunch.
Sausage and cheese scramble
You can get a great scramble of cheese and sausage, or an egg sandwich with all the fixings on a toasted bagel. At lunch try a respecrable grilled cheese with tomato. These dishes are served on big white square plates, enough room for the main event and fries or home-fries. Order right—keeping it basic and simple—and you’ll get well fed indeed because this is family-style fare at its most elemental.
Located in the strip mall next to Wal-Mart; the Mr. Bagel annex and the main dining area
The service staff is terrific, and the place is always packed until they close at 8 PM. What also keeps the place hopping is the adjacent Mr. Bagel annex with its bagel bar of every imaginable flavor or topping.
Egg sandwich on toasted bagel
On one of my recent breakfasts there I had the house-made corned beef hash with eggs. It was a recipe gone awry. Little shards of corned beef, overly salty, were sautéed with tiny cubes of potatoes, some soft and others as leftovers from hash browns. The beef looked like a crumble topping resembling kibble.
Hash and eggs
I noticed that Bennie’s—Bernie’s cute name for eggs Benedicts–led a 2 to 1 brigade of dishes being whisked out of the kitchen by some of the most sure-footed waitresses in Cumberland County.
This Sunday I decided to go for it as my breakfast choice—aka Sunday brunch if you must—and had their classic Bennie. Two halves of an English muffin held seared slices of Canadian bacon, two perfectly poached eggs and a veil of Hollandaise as thick as paint primer. It was served with home fries, which are crunchy and well-seasoned, and accompanied by a great big steak knife. You needed this utensil because it was tough cutting through the English muffin, which would have been toasted more instead of being rubbery soft.
A classic Bennie with Canadian bacon
On the whole, Bernie’s Foreside has its moments. The portions are huge, the wait staff couldn’t be friendlier and hard-working, the prices commensurately moderate and the short-order grub coming out of the kitchen is mainly satisfying.
Bernie’s Foreside, 204 US Route 1 (adjacent strip next to Wal-Mart), 207-781-7817 www.berniesforeside.com
Rating: substantial portions of mostly tasty fare
Ambiance: typical family-style casual dining at tables, booths and counter
Service: excellent
Parking: on site
$$$: inexpensive
