sound bites

back when i first started going to sound bites , it was about half the current size and the waitlineoften stretched around the block. the food was so good that there were many saturday mornings where i stood in that thatlinefor a ridiculous amount of time. it was just like that one portlandia skit! visiting sound bites was a must on my trip back to boston, but this time we were smart and went on a weekday morning. even with a group of 5, we got a table right away. one of my favorite things about sound bites is the do-it-yourself coffee bar. you just walk right up, grab any of the super cute colorful mugs and make it the way you want it. the day we were there they had two regular brews, one decaf, and about 4 flavored varieties. they also have different types of milk, sweeteners, and cinnamon!

sound bites is a restaurant and bar in somerville best known for their breakfast (although they do serve lunch and dinner).  it’s become famous with the locals for a few reasons: 1. the amazing breakfast 2. the rivalry with ball square cafe (a similar breakfast spot next door) 3.        the comparison to a certain seinfeld character rushing customers to order and then out the door as soon as they finish after hearing about sound bites and ball square café, i decided to eventually try both and compare. i started with sound bites because there was a free spot at the bar when both places had a line. as expected, the service was quick and the staff did their best to keep thelinemoving. the make your own coffee and drink stations helped and i thought these were a great idea. for a casual breakfast, i would prefer to make my own coffee exactly how i like it. there were plenty of options to choose from including different roasts, milks and creamers, sweeteners, and flavored sy

horrible. there are a lot of weird things about this place, but honestly, the food at sound bites is disgusting. last time i went, i got some kind of combo breakfast plate with scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, and a pancake. pretty hard to screw up, right? their eggs looked like they've been sitting around all morning in whatever nasty, cheap oil they fry them in. i actually spotted the woman next to me wiping her eggs off with a napkin (no joke). the sausage had the texture of a hockey puck. the pancakes were chewy and dense, and were no better when drenched in their fake maple syrup. it is shocking to me that peoplelineup down the block to get into this place every weekend.

my boyfriend got some moroccan egg dish, which was basically a pile of roughly chopped, undercooked greasy vegetables with eggs on top. the runny egg yolks ended up mixing with the residual grease at the bottom of the dish from the vegetables, creating an oily mess. hey, at least the eggs were runny i guess!

to top things off, the service is pushy and not at all personal. we had about four different servers throughout the course of our short meal, sometimes not even knowing that someone else had already been helping us. sound bites also requires that you get up and serve your own coffee and water. i'm baffled by this and don't know how it benefits anyone.

seriously, just head to posto or highland kitchen for a relaxing, delicious brunch.