Description: Knowlwood Restaurant is located in "Old Town Irvine" at the intersection of Burt/Sand Canyon and the 5 Freeway. Knowlwood is in the same block as the La Quinta Inn, Dennys, and TiaJuana's Long Bar and Grill. From what I hear, it has a pretty good local following and has been around quite some time.
The inside of Knowlwood resembles an old barn with lots of antiques from the 1920's decorating the walls and ceilings. There is an old 1930's pickup truck converted into a table, and a pool table off to one corner. There is patio seating at the front of the restaurant.
Knowlwood was about 80% full, and we arrived at 8:45 AM on a Sunday morning. The waitress told us to select any table we wished, and we chose a comfy booth. Our waitress gave us our breakfast menus and took our drink orders.
Knowlwood has "the world's best hamburger" written on the side of their building. I've tried their hamburger on a previous visit, and it's quite good as far as a gourmet burger goes, but it doesn't strike me as the "world's best." I'm guessing they must have won an award or survey regarding this sometime in the past.
Our waitress returned with out drinks and we were ready to order. My friend ordered the French toast, but made her eggs scrambled egg whites only. My other friend ordered the chicken fried steak, which came with toast. I ordered the "pancake sandwich" which consists of 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, and 2 bacon (or one sausage) I asked for 2 more pancakes, as I was quite hungry.
A bit later, our orders came out. It was obvious that the "pancake sandwich" wasn't really a sandwich, but just a name for a pancake entree with eggs and meat. We greedily ate our breakfasts and sampled each other's meals. Personally, I found my pancakes a bit bland before butter and syrup. I would have liked them sweeter, as I've found at other breakfast restaurants.
Our total bill came out to $25 before tip. That includes the 3 breakfasts and 2 large orange juices. Our food was pretty good for the most part, but there wasn't anything that distinguished it from any other breakfast served anywhere else. So we liked it, and I'd go back if I couldn't find anything else.
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