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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1981)
Battle of tastebuds: Mama’s, McDonald’s offer variety Some time ago, in the not-so-distant past, an Emerald editor decided that a couple of enterprising reporters should investigate the breakfast fare in the university area. “But we never eat breakfast,” the Chosen Ones protested. "Why, we wouldn't know our eggs from a hole in a bagel. And, what’s more, being typical college students, we never have the money for such an extravagance." But, their frugal editor dug deep into the paper’s pocket (so to speak) and produced for them a passport to a week's worth of breakfasting adven ture. He bid them to eat well, and to sample much of the area’s breakfast offerings', so that they might return with many wondrous tales to spin for the delight of the paper's readers. And so the Two set out to fulfill their editor’s desires. This is the first seg ment of their week-long critical eating spree. Let’s settle the issue from the start: Mama’s Homefried Truckstop (790 E. 14th Ave.) is, without a doubt, the best place to experience (as opposed to merely "eat”) breakfast in the universi ty area. In an organic nutshell: the food is good, the prices reasonable, the atmosphere inspirational. And the peo ple that frequent the Truckstop always alleviate any lingering notions you might have had about mankind becom ing some sort of homogenized species — every type of human being imagina ble can be found feeding in the con genial, yet entirely unpretentious envir onment of the Truckstop. For those who might be misinformed, the Truckstop is not just for vegetarians and environmentalists. For example, Gaib and I are clean-cut, respectable college students; and though only one of us is bearded, we both feel that the whales ought to be saved, newspapers recycled, and nuke plants nuked Also: bacon can be a tasty thing to eat at times, as well as sprouts and tofu. We're good ol' normal folks — and we love the Truckstop The most original breakfast entree around campus can be had there: Tofu Scramble — a quarter-pound (pre cooked weight and serving weight) of tofu planted in a mountain of stir-fried vegies, along with a thick slice of homemade bread. This affair might sound like an awful idea for a breakfast, but in our opinion it’s the sleeper of the year. Along with an oatmeal pancake it's enough good nutritious food to see you through an entire day. But if you just can’t relish the idea of a plate of vegetables for breakfast, and if tofu seems to be at best a tasteless sort of rubbery matter, then you can do like us and drench the whole affair with the pure maple syrup you ordered with your pancakes. (Or, of course, order something else for breakfast). There’s a good chance, too, that the Truckstop’s pancakes might be the best in town, especially when you add the real maple syrup. At $2 75 the Tofu Scramble is a good deal Pancakes are seventy cents each; two of them make for a sizable meal Maple syrup costs thirty-five cents an ounce; otherwise, you can pour honey all over your pancakes. We avoided the coffee, which, at thirty-five cents per cup, is a bit steep when you might drink three or four cups over the course of the meal. The large variety of teas makes it somewhat easy to avoid the coffee, though; a large pot is only seventy cents. Homefries, of course, is the Truck stop’s middle name. And these home fries are the state of the art in contem porary home-fried potatoes. Many peo ple go to the Truckstop just to indulge in a plate of the homefries, arguably the best way to fill your stomach for under a dollar in all of Eugene. Gaib and I felt almost blissful after our Truckstop breakfast, hovering some where close to nirvana, as we patted our tummies. Full, yes, but not the beached-whale sort of bloatedness a big breakfast so often brings as a con sequence. In short, Gabriel and Kirk found Continued on Page 2B
