Jentri Colello
Hash browns, corned beef brisket and two eggs provide macro flavor. Add the biscuit, rich and golden, for $5.
A-OK Sunshine & Spirits, the coffee shop arm of the Robinia Courtyard complex at 829 E. Washington Ave., is the most modest of the three eateries there. (The other two are Julep, which serves upscale Southern cuisine, and Barolo, an elegant wine bar. Aaron Mooney is executive chef for all three.)
It’s also the hardest to characterize. It’s not quite a coffee shop — the “& Spirits” part of the name hints at its transformation in the evening to a bar of sorts — but in between time, it’s also a diner. Or rather, a self-described “micro-diner.” So far as I can determine, A-OK is the only micro-diner in the world (although there is a restaurant in Pittsburgh named Micro Diner, and its menu is a lot more macro than A-OK’s).
Following this decade’s zest for curation, A-OK serves a carefully selected roster of diner hits. This is not the multi-page menu at Denny’s. If you’re the indecisive sort at breakfast, this is a win. For the lighter appetite, choose from a quiche of the day and assorted pastries. These are joined by a substantial egg, hash browns, bacon/sausage and biscuit “country breakfast”; corned beef hash with eggs; and biscuits and gravy.
If you’re treating yourself, head straight for the lush biscuits and gravy, with its creamy, not too salty milk gravy studded with crisp breakfast sausage. The biscuit retains a crisp exterior with a yielding center, good for soaking in the gravy.
Corned beef hash features big shreds of St. Patrick’s Day-worthy corned beef brisket mixed in with hash browns. That’s not exactly my definition of what corned beef hash is (everything diced in smaller cubes), but to be fair, the menu does describe the dish as corned beef with hash browns, and it couldn’t be more delicious. This comes with perfectly cooked sunny-side-up eggs. The only thing missing from the plate is toast and jelly. I’m no toast fanatic, but this rich platter needs to be offset with something plain and a hint of sweet. At $12 for the plate, it seems like toast could be wedged in there somewhere.
Cholula hot sauce, Tabasco, sriracha and ketchup are on hand to tart up eggs and hash browns, but here’s another item for the wish list: ketchup without high-fructose corn syrup. When you serve single-origin, small-batch-roasted coffee, the same attention to detail and care for product should translate to the condiments you serve.
Pastries have varied in quality. A blueberry muffin with nuts and extra sugar glazed on top was great, avoiding the bland, sugary whiteness of so many blueberry muffins. But a scone tasted like baking soda, and a red velvet cupcake, while prettily frosted, was dry and flavorless.
A-OK is run by the same folks who operate Johnson Public House and Kin-Kin coffee, so carefully timed pour-overs are the order of the day. But don’t dismiss the batch brew, which manages to both replicate and upgrade the flavor and feel of classic diner coffee — generally a little thinner than a pour-over but still a nice cup of coffee, with no burned notes.
At lunch, look for specials, like a brisket sandwich, or soup, like a recent Cajun-spiced vegetarian navy bean, full of veggies. Other options are a Cobb salad and a BLT.
The only food served after 3 p.m. is the diner burger. It, like A-OK’s version of diner coffee, somehow manages to replicate a classic diner burger while tasting much better. A-OK’s burger is a cousin to the Plazaburger, with dill pickles, American cheese and small squares of translucent onion (alas, no Plaza sauce). Fries, which come with the burger, are skin-on, crispy and a cut above most diner fries.
The diner theme is continued with a range of phosphates (sodas flavored with syrups) and milkshakes. Craft beers are on tap, too (right now Capital Maibock and several from One Barrel), and in the evening it’s a nice spot to grab a booth, some fries and a couple of pints. Classic cocktails are offered, too.
Can a place that’s not quite a coffee shop, not quite a diner and not quite a bar function as all those things? Potentially, yes. Staff is laid-back and friendly, and seems primed to recognize, even curate, a crop of regulars. The space, with its diner counter, booths and a more secluded back room for chatting, studying or working, has a lot of potential for an intimate neighborhood hangout. I’m willing to bet that in an Egg McMuffin world, there’s a place for the micro-diner.
A-OK Sunshine & Spirits
829 E. Washington Ave., 608-237-1314, 7 am-9 pm daily (kitchen opens at 8 am), $3-$12
