Tom Sietsema wrote about Old Ebbitt's breakfast as part a longer story in November 2008.

My vote for the single most decadent breakfast food in town is the Breakfast Club, served at the venerable Old Ebbitt Grill across from the Treasury building. True to its name, the dish stuffs ham between slices of French toast, which is wrapped in bacon, deep-fried, cut into triangles and offered with syrup. The result is a little salty, a little sweet -- and mighty guilt-inducing. All you'll want for lunch is an hour on the treadmill.

Everything about this Victorian-inspired restaurant is expansive. The corned beef hash comes in a cast-iron skillet that's almost family-size, the dining room is a forest of green velvet banquettes and dark wood trim, the waiters flash smiles as wide as the Potomac and thoughtful touches abound: Old Ebbitt Grill graciously puts coat hooks within arm's reach and pepper mills atop each linen-draped table.

The pancakes are stiff, but the servers are candid. When I ask one of them to help me choose between that club sandwich and a strata of ham, cheese and egg custard, the waiter says of the latter, "People either really like it or they leave half." His honesty is as refreshing as the bowl of fruit in front of me.

Breakfast served 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday. Dishes $10.50 to $14.95.

(Nov. 30, 2008)