Amy’s Omelette House

After church in Asbury Park on Palm Sunday, we head back to Long Branch for breakfast at Amy’s Omelette House, located in the Ursula Plaza shopping center on Ocean Boulevard. This is a great diner-like restaurant specializing in omelettes, but also offering all types of breakfast specials, platters, stuffed French toast, and even lunch options for sleepyheads.

The mob of folks milling around outside leaves us trepidatious, but we put our name in and settle back for a 25-minute wait. To our delight we get a text 12 minutes later that our table is ready. Huzzah!

The hostess sits us in main dining room at a four-top table and brings out giant ceramic pottery cups of (just okay) coffee. We peruse their giant menu as our waiter Matt checks in with us. I decide to try the town’s namesake Long Branch omelette, a four-egg omelet with bacon, provolone, avocado, and Hollandaise. I’m intrigued by their many spicy offerings like the Taco Loco omelette with ground beef, jalapeños, tomato, onion, salsa, and crema; or the Tijuana Jack with chorizo, jalapeño, onion, and cheddar. But I go for the simple choice—and later discover that it was their Omelette of the Month, for for which I could have presented a digital coupon and got 50% off. It always pays to look at the website!

J swerved and said she would order their famous Banana Caramel Crunch French toast: challah bread encrusted with walnuts and brown sugar then topped with bananas, walnuts, and caramel. But when Matt asks, she pointed to the one she’d been looking at earlier, and ended up with Amy’s French Toast, a cinnamon almond toast stuffed with peanut butter and topped with Nutella and bananas.

The place is bustling so it takes 10 minutes to get our order in, but it’s okay because there’s lots to look at. Amy’s is very airy, clean, and bright due to the wall of windows at the front and what looks like recent renovations.

The walls have tiles from the bottom to top of the striped booths, then white paint to the ceilings. Adorning the tops of the wall are black and white photos of the Jersey shore, including one with a horse on the beach. Two giant carousel horses also decorate the restaurant, with signs saying to not let your kids play or sit on them. Dully noted.

Other decorations include old license plates, tiny, long-handled omelet pans, metal roosters, vintage signage, and other ephemera like ancient corn flake boxes. On the back wall is a mural that reads Jersey Shore—in case you’re hungover and can’t remember where you ended up. Amy’s is located right across from the beachfront hotels, after all.

Under the mural sits our appliance repairman Linus, who says hello and points to a VW Bus in the mural with a license plate that reads ICU 812. We both laugh. The servers keep the theme going by wearing black t-shirts featuring whimsical sayings like,, “In case of emergency please administer bacon.” Another shirt has the definition of the word “Hangry.”

AAmy’smy’s wwighteighty, Greek-diner style menu has omelettes—lots and lots of four-egg omelettes. There’s a meat-heavy Manhandlers and a veggie-forward Vegetarian Omelette. The Southern Jersey features pork roll, tomato, onions, and American cheese. The Cherry hill switches in turkey bacon and provolone. There are all sorts of nods to regional tastes, some of which even feature non-traditional omelette proteins like chicken or pepperoni.

If you’re not quite as hungry, there’s a two-egg Lite Bite omelette section, with choices like the Turnpike with bacon, ham, pork roll, sausage, American cheese, and sausage gravy, which the wife deems “a real heart attack.” For sure, babe.

Amy’s also features a wide variety of French toast, flapjacks, and waffle entrees in flavors from S’more of That to The Southern Sampler: buttermilk fried chicken with two piece of challah French toast (they also have chicken with waffles for you purists).

Amy’s also features a wide variety of French toast, flapjacks, and waffle entrees in flavors from S’more of That to The Southern Sampler: buttermilk fried chicken with two piece of challah French toast (they also have chicken with waffles for you purists).

For the indecisive diner, Amy’s offers a bit of everything via egg platters like the Hungryman with three eggs, sausage, bacon, pork roll, home fries, and toast, or go Healthyman with egg whites, turkey bacon, and multigrain toast.  There’s lots of assorted eggs Benedicts, breakfast sandwiches, Skillet meals, and scrambles. There’s even a section of Wafflewiches: omelettes sandwiched between a waffle, with fillings like blackened shrimp or hot Italian sausage. It’s something I’ve never seen before.

For the indecisive diner, Amy’s offers a bit of everything via egg platters like the Hungryman with three eggs, sausage, bacon, pork roll, home fries, and toast, or go Healthyman with egg whites, turkey bacon, and multigrain toast.  There’s lots of assorted eggs Benedicts, breakfast sandwiches, Skillet meals, and scrambles. There’s even a section of Wafflewiches: omelettes sandwiched between a waffle, with fillings like blackened shrimp or hot Italian sausage. It’s something I’ve never seen before.

Matt brings out my omelette and it is big and savory with all the meat. It comes with a gigantic portion of plain Jane home fries mixed with onions. Had I looked closer at the menu, I would have substituted them (free!) for a side of three pancakes or French toast. There’s a long list of available side substitutions from grits to fresh fruit, many free but some with a slight upcharge.

Js French toast arrives, and it is gigantic. It’s very cinnamon-forward, and they don’t skimp on the bananas. There’s even a side of fresh whipped cream. She only makes it through half of the dish, and gets it wrapped up to go.

Amy’s actual dishes game is also very strong. Instead of those ten-pound beige diner plates, they serve up eggs on bright, teal ceramic platters, which is a real nice touch. Our server Matt drops by a bottle of Tabasco sauce and is otherwise out of our hair. He’s the right amount of waiter for the situation. Breakfast wasn’t a rushed affair, and 45 minutes later we rolled out as stuffed as the omelette was for $42, before tip. Pay at the front.

There’s lunch available here, as they’re open daily until 2 p.m. Amy’s offers a wide variety of salads, wraps, sandwiches, grilled cheese, quesadillas, and other entrees. Lunch specials are $14.99 with a sammie, soup, slaw, and pickles. Weekdays from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., there’s an Early Bird lunch special for $13.95. You can fill up on real food like their Pesto Chicken with mashed potatoes or Buttermilk Fried Shrimp or Chicken Parm, and even add soup or salad for $2.95. That’s probably make’s Amy’s convenient as a super-early dinner for the nearby senior center clientele.

There’s also a Midday Munchies menu like half a turkey melt with small fries or a 4 oz. cheeseburger for $8.99 that make it a good afternoon spot. Amy’s can easily accommodate a large gathering or party, so be sure to add it to your list of group brunch spots. And great news for those who like Amy’s Omelette House: locations exist throughout New Jersey, including in Burlington, Somerdale, Cherry Hill.

Amy’s Omelette House
444 Ocean Blvd.
Long Branch, NJ 07740
732-222-1206
Amystogo.com

Monday-Sunday 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

Save a Few Clams

Hit up Amy’s Early Bird lunch special to save some clams on lunch. Or visit the website and sign up for the coupon club, which gets you deals including 15% off your total check anytime, plus 50% off the Omelette of the Month, as well as daily Morning Bird Specials.