By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
There’s a new egg in town. It’s fast, but it’s not fast food. There are eggs aplenty, but the menu also includes eggless lunch options and eclectic juice choices such as Vitamin “C-bus” and Metro Mango.
City Egg at 121 S. Main St. is open for business. The Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce officially welcomed the breakfast-brunch-and-lunch restaurant Tuesday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
City Egg is part of the Scramblers’ brand that started over 30 years ago as what many northwest Ohioans remember as Café Marie, said owner Shain Buerk. He and his father, Phil opened the first Café Marie, named after Shain’s mother, in the Toledo area.
When they were expanding outside of the Toledo market, their mother’s name didn’t translate to other locations. They hosted a contest for a new name that would also give a nod to its specialty–breakfasts–and the winner was Scramblers. During the past 10 years, the Café Marie sites have moved to Scramblers.
Bowling Green is the third location to embrace the City Egg concept. Toledo and Columbus previously welcomed City Egg restaurants. There are also 27 Scramblers locations mostly in Ohio, but also in Michigan and Florida.
“We couldn’t pass up this great opportunity to be in Bowling Green,” Shain Buerk said. “The downtown is such a cool, vibrant area. We love the charm of the buildings here. We appreciate the history and didn’t want to mess with the open ceilings and atmosphere in this space.”
Just like Scramblers, the City Egg restaurants’ focus remains on quality ingredients and quality food, Buerk said, but instead of a traditional restaurant with servers, ordering is done on a smartphone, computer or on kiosks located within the store.
“It’s faster, easier and you can carry out or dine in at your leisure. You are not dependent on others’ schedules,” he said.
The format called “fast casual” refers to the convenience of fast food without the full service of fine dining. According to Brandon Buerk, Shain’s brother and co-owner, the menu consists of better-quality ingredients than can be found at most fast-food establishments. “Everything is prepared fresh and not microwaved,” he said.
The recipes at City Egg are some of the favorites from the Scramblers’ menu, especially those that can be prepared quickly. Among the City Egg specialties, best eaten with a fork and knife, are the All-American City combo of eggs and breakfast meat your way; Wisconsin Scrambled, a cheese-lovers dream with a blend of eggs and three cheeses; Big City, a little country in the city with biscuits and gravy; and a vegetarian City Egg Quinoa, featuring protein-packed quinoa with veggies and feta, and topped with an egg.
They also offer a “Hand-Held Breakfast” menu that includes the “419” Sandwich with scrambled egg, bacon and melted cheese on a brioche bun and a Sriracha mayo kick; Breakfast Tacos, three soft-shell tacos with chorizo, egg, shredded cheese and a black bean-roasted corn blend; and the Zesty Smokehouse Wrap, a three-meat-filled wrap with cheese, scrambled eggs and chipotle mayo.
The sandwich choices include Downtown Turkey and Avocado, Ultimate Bacon Grilled Cheese, Uptown Chicken Club and Turkey Club Wrap.
An array of omelettes and a simple kid’s menu round out the available food items. For beverages, in addition to the fresh, handcrafted juices available, they serve coffee, cappuccino, warm and iced latte, cold brew, and hot chocolate.
“Thanks for helping to keep Main Street active and diverse,” said Second Ward City Council member Joel O’Dorisio in welcoming the restaurant to Downtown Bowling,
The hours for breakfast, brunch and lunch are daily from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
To order from a phone or computer or to see what’s available, check out the City Egg menu.
