Guess where I finally went on Sunday?
Yup, this time I did not give myself any excuses to get out of my own plans. Even though I went to bed on Saturday night feeling completely exhausted, I knew that a visit to Santa Monica would not disappoint—especially if it included a run and brunch!
I woke up on Sunday morning around 7:30am, and got ready in time to walk over to the bus stop where a bus that takes about an hour to get to SaMo stops. The ride took forever only because we avoided the freeway, and instead I got a “scenic tour” of West LA, Culver City, and Venice.
I arrived in SaMo near the pier close to 10:00am, and proceeded to the Nike Store for their 10:30am Sunday runs. The store wasn’t hard to miss since they were at a corner of a busy intersection in the outdoor mall.
I was one of the first people to arrive, so I went for a quick 10-minute walk to see what other cafes/restaurants/shops were in the area. I came back as more people started to assemble in front of the store. I got to try on the Pegasus shoes again, and waited around until it was time to get going.
The employee-pacers called the group in to do a team chant (“Who runs Santa Monica? We run Santa Monica!!”), and then did roll call where they introduced who would be leading the 3, 5, and 7 mile groups. Being the overachiever that I am (ha), I joined the 7 mile group of lean-muscular guys who ran at paces lower than 8:00/mi. I was one out of two females in the group, and ended up being the “slowest” of the pack with a pace of 9:30/mi. I didn’t mind though, since I was treating the run as my LSD for the week and only cared about getting the mileage. Plus, it was one of the hottest runs I have run recently, despite being near the water!
The 7 mi pacer was super nice though and finished the run with me even though he was always yards ahead of me throughout the run. Overall, it was a pleasant experience, but the best part was treating myself to brunch afterwards 
I walked about a mile-and-something east to get to 10th street where the cafe was. It felt like so much longer though in the 80+ Fahrenheit heat!! But once I saw this sign, I knew I only had a couple more feet to go before coming upon the entrance to good food.
Despite looking like a quaint and quiet entrance, I didn’t give a thought to how crowded Huckleberry Cafe would be on a Sunday during brunch hours.
I ended up having to make my way to the back of the restaurant to get in the Order line. But despite being so busy, they had a good system going.
After placing an order, you would go into the Pay Here line, and then be assigned a table if you wanted to eat in the restaurant. So in other words, the wait wasn’t too bad.
Especially with the entertaining wall decor:
And with the recent launch of the owner’s (Zoe Nathan) cookbook, there was also a recipe for Vanilla Apple Butter (sounds delicious!) on the blackboard near the restrooms.
As I inched my way closer to the counter, I was greeted by the cold-case goods like these salads:
As well as these enticing desserts—the people in front of and behind me were ordering enough for a feast!
I even got to get a glimpse of the hard-at-work staff in the kitchen:
An interesting thing I learned about the establishment was that customers are charged an extra 3% of their bill so that the cafe can give their employees full-coverage healthcare. I thought that was a pretty awesome deal 
After paying for my order, I found a seat at a long table that was designed to be communal style, but the people flanking me were couples so that made things slightly awkward. That’s where my stealthy stevia packet plans came in, and I entertained myself with that while waiting for my food to come out. The wait wasn’t too long, since like I said, they had a system in place and were rolling plates out like a factory.
But the presentation and taste was nowhere near “factory quality” at all.
My warm bowl of lentil ragu had a hint of sweetness from the tomato sauce, and the cooked lentils and swiss chard quickly filled me up and replenished my depleted reserves from running. I saved the two soft-boiled poached eggs for last, and used the bread to mop up leftover sauce 
When going out to eat with family in the past, we would often turn down a restaurant if we saw a huge line out the door, but that’s obviously indicative that something good is being cooked in there. Delicious meals are worth waiting for, and I felt like my patience really did pay off this time around.
How long would you wait in a line at a restaurant?
