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Best Breakfast/Best Vegetarian:
An ode to Old Town: Not much left since a fire razed the district in 2010. I visited that morning, blackened timbers smoldered in a cold fog, the air was still acrid. Diane Brainard and her crew were outside the cafe with sponges and soapy buckets, washing soot from the front windows. Inside, the mood was somber as regulars sipped their coffee and contemplated the not wholly welcome new views of a deserted waterfront. Old Town Cafe bustled on, though, a favorite so popular you can barely budge in there on a weekend. Motorcycle cops rub elbows alongside graying hippies holding hands, children scrub at their placemats with crayons at the community tables. The smell of pancakes fills the air. Last week, early sunlight sparkled the bay and leapt golden through those front windows. Good things endure.
Where: 316 W Holly St.
Info: 671-4431
