The cost of things these days? Far too expensive! Inflation, supply chain, giddy price gouging from proprietors large and small—the boring factors are too numerous to count. To protect our readers, Racket launched the Best Budget Bites series, where we’ll showcase a toothsome, wallet-friendly food item that’ll actually fill you up. Have a nomination? Hit us up: tips@racketmn.com.
What: Egg biscuit sandwich
Where: Sun Street Breads, 4600 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis
Cost: $8.75
Availability: 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (closed Mon.-Tue.)
**Fade in fiddle music from Ken Burns's Civil War doc...** The year was 2023. Unknowingly, Pioneer Press reporter Fred Melo fired the opening salvo of what—for an ephemeral, mind-scrambling coupla days—would become the Great Twin Cities Egg Sandwich War.
At issue: Locally launched celeb chef Justin Sutherland's new St. Paul shop Big E's, home to a controversially priced menu of $15-$17 egg sandwiches. Warring tweeters volleyed hot takes about how much, eggs-actly, a damn egg sandwich should cost. Racket commenter Calculon recommended the $7.50 option at St. Paul's Colossal Cafe; weed impresario Mike Norton and radio DJ Jason DeRusha gushed, yolk-like, over the $11.25 egg-sample at Uptown's Black Walnut Bakery.
Throughout the priciness discourse, a steady drumbeat of online arguers kept hyping the $8.75 egg biscuit sandwich from Sun Street Breads in south Minneapolis. So, with the dust settled and fall upon us, we decided the coast was clear to venture yet again into the world of Twin Cities egg sandwiches and give it a try.
Sitting slightly larger than an Egg McMuffin (the benchmark standard for egg sandwich adequacy), Sun Street's offering is all about that house-made buttermilk biscuit. Dense yet crumbly, the carby shell is flavorful enough to go down with just your choice of perfectly egg-secuted egg (scrambled, fried, basted) and cheese (white cheddar, Swiss, Monterey jack). But the move is to dunk these bad-boys, thus unlocking their true powers—syrup, hot sauce, side of gravy, whatever. The biscuits serve as an idealized flavor sponge, a way of sopping up and comingling any number of juicy whathaveyous into the mix.
Tempting protein options like house sausage patty, ham, and bacon exist (note our resolve to avoid saying "egg-ist"...), though the author is forgoing pork at the moment, having been rendered, lard-like, upset by this recent hog welfare story. Plus, that route gets ya just north of $10, which seems to be the de facto Best Budget Bites cut-off mark.
Point is: Get the Sun Street egg biscuit sandwiches. They do, in fact, rock. The star of the show is that magical biscuit, as you'd expect from a low-key killer neighborhood bakery. Those seeking a more gastrally intensive morning should also consider the stuffed gordas—lil deep-fried, flaky potato pucks injected with melty cheddar cheese. Dipped in ranch? Woo, baby.
Let's bring this full oval by returning to shit-starting Big E's. Pioneer Press food writer Jess Fleming, in a masterful stroke of Minnesotan admonishment, declared its sandwiches to indeed be "pricey." But, she concludes, "they’re also much more than just egg sandwiches," and they're well worth the considerable price tag.
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