Despite the diner's out-of-character fancy name, La Bonbonniere is a casual diner. The diner itself looks a bit run down, which they attempt to enhance cosmetically with taped up photos of celebrities that eat there and articles about the restaurant. Apparently despite its worn down look and low-key setting, actors are often seen at this spot; Molly Shannon and Ethan Hawke are supposedly regulars.
Every time we walked by this diner, at all hours of the day, it was always crowded, which made us think "these New Yorkers are on to something" and we finally tried it. We went around 2:00 pm and it was still crowded. Not one open table. The seats here are elbow-to-elbow. It's nice to know that we're not the only freaks in this city that eat at non-standard hours of the day. Despite the crowd, we received our food lightning fast.At last, our love, our breakfast food! We were perfectly happy with their banana pancakes. And their bacon was crisp and not greasy.
They did not skimp on the avocado. My avocado omelet came loaded with the healthy green fruit. Actually, this might have been the first time where there was more avocado than eggs in my omelet.
Whether folks are happy to be able to get breakfast for under $10 in the West Village neighborhood or they're hoping to share some maple syrup with a celeb, this place definitely has a following. We've just joined the ranks (for the food, of course; we have absolutely no interest in sitting next to a celeb, with the exception of Ms. Streep or Mr. Pacino, of course).
