Overall a very affordable, but underwhelming experience.
I've been to both Early Editions anywhere between 3-6 times each and to their credit they are consistent. I will admit I have only done their breakfast menu and haven't ventured into their sandwiches and non-breakfast cuisine. Perhaps I'm missing out, but that decision has largely been impacted by my underwhelming breakfast visits and Manhattan plethora of solid lunch spots.
The wait staff is friendly and fairly responsive and the food comes fairly quick. Unfortunately, the food quality isn't quite on par with your standard "home cooking" breakfast cafe that are littered throughout the midwest. Also, the atmosphere is definitely a little sketchy for being in a medium sized market like Manhattan. The Fort Riley Blvd location is definitely the cleanest and most attractive or the two, but both feel like "your father-in-law who proudly wears cargo shorts, flip-flops w/ black socks, and his favorite bowling shirt to a wedding and has done a little construction and design on the side" was used to create the spaces. No clear atmosphere. I'm guessing their aiming for the "homey-vibe" but it winds up feeling too sterile.
Don't get me wrong. For the price, it's not a half bad place to grab some French Toast or an omelette. The food is served fairly fresh and as I stated before the wait staff is very pleasant and really takes care of you. The food feels like maybe just a notch above what I would do in my own kitchen. Most items containing a fruit topping receive an odd fruit cocktail type covering that fails to give the dish a distinct flavor. The crepes are a disaster as I discovered on my latest visit. The waffles and pancakes best fall under the category of "meh".
The omelettes and classic American breakfast items(bacon, eggs, sausage, etc) are where they shine. The breakfast meat has always been a great experience with flavor and proper crisp. It's tough to screw up eggs and their made to order eggs and omelettes confirm that. They're solid, well-cooked meals, but do lack much inspiration in their creation.
I'm sure I'll be back plenty of times because as I said: for the price, it's not bad food if you know where to steer on the menu. Then again... My grandfather loves the place so much he drives 35 miles 2x a week to eat it, so don't let a single Yelp review steer you away. :) read more