Breakfast Pizza for Lunch in Newhall

The Breakfast Pizza is also a great lunch option. | Photo: Christine N. Ziemba

The Daily Harvest Cafe & Juicery in Newhall has been a go-to breakfast and lunch spot for many since its doors opened in 2015. Known for its cold-pressed raw juices — made in-house with organic ingredients — the cafe changes its food menus to include seasonal produce and other items.

One staple that hasn’t changed on the menu is the Breakfast Pizza ($13), which we had for lunch on Friday. It’s a simple dish that includes two baked sunny side up eggs, breakfast potatoes, green onions and basil on a flatbread with pecorino cheese. It usually comes with pancetta, but we ordered the pizza without it. (A gluten-free dough is also available for $3 more.)

The thin and crispy flatbread and the melted pecorino were the dish’s flavor highlights. Since we didn’t get the salty flavor of the pancetta to mix with the other ingredients, we asked for a side of salsa, which elevated the pizza. It’s a great choice for any meal of the day (though The Daily Harvest isn’t open for dinner).

Other options for breakfast (or lunch) include corn arepas with a choice of protein; an acai bowl with fruits and granola; avocado toast or kale avocado toast; a hearty beet salad; a chicken chopped salad; plus beer, wine and coffee drinks. Many of the cafe’s items are gluten-free and vegan, too.

Though not a new restaurant, just we wanted to shout out an oldie but a goodie the next time someone says there’s nothing but chains in Santa Clarita.

The Daily Harvest Cafe & Juicery
22722 Lyons Ave., Newhall
Open Monday through Sunday: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Saturday Mornings with Fiesta Taco Grill’s Breakfast Burritos

Fiesta Taco Grill (FTG) opened a brick-and-mortar location in Newhall a little more than three years ago. In 2019, the restaurant started selling their foods and products, such fantastic homemade salsas, chips, guacamole and agua frescas, at the Old Town Newhall Farmers Market on Saturdays.

Then, they made the decision to bring over a grill and offer up breakfast burritos, tacos and bowls — and our Saturday mornings just got a whole lot more delicious-er.

We’re partial to the vegetarian breakfast burritos, made with Fiesta Taco Grill’s handmade flour tortillas, refried beans, potatoes, eggs and cheese. They’re simple, generous with the eggs, and allow FTG’s salsas to stand out. Additional proteins are available at the Saturday market, including steak, chorizo, bacon, sausage and chile verde.

Our Saturday morning indulgence comes reasonably priced at $7.50.

Fiesta Taco Grill brings its foods and products to the Newhall Farmers Market on Saturdays.

FTG salsas FTW.

The same proteins make up FTG’s breakfast taco ($3) choices on corn or flour torillas (just without the refried beans) and $9 breakfast bowls (refried beans, potatoes, eggs, cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole).

Fiesta Taco Grill is at the Saturday farmer’s market in Newhall from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The storefront is located at 24623 Arch St., Newhall and open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Worth a Revisit: The Way Station in Newhall

The Way Station serves up endless cups of coffee and generous heapings of breakfast and lunch dishes. | Photo: Christine N. Ziemba

If you haven’t been (back) to the Way Station in Newhall, SCVFoodie suggests heading back to the Santa Clarita institution the next time you get the craving for decent diner food and nostalgia—in the form of license plates, old signs and history clips—dotting every inch of wall space.

Check out the Way Station’s walls filled with history. | Photo: Christine N. Ziemba

The Way Station, which has been around since 1971, makes no bones about itself: It’s a greasy spoon that does breakfasts and lunches well. They know that people don’t usually go there for the oatmeal and fruit plate (though you can). Customers head to the Way Station for the hearty dishes like a country fried steak, corned beef hash, eggs Benedict, et al.

Or better yet, you can’t go wrong ordering the Kris Special: Two eggs over an English muffin, topped with (sausage or chicken) gravy, with a generous heaping of hashbrowns and bacon or sausage; or the Thursday Special that’s available every day: Two eggs with a pancake or French toast with a half-order of bacon or sausage.

Our fav breakfast item, though, is a bit on the “lighter” side: the Morning Muffin, which is an English muffin with a fried egg, Canadian bacon, cheese and a plateful of hashbrowns. You can’t beat the price at $4.85, either. Add an unlimited cup of coffee for $1.75, and you’ll see why the Way Station has such staying power.

The breakfast sandwich at the Way Station is a bargain. | Photo: Christine N. Ziemba

Pro-tip for those visiting for the first time. The Way Station has two entrances, but the line for tables and spots at the counter forms at the back entrance. Be prepared to wait during rush hours, but the line moves fairly quickly for a small space.

Way Station
24377 Main St., Newhall
(661) 255-0222

Dinner at Cathy’s Breakfast Cafe

Egg in a Nest at Cathy’s Deli.

Since Eric Tovar-Plummer took ownership of Cathy’s Breakfast Cafe and Deli (aka Cathy’s Deli on Lyons Avenue) last year, the longtime Newhall eatery has blossomed into arguably the best breakfast/lunch spot in Santa Clarita. Just try the pancakes, breakfast burritos or homemade jams (strawberry Earl Grey is our fav)—anything, really—and taste the care that goes into every item on the menu.

But now Tovar-Plummer diving into the unknown with Cathy’s: Starting today (Aug. 3), the cafe expands its hours past 3 pm to serve early dinner items until 7 pm, from Wednesdays through Sundays.

We caught a glimpse of the new menu items on a recent visit, and the offerings look as tempting as the breakfasts. A few that looked exceptionally tasty include:

>> Egg in a Nest: Steamed rice, pulled pork, a marinated six-minute egg topped with house-made teriyaki, green onions and sesame seeds. (See photo above. A friend tried this on a recent visit and said it was delicious. She ate it all before we could ask to verify that opinion.)

>> Brick Chicken: Boneless 1/2 chicken pan seared with a side of cauliflower mash and soup or salad.

>> T-bone, Skirt Steak or Pork chop and Fries: Your choice of protein with fries and soup and salad.

>> Pork Chop Milanese: House-breaded pork chop topped with bacon honey gravy, a side of cauliflower mash and soup or salad.

We have a feeling that if dinner catches on at Cathy’s, Tovar-Plummer will have to extend those new ours to accommodate the demand.

Cathy’s Breakfast Cafe and Deli
23120 Lyons Ave., Suite 24
Newhall
661.288.2217
Hours: 7 am to 3 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays,
7 am to 7 pm on Wednesdays through Sundays 

Making Progress at The Daily Harvest

The Daily Harvest is coming to the yellow Victorian buildings in Newhall.

In the late spring, we saw a new sign—The Daily Harvest—pop up among the yellow Victorian buildings along Lyons Avenue. And got really excited. According to what we could find online, the new “cafe & juicery” would offer: Organic Cold Pressed Juice, Seasonal Fresh Food, Breakfast, Salads and Sandwiches.

So we waited. And waited.

The construction seemed to stop and start in fits and spurts. But now they’re back at it in earnest and one of the guys walking into the construction site said they’ll be open “soon” (within the next month). Fingers crossed.

Follow the cafe on Instagram (@TheDailyHarvest) to track its progress.

The Daily Harvest Cafe & Juicery
22722 Lyons Ave. #6
Newhall, CA 91321 

**If the cafe’s a success, then parking will be an issue. The [tiny] spaces at the lot for the Egg Plantation, Honu Coffee and various shops, dance and yoga studios will be at a bigger premium than they are now. But we’ll take parking headaches if that means more food options in the SCV.

Quest for the go-to Burrito Heads to Taco Llama

The menu board at Taco Llama in Newhall

SCVFoodie is constantly on the lookout for cheap eats that won’t stress the wallet but won’t insult the taste buds, either. Believe us, that the goal is much much easier said than done. But we had hope on Friday afternoon when we wandered into Taco LLama on Main Street in Downtown Newhall (across the street from the Way Station).

The no-frills eatery was busy with locals ordering off the restaurant’s big board, which boded well for authentic Mexican food. We’re on a quest to find our go-to chicken burrito in the SCV (and El Pollo Loco and Chipotle don’t count), so when we spotted the #41: burrito mojado (a wet burrito), we just had to dive in and order. It may not have been the most adventurous choice on the menu—we skipped the tongue and stomach entrees—but we can’t help that the simple chicken burrito called out to us.

The wet burrito weighed a ton.

What was delivered 10 minutes later, was a “burrito” that weighed about the same as a newborn. The baby came with cheese, beans, chicken, more cheese, cheese, chilies, a layer of nacho chips and a roja sauce drowning the burrito. There wasn’t enough chicken for our taste, and definitely too much cheese. The chicken that we did taste was bland. The sauce was overwhelming in volume and underwhelming in flavor—we expected just a little bit of heat. Maybe we expected too much.

Taco Llama is a great place for cheap food for ginormous portions (that burrito only set us back $5.75), but we’ll keep on searching for our go-to burrito in the SCV.

Taco Llama
24374 Main St., Newhall
661.255.7035

Bricks on Lyons: SCV’s Best Kept Secret?

Bricks’ chicken pesto panini.

Bricks on Lyons Avenue in Newhall opened last year to little fanfare. The former Taco Bell location—the red brick building, get it?—didn’t have great signage and not even a website to see exactly what was on the menu (besides burgers).

We’d heard some good things and some bad things about the place when it first opened, including service issues and pricey menu, so we waited to check it out. We’ve now been twice in the past month, and we’ll probably be back again.

The food is pretty darn tasty for the SCV—the burger with mushrooms, Swiss and onions and the chicken pesto panini were favorites. The regular French fries and sweet potato fries were thin cut and freaking delicious. But the use of King’s Hawaiian rolls was off-putting to others in our party. “Too much bread” was the chief complaint, but carb lovers won’t mind. We haven’t ventured to try the sushi menu (served only certain hours) because we wonder a) where do they make it? and b) sushi seems so out of place next too a place that serves garlic aioli fries.

What’s pretty amazing though is that Bricks has a great craft beer menu (including Chimay) and really thoughtful wine selection (we spotted an Educated Guess cab in the mix).

Now, it is a little higher-priced for the Valencia area. A burger, soft drink and basket of fries (to share) can set you back around $15, but that’s comparable to some of the gastropubs in LA.

While we didn’t have any complaints about the service, we do have issues with the seating. Bricks seems to be very popular at lunch and dinner and seating can be at a premium during rush hours. We wish they’d ditch the big booths and just do community tables like Wurstkuche in DTLA.

Next time we hit the Bricks, we’ll try their happy hour from 3-5 pm or 9-9.30 pm. Burgers are just $6 and hopefully the seating won’t be an issue.

Bricks
23820 Lyons Ave., Newhall
661.286.1091