When I saw a new restaurant going into the shopping center at North Avenue and 7th street by REI, I was excited to see what was going to pop up. I love new local establishments and considering Grand Junction offers a lot of chain restaurant options, the thought of having a new restaurant added to the mix was intriguing.

As construction progressed, interest grew about what was going in there. Then I saw the marquee on the corner of that road; one day and all it said was “OMG”. This really peaked my interest. Just OMG? What was this place? Another time I saw it, the sign said, “Old Man Grill.” I knew I had to taste the new restaurant.

I walked up to the breakfast/lunch establishment early one Tuesday morning. I noticed I was the only car in that part of the parking lot. Granted, I was going to breakfast at 8:00 a.m. on a Tuesday, but I was a little apprehensive. My roommate and I were greeted by our server and put at our table right away.

We were the only people in the restaurant, so the setting did not necessarily inspire confidence. But, when the server handed us the massive double-sided menu, I started to ease into enjoying this joint. I appreciate menus that do not have a bunch of pages to flip through. I have a hard enough time making a decision with a small menu, so it does me no good to have hundreds of options.

I was surprised by the items on the menu because they were so incredibly different. The cuisine is set up with breakfast on one side and lunch on the other. That wasn’t what caught my attention, it was the names on the menu. Names like Cowboy, Hoss, Sharon, Black Betty and Redneck.

I loved how creative OMG was. The items themselves also had equally as interesting makeup. The Sweet Lou is a burger consisting of strawberry jam, thick cut bacon, sharp cheddar, syrup sizzle and cole slaw. The Drizzle is an omelet with fresh spinach, diced tomatoes, fresh diced bell peppers, toasted almonds, blue cheese crumbles, parmesan and drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette.

I decided to go with the Carne Adovada which consisted of two eggs, made to your specifications, on top of “butter browns” (hash browns) with slow roasted diced pork in spicy red chile sauce. My roommate got the combo, which is two hot cakes, two eggs with a choice of thick cut bacon, slab ham, or house made sausage. The food came quickly and looked amazing. We dug in right away.

The Carne Adovada was mouthwateringly good. The combination of scrambled eggs, hash browns, and diced pork was on point, and the spicy red chile sauce topped the whole meal off perfectly. My roommate let me try a bite of her combo and I loved how fluffy and sweet her hot cakes were. They just melted in your mouth. The bill came out to twenty-two dollars and change for both of our meals and coffee. This place is obviously not as low cost as Randy’s South-Side Diner or Village Inn, but the quality, freshness and creativity make up for the higher cost. If you have not gone to Old Man Grill, I highly suggest you give it a try.