Snooze is a new breakfast spot in Sandy Springs with recommendable food and laudable business practices, including solid COVID-19 protocols.
The restaurant’s pandemic playbook bears mentioning, because I ended up ordering takeout from Snooze after having surveyed the Sunday brunch scene at a different restaurant, where it appeared that everyone inside had declared victory over COVID-19. I don’t have tolerance for the kind of risk posed by no social distancing, seating at full capacity, and poor mask-wearing.
In stark contrast to that restaurant, the tables at Snooze were 6 feet apart. Clear plexiglass separated booths and pairs of bar stools. The staff wore masks the way they are intended to be worn. Folks waiting for a table or, like me, for a takeout order, stood outside, or sat in cars waiting for a text alert. When my phone pinged to announce that the food was ready, no overcrowding meant easy access to the bar counter, to grab the prepaid food and go.
Credit: Paula Pontes
Credit: Paula Pontes
Just because Snooze enforces its pandemic p’s and q’s doesn’t mean that hospitality was lost. On the contrary, the energy there was as high as the double ceiling in the 4,100-square-foot space with a retro orange color palette. And, I’ll look forward to the day when I can sit at the bar and sip a wake-me-up filled with booze, caffeine — or both (I’m lookin’ at you, Brew Me Up, Bourbon Cup).
Open since mid-February in the Gateway multi-use development at 4600 Roswell Road, it is the first Georgia outpost for a breakfast chain that started in Denver in 2006 and now spans seven states. A Snooze location in west Midtown is slated to open in early fall, according to Meghann Cleary, the company’s East Coast regional manager.
“It’s breakfast, but different” is the Snooze tagline. The menu offers plenty of creative twists on favorites, along with options to customize eggs, pancakes, French toast, sweet potato hash and more.
Credit: Paula Pontes
Credit: Paula Pontes
The rosemary sausage gravy that smothers a sizable pastry puff square, topped with a sunny-side-up egg, takes the breakfast pot pie into hangover food territory.
The Bountiful Buddha Bowl — a heaping portion of roasted veggies, feel-good greens, a trio of grains, heart-healthy avocado and everything bagel seasoning — is a flavor sensation for the live-forever crowd.
Credit: handout
Credit: handout
But, the biggest sellers, according to Cleary, are the habanero pork belly benny; shrimp and grits; and pineapple upside-down pancakes, with fresh fruit cooked into the batter.
Pineapple pancakes may be a Snooze signature, but, when I saw the pancake flight as an option, the kid in me wanted the pick-three. I went with sweet potato (yum), cinnamon roll (double yum) and blueberry danish (triple yum).
Breakfast food isn’t known for traveling well, but Snooze gets marks for tidy packaging. Like the pancake flight, the trio of egg, hash brown and jack cheese-filled corn tortillas that make up an order of Juan’s breakfast tacos was tucked into a slender, rectangular to-go container that ensured no sliding.
Snooze aims to please the carryout crowd in other ways. A few months ago, it added a family meal bundle to the takeout mix. Priced at $38, and portioned to feed a family of four, the meal includes eight scrambled eggs, hash browns, toast, four pancakes, and a choice of bacon, sausage or chicken sausage.
“We thought it would be a great value for people who wanted a simple breakfast at home and weren’t going out yet. It is something we did during COVID, but they are here to stay,” Cleary said.
Snooze also emphasizes responsible sourcing, composts and recycles nearly 90% of its waste, and donates 1% of sales to local charity partners.
Whether it’s the pancake flight, the family meal bundle, or the commitment to sustainability and the community that entices you to try Snooze, take note: Doors shut daily at 2:30 p.m. You snooze, you lose.
Credit: Paula Pontes
Credit: Paula Pontes
SNOOZE
Menu: breakfast and brunch
Alcohol: on-premises only; to-go mimosa kit coming soon
What I ordered: breakfast pot pie ($10.50); breakfast tacos ($10.25); a scrambled egg-cheese-sausage pretzel sandwich ($10.50); Bountiful Buddha Bowl ($11.50); pancake flight ($11)
Service options: dine-in, carryout and delivery via DoorDash; order online (or with the Snooze app), in person or via phone
Outdoor dining: patio with umbrella tables separated by plexiglass dividers
Mask policy: required for all employees, and for customers when not seated
Address, phone: 4600 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs; 470-571-3880
Hours: 6:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily
Website: snoozeeatery.com
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