It’s not Friendly Toast’s fault– we’d been misinformed. But, the third time we showed up in Kendall Square around 2AM ready for delicious breakfast food only to find the doors to the newly opened Cambridge outpost of the Portsmouth, NH mainstay securely locked, we were not only disappointed, we were angry. “Friendly Toast is coming to Cambridge!” various sources had chirped, “it’s open 24-hours a day!” they’d told us. Well, they were wrong. Maybe we should have done our own research, but that’s not really what one wants to hear when you are sitting on a curb at 2AM and there is no french toast to be had in your foreseeable future. Hearts were broken, dreams were crushed.

But, alas, we couldn’t resist giving the good ol’ Friendly Toast another shot. Something about the intense kitsch factor of the space itself and the promise of pancakes the size of our head drew us back to Kendall Square at a more reasonable hour. The verdict? It was everything we’d hoped it would be (well, except for open at all hours, but we’ve already discussed that). The burgers were juicy, the milkshakes were thick, the mounds of fries and onion rings were sizable, the toast friendly. And the pancakes were, indeed, the size of our heads.

–Jessie Rogers

The Friendly Toast is open Mon-Thurs 8AM-10PM, Fri-Sat 8AM-1AM and 8AM-9PM on Sundays.