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Top Breakfast Joints In Northern Colorado

Johnson's Corner
Johnson's Corner (credit: CBS)

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and there are lots of places to get breakfast in Northern Colorado, but not all qualify as breakfast joints. A breakfast "joint" has good, homey food, mugs with thick handles and biscuits and gravy must be on the menu. Service should be fast, but doesn't have to come with a smile. If the wait staff appears slightly grumpy, this only adds to the ambiance. Here are some of the best breakfast joints in Northern Colorado.

Johnson's Corner
Johnson's Corner (credit: CBS)

Johnson's Corner

2842 Southeast Frontage Road
Johnstown, CO 80534
(970) 667-2069
johnsonscorner.com

This place epitomizes the American diner. Serving up comfort food 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, Johnson's Corner has been a Colorado landmark since 1952. It's not only a restaurant that serves up world famous cinnamon rolls; Johnson's Corner is also a top-notch truck stop along Interstate 25. In 1998, "Travel & Leisure" magazine wrote that Johnson's Corner served one of the Top 10 best breakfasts in the world, and in 2004, the establishment was named one of the top five truck stops in the U.S. by Food Network. If you love a diner breakfast, Johnson's Corner should be on your lists of must-try restaurants.

Heartland Café

301 E. 4th Street
Loveland, CO 80538
(970) 669-7775
It's not fancy, but locals love it and locals aren't usually wrong about these things. Heartland Café is a throwback to a different time and place. Located in downtown Loveland it offers up traditional home-style meals. From biscuits and gravy to French toast, it's the stuff that will put meat on your bones and happiness in your tummy. One downtown resident claims her father, who lives in Pueblo, always insist on going to Heartland when he's in town because he has an affinity for their huevos rancheros. After all, traditional home-style meals in Colorado often include a good green chili.

The Kitchen
(credit: thekitchengreely.com)

The Kitchen

905 16th Street
Greeley, CO 80631
(970) 351-7396
From retirees to college students, The Kitchen doesn't serve just one demographic, because everyone loves good food. Since 1952, this restaurant has sat on the corner of 16th Street and 9th Avenue, directly across from University of Colorado's main campus. The Kitchen sounds like a proper diner; clinking glass wear, customers laughing and chattering, waitresses yelling orders. It's always busy and on a weekend you'll probably have to wait, but it will be worth it, and with prices that seems to be from another decade, you won't go broke eating here.

Farmer's Table

2140 W. Elizabeth
Fort Collins, CO 80521
(970) 493-3249
farmerstablerestaurant.com
Who doesn't love down-home country cooking accompanied by a never-empty cup of coffee? From pancakes to steak and eggs, Farmer's Table serves up the food fit for the hardworking people of Northern Colorado. Of course, today this means college students hoping for a hangover cure and families looking for a Saturday morning feast. This is the newest of the restaurants featured on this list, opened in 2003, they recently moved to a location even closer to Colorado State University's campus.

- Heidi Kerr-Schlaefer is the Mayor of HeidiTown.com and a freelance writer from Northern Colorado. Follow her on Twitter at @HeidiTown.

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