Cafe Lift Review

Philly is filled with plenty of brunch BYOs, including Sabrina's, Green Eggs Cafe, and Honey's Sit n Eat. Cafe Lift is definitely a contender for your next-day hangover needs. 

It's a cool, industrial, yet homey setting and while they don't allow for half-orders of stuffed french toast like Sabrina's, they do have other offerings to satiate your breakfast cravings.

So when my sister was in town, the GF and I took her to this neighborhood hot spot.

Huevos Rancheros [$9.50]
Toasted corn tortilla, refried beans, Mexican chorizo, roasted peppers, jack cheese, two fried eggs, pico de gallo
  

The GF went with the huevos rancheroes, which featured a crisp tortilla topped with spicy chorizo, creamy beans, sweet roasted peppers, and a nice oozing egg. It came with a side of crisp rosemary home fries.

Fried Egg Panino [$8]
Two fried eggs, crispy pancetta, plum tomatoes, arugula, fontina cheese, chili spread
  

My sister went with the fried egg panino which wasn't especially meaty, but had two fried eggs and pancetta to provide some heft.  The Le Bus bread was fresh and housed it all nicely. The pancetta could have been fried a bit more though. The arugula and plum tomatoes added some freshness and acidity to each bite, though the chili spread wasn't apparent at all.

Breakfast Burrito [$8.50]
Scrambled eggs, roasted peppers, mushrooms, sweet onions, jack cheese, flour tortilla, homemade hot sauce, sour cream
  

I was looking for something heartier so went with the breakfast burrito. While the tortilla wasn't crisp, it was filled with an abundance of eggs, roasted peppers, mushrooms, and onions.

 The fried shisito pepper had nice spice, with the homemade hot sauce redolent with chipotle flavor.  

Lemon Ricotta Pancake Side [$3.50]
Strawberries
  

I also wanted to try their lemon ricotta pancakes so ordered it as a side. A full order supposedly comes with honey and whipped cream. While it was a bit dense and not as fluffy as I would've expected from a ricotta pancake, the bits of strawberry helped to make a decent bite. FYI - it's 50 cents more than advertised online.

Bacon [$3]
 

A side of bacon rounded out the meal. Thick-cut, fatty, and intensely porky - this was nice.

FYI - Cafe Lift is cash only and tends to get packed for brunch.