Juniper Finch/Chowhound
The perfect French toast is more than just eggy sandwich bread. It has to be thick enough to hold up to being battered without falling apart, but it should still be thin enough that the egg batter can really soak in, rather than just coating the outside. It should also be just a tiny bit crisp around the edges, and flavorful enough to enjoy without any added toppings. The toppings that do come with it should complement the toast, not just drown it in sweetness.
I went to six breakfast chains to determine which one has the best French toast, and I’m thrilled to report that all of them were good. In fact, the most difficult part of writing this article was figuring out how to decide which one was best when none of them were actually bad. In the end, the deciding factor that separated the best from not-the-best wasn’t the toast, but the topping. Keep reading to find out which breakfast chains’ French toast was the highlight.
6. Bob Evans
Juniper Finch/Chowhound
Bob Evans has a couple of French toast options — classic brioche, caramel apple, and a new honey butter chicken and French toast plate that made my mouth water just thinking about it — but for the sake of a fair comparison, I stuck with the original. The dish features two slices of hand-dipped brioche French toast with your choice of breakfast meat or fresh fruit for $11.09.
The brioche is so sweet, it doesn’t even need syrup — my kids ate the leftovers totally plain, if you can believe it — but the egg wash is just eggy, and didn’t seem to soak into the bread at all before frying. It’s less like French toast and more like the chef laid a piece of brioche on top of an egg while it cooked. It’s not bad, but I’m not doing any cartwheels over it, either.
In terms of value, it shakes out roughly equal to Cracker Barrel’s French toast breakfast — fewer slices, but they’re slightly larger, and though there’s no eggs included in the Bob Evans breakfast, it is about a dollar cheaper, so by my estimation, it all comes out in the wash. But in terms of quality, Bob Evans’ French toast simply couldn’t compare to any of the other options I tried.
5. IHOP
Juniper Finch/Chowhound
IHOP’s Thick ‘n’ Fluffy classic French toast certainly earns its name. One slice stands as tall as two slices of even the thickest French toast from the other restaurants, and the plate comes with two pieces for $11.49. There are no sides included, which is a bummer, but it’s still more than enough food to satisfy an empty stomach — though without any protein, you’ll probably be hungry again a couple of hours later.
Though IHOP’s two slices amount to more food than four slices at Cracker Barrel and Original Pancake House, I have to say, IHOP’s French toast isn’t quite as tasty. It’s mildly sweet on its own, with plenty of egg batter and a lacy, lightly crispy edge, but there’s not a lot of complexity to the flavor. Once the initial shock at the size wears off, there’s nothing particularly exceptional about it, and the butter and maple-flavored corn syrup don’t add much to the dish. Though the French toast isn’t as disappointing as IHOP’s chocolate milkshake, I’m not raving about it, either.
4. Cracker Barrel
Juniper Finch/Chowhound
Cracker Barrel’s French toast comes in two meal options — Momma’s French toast breakfast with four slices, two eggs cooked to order, and your choice of breakfast meat for $11.99, and Grandma’s Sampler with two slices, three meats, eggs, and a breakfast side for $13.99. It comes with Cracker Barrel’s real maple syrup, but sugar-free, blueberry, strawberry, and butter pecan are also available.
The French toast is yummy in a familiar, homestyle way. The bread is thin and battered all the way through, with a little bit of crispness around the edges and just the right amount of sweetness. The real maple syrup sets it apart from the others I tried, most of which offered maple-flavored corn syrup. While the four slices included in Momma’s French toast breakfast add up to about two slices at most other restaurants, the meat and eggs make it, overall, a heartier breakfast and better value for the price compared to most.
3. The Original Pancake House
Juniper Finch/Chowhound
The French toast at the Original Pancake House is the least expensive of all the restaurants I tried at $8.99 for a half-order with two slices, and that’s a pretty good deal even without any sides. Unlike the other restaurants that use a sweet bread as the foundation for French toast, the Original Pancake House uses sourdough, and I have to say, it works. The tanginess of the sourdough contrasts with the sweetness of the egg batter and powdered sugar in a really nice way, even before drizzling on any syrup.
It’s thoroughly battered, to the point that there’s an almost brûlée-like crust. But, unlike Bob Evans, where it was more like egg on toast, the Original Pancake House batter soaks through the bread and feels more integrated. It comes with delicious, real whipped butter, but like just about every other restaurant I tried, the syrup is corn syrup-based, which is a bummer. There’s also no online ordering option, and my introvert brain doesn’t love that, but the service was lightning fast, so I can’t complain too much.
2. Another Broken Egg Café
Juniper Finch/Chowhound
As much as I love Another Broken Egg Café for its Southern-style grits and Bacquezo omelette, I’d never tried its sweeter brunch fare until now. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot based on the photo on the menu, which looked an awful lot like two slices of regular toast dusted with powdered sugar. Fortunately, what I got was nothing like what was pictured. The takeaway box was stuffed to the gills with three slices of French toast, each nearly an inch thick and cut into triangles. They’re lightly crisp on the outside and battered all the way through, and the flavor is subtly sweet with just a hint of salt, which is a nice touch. It’s a solid amount of food for just shy of $12, even without any included sides, and it meets all my criteria for excellent French toast.
But it comes with packaged Smucker’s syrup and a packaged pat of butter. Of all the restaurants I tried, Another Broken Egg is the one that I would have expected to have real maple syrup. For a restaurant that touts its fresh, seasonal menu, using pre-packaged, artificially flavored food service condiments irks me. In its defense, though, Another Broken Egg also has two other varieties of French toast — cinnamon roll and apple fritter — which are loaded with fresh fruit and specialty syrups, skirting the packaged condiment problem altogether. Based on the classic French toast I tried, I’m dying to get my hands on those.
1. First Watch
Juniper Finch/Chowhound
The French toast at First Watch comes with two slices of egg-dipped challah bread — the ideal bread for French toast, according to the pros — with butter, cinnamon sugar, syrup, and mixed berry compote for $11.99. My first thought when reading the menu was, “Six bucks per slice is wild.” And, while First Watch is known for its pricey, trendy breakfast dishes, in this case, I think the price tag is justified.
The challah is thick, exceptionally light, and pillowy, and the cinnamon in the egg batter is subtle but unmistakable. Though it doesn’t come with any sides, the butter’s texture makes it clear that it’s freshly whipped, and the berry compote is sweet and tangy, complementing the cinnamon-spice of the egg batter. The syrup was just okay. It’s a flavored pancake syrup, not real maple syrup, though unlike the others, it’s made with cane sugar instead of corn syrup. But I’d rather slather the French toast in the berry topping anyway. In fact, it’s the compote that makes the First Watch French toast the best out of all the ones I tried.
Methodology
Juniper Finch / Chowhound
I tried the classic French toast from six national or semi-national chains known for their breakfasts. Though some came with sides, I ranked the orders based strictly on the quality of the French toast itself — the bread, the batter, how it all comes together, and the toppings that are included. The quality of the sides played no part in the rankings, and the sides were only considered in relation to overall value for the cost. Prices vary by location and are provided for side-by-side comparison only.
Dining and Cooking