Warmth and the smell of sausage and eggs lured me and my family in. As we entered the newly opened Sunny Day Café on Main Street in Bel Air, we were greeted by the aroma of good food and a cheerful waitress. She happily told us to sit wherever we would like and that she would be right with us.  It was a good first impression.

We took our seats in a booth at the front of the restaurant. Within 10 seconds of sitting down, our waitress came by, handed us menus, and asked for our drink orders. We took this time to decide on what to get.

Sunny Day Café has pancakes, Belgian waffles, French toast, breakfast sandwiches, yogurt, a variety of omelets, and savory and sweet crepes. I was interested in the s’more crepe, a sweet crepe filled with graham crackers, melted marshmallows, and chocolate chips. However, because I have an allergy to tree nuts and Nutella and pecans are used with other crepes, I first had to check to see if it would be safe for me to eat.

I informed my waitress of my allergy and she immediately went to check with the chef. I hoped that she would return to tell me that it would be perfectly fine for me to eat. Instead, she came back with the chef, who told me that he could not guarantee that there would not be cross-contamination between the different crepes. Although I was disappointed that I would not be able to try the s’more crepe, I appreciated him coming out to talk to me.

I decided on the Wonderful Day Waffle Platter in lieu of the crepe. I still got to see the s’more crepe, though, because my brother ordered it. Drizzled with chocolate syrup and surrounded by dollops of whipped cream, it looked amazing. My waffle platter looked good too. The waffle was sprinkled with powdered sugar and it came with two eggs cooked to my desire, a sausage link, and two strips of bacon.

My scrambled eggs were delicious. They had the perfect balance of moisture to dryness. The sausage was good as well. It was a large link with a nice crispy casing and good flavor. My Belgian waffle was also tasty, and I liked that it was only half of a Belgian waffle.

My only complaint is that there was no pure maple syrup available. I can’t stand the thick artificial syrup that seemingly all restaurants serve. If I could make one change to Sunny Day Café, I would have them offer pure maple syrup, even if they would have to charge extra for it. I would gladly pay a bit more to enjoy the sweet amber goodness that is pure and real maple syrup.

Overall, I enjoyed Sunny Day Café immensely, and I plan to go back in the near future. The previous two restaurants that were located there went out of business in a few years, but I sincerely hope that Sunny Day Café will stay for many years to come.

Sunny Day Café is located at 101 South Main Street in Bel Air. It serves breakfast and lunch daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Mary Kate Luft is an A&E Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.