There’s something to be said for consistency. Just ask Don Taylor, owner or Santa Rosa’s popular Omelette Express, which opened its doors in 1977 and today remains in the same building, is owned by the same family and serves the same menu.
Same menu? Yep.
“I don’t envy high-end dinner houses that have to invent a new menu every week,” says Taylor. “Our menu was designed by my mother, Nan Taylor, and her partner at the time, and we haven’t changed that much. There’ve been subtle changes—like, 15 years ago, the whole concept of an egg-white omelette became popular, so we now offer those—but I continue to be amazed at how well the menu holds up. It’s a testament to the benefits of having a good breakfast.”
One look at the menu—or the massive plates the kitchen puts out—and you know he’s not kidding. “People still want fried eggs and cottage fries,” he says. “This is what we make, and we make it really well.”
They also make it early (the restaurant opens at 6:30 a.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. weekends), just another way to cater to local business—and the just plain hungry: “I think breakfast fits more people’s schedules,” says Taylor. “We have people come in at 6:30 in the morning for a meeting, and they’re at work by 8 o’clock.”
The biggest change in the Taylor kitchen these days is the opening last November of a second Omelette Express, at 150 Windsor River Road in Windsor, on the edge of the Town Green (look for the Charlie Brown statue). “We’ve been fortunate enough to always have a loyal following,” says Taylor, “but we never had enough of an extended family before. Once our children grew up, we were able to open a new restaurant. My daughter, Nan—grandma Nan’s little namesake—is working at the new location along with my wife and son.”
So far, so good. Taylor says, “The first weekend we opened in Windsor, we actually had a line to get in. That was really gratifying. I think one of the reasons is that lot of our clientele in Windsor are people who used to live in Santa Rosa, bought their first homes up in the Windsor area, and remember us from their childhood.”
A perennial readers’ choice winner (in this and other local publications), Taylor accepts the praise…as far as it goes. Inside, he’s always hoping for a little bit more: “I love our hamburgers,” he says. “Of course, with a name like ‘Omelette Express,’ you’re going to be famous for omelettes. But we also have lunch specialties. Gene [Crozat] from G&C Auto Body is a longtime fan of our hamburgers. I think I probably deserve to win ‘Best Hamburger’ someday.”
Maybe someday…
