The best breakfast restaurants you have never heard of in central Pennsylvania

Bella Torta Bakery

Bella Torta Bakery opened in September in Lemoyne. It sells everything from cakes and pies to artisan breads, pastries and cupcakes.

(Sue Gleiter, PennLive)

Nothing combats a cold, crisp morning better than a hot, comforting breakfast.

Central Pa. is speckled with little hole-in-the-wall haunts worth getting out from under the covers to visit and starting your day.

These bakeries, coffee houses and restaurants may lack curbside appeal, but they offer heart-warming morning meals or at least one desirable item in their line up of pastries and baked goods.

Brew Cumberland's Best, 1903 Bridge St, New Cumberland, brewcbest.com, 717-774-6511.

"The name has been changed and so has everything else about this place," said Laurel Weiser owner of Brew Cumberland's Best, a small roadside coffee shop in New Cumberland. As a trained pastry chef, Weiser admits she likes to put her own spin on recipes and invent new creations.

When she first took over this cafe (complete with drive-through) last September, she started out with tried and true recipes such as fruit or chocolate studded muffins ($2.50) and scones ($2.50). Dense, substantial blueberry muffins are heavy in the hand due to handfuls of fresh fruit amidst buttery-rich crumb.

  • More on Brew Cumberland's Best

Since September, new items have appeared on the short menu such gluten-free, crustless, silky textured spinach quiche ($3.00) and to-die-for peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies ($2.00).

"People see the price and think that's expensive for a cookie -- that is, until they see the size of these cookies," said Weiser. The cookies are wonderfully chewy in the middle, almost to the point of being underdone.

There are actually more coffee drinks on the menu than food items. Mosaic Coffee Company in Shippensburg is the showcased bean used for hot cups of rich-roasted coffee. "We get fresh shipments every week," Weiser said. Sip quality cups of strong, freshly brewed coffee paired with the featured pastry of the month: salted caramel chocolate brownie ($2.50). Rich, intense chocolate flavor is hardly erased by blanket of soft, creamy caramel. Kosher salt speckled over the top distracts from underlying sweet flavors. Warm brownies go deliciously with Nutella-laced coffee drinks.

The Filling Station, 320 Main St., Palmyra, fillingstation320.com, 717-838-9077. 

On most days, squishy fresh .79 cent donuts at The Filling Station sell out by 10 a.m or 11 a.m.

"Our peanut butter cup donut is the first to sell out," said Nate Mrakovich, who owns and operates this family business with his father Mike.

Since the mid-eighties, this luncheonette-style eatery has lured locals and visitors from nearby Hersheypark with its freshly baked donuts and down-home, hearty and inexpensive meals.

"We have guys working all night to make the donuts fresh daily," Mrakovich said. Donuts are so chewy-fresh you'll leave teeth marks through the frosting and pillow-y textured cake or apple fritter.

The place is known for its donuts, but cheaply priced breakfast fare is worth hunkering down and taking a seat at the counter. There's a different flavor of baked oatmeal every season. "I hate the square," Mrakovich said. "It reminds me of a cafeteria.  The way we present the oatmeal is to cut it up so it looks more appetizing."

Served warm with fresh apple slices, cinnamon and brown sugar, the slightly sweet bowl of asymmetric oatmeal ($3.25) is heavenly.

"The gut-buster ($6.70) is a whole breakfast in one," Mrakovich said. "It's the ultimate breakfast sandwich." Apparently they sell out of these gut-busters all the time. These cholesterol bombs consist of two pieces of sourdough bread (or substitute one piece of toast with chipped beef), two sausage patties, five eggs rolled up with melted American cheese, home fries and three strips of bacon.

I think I'll stick with a plateful of scrambled eggs and toast ($2.80).

Marie's Cafe, 4401 Carlisle Pike, Camp Hill, facebook.com/pages/Maries-Cafe, 717-761-7661.

Marie Foutres has owned her namesake restaurant Marie's Cafe in Camp Hill for the past 9 years. Those in-the-know stop in regularly to this clandestine eatery at St. John's Place. Cozy and comfortable, the room mimics the homemade fare streaming from the visible, open kitchen and workspace behind the counter.

  • Full Marie's Cafe review

I stop in here every once in awhile to get my omelet fix. Stuffed and hearty three egg omelets are loaded with ingredients. The veggie omelet ($6.75) doesn't hold back on sauteed onions, sliced fresh mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach leaves. Hash-browns served on the side are made from freshly cut up potatoes, which are then griddle-fried 'til golden brown. Breakfast is served all day.

Bella Torta Bakery, 324 Market St, Lemoyne, bellatortabakery.net, 717-737-7494.

"I could do that," said Heather Booher when she and her mother Melissa Smith talked about opening a bakery.

Last September that whim became reality when Booher took the plunge and opened Bella Torta Bakery.

"It either takes a lot of guts or it's completely insane," Smith said.

  • More on Bella Torta Bakery and its cakes

The storefront space is easily missed, squeezed in amidst neighboring businesses along Lemoyne's traffic-busy Market Street. The bakery is sparsely decorated and the case mid-week is minimally full of pastries, cakes and cookies. This amateur bakeshop is not an eggs and bacon destination nor would I make a special trip for the spongy, croissants. Do arrive early in the morning for house made cinnamon rolls pulled  hot from the oven.

In a glass cooler behind the counter, bursting plastic wrapped balls of dough resemble loaves of artisan bread with their yeasty color, airy texture and round shape. The dough is left to rise overnight before being rolled and shaped into fat, cinnamon or raspberry swirled rolls ($2.50) every morning.  They won't taste as mouth-watering served later in the day at room temperature.

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