Beggar’s Banquet’s avocado toast has everything but the kitchen sink

Downtown East Lansing no longer bears much resemblance to my high school stomping grounds, but some things have remained the same. I ventured there the other week to try something new by revisiting something old: breakfast at Beggar’s Banquet, which has been there since 1973 and was a regular spot for huevos rancheros with my dad growing up. 

It’s still cavernous, with a labyrinthine floor plan and a large bar. Naturally, it has all the brunch cocktails you could ask for. I decided to abstain this day, but I can’t say the bloody mary with honey-sriracha pork belly, fried chicken and a cornmeal waffle as garnishes wasn’t tempting. 

The brunch menu includes staples like breakfast burritos and variations on eggs benedict, as well as less standard offerings like shrimp and grits and the huevos rancheros I recall so fondly. I noticed the bread comes from the excellent local bakery Breadsmith, so when I also noticed that its rye toast (my favorite) is the foundation of the Rye Up Your Alley, I was sold. 

This whimsically named menu item is basically avocado toast, but on steroids. A large piece of crispy rye toast is topped with roasted garlic, mashed avocado, thick-sliced bacon, fresh tomato, goat cheese, one egg (over medium in this case), hollandaise and sriracha. I know, it’s a lot, but it’s so many things I love in one towering pile. 

I would have taken my bacon a little less well done and gone a little lighter on the goat cheese, but altogether, it was extremely tasty, if perhaps a little difficult to eat. I especially loved the light, lemony hollandaise mixed with the spicy sriracha and cool, creamy avocado. 

The comfy booth in the dark bar area where I was sat would be perfect for someone nursing a hangover with an aforementioned bloody mary, but it was equally cozy on a rainy Sunday morning before running errands. East Lansing may be much less quaint these days, but you can get a feel for simpler times with the institutions that have stuck around.