I love that the Hillside Spot is in my neighborhood because we need more places like this, but I think they are just now working through the problems of opening a new place in a "cool-restaurant" starved area. My first visit was a little weird. It was crowded and there was no clear understanding of how it worked (no table service at breakfast). We had just hiked S. Mtn and it was pouring rain. The line was out the door. People were pissy and rushed - even the diners. The room was cold, but you could tell the open architecture would awesome if it wasn't so loud, cold and frantic that morning. Normally I don't mind the loud, fast more urban breakfast atmosphere but people were fighting over tables and the food deliverers were hard to track down. Anyway, my farmer's omlette was grossly greasy (egg whites with awesome local veggies lying in a puddle of oil) and the toast wasn't really toast but rather a grease-smeared thin slice of bread thrown on the grill. I heard from people next to us that I should have had the pancakes or even the bacon & egg scone. Next time...
I decided to give them another chance the next week when I took a group of friends there for dinner. WE LOVED IT. The pace was slower. Our waiter was helpful and sweet. We were in high spirits with our glasses of wine and girl talk. The hamburgers, french fries, rotisserie chicken, salads were all fantastic. I will definately go again. I'm already craving the hamburger and that's really not my style. Must be good.