The breakfast club — sleeping in has its perks

Much as you like to claim you’re a “first chair, last chair” skier during the weekend, it’s OK to be a little more realistic sometime — weekends were made for sleeping in, right? And if you haul yourself out of the sack and onto the mountain by 9 a.m. on Saturday, it makes sense to give yourself some leeway on Sunday morning.

To encourage your inner weekend sloth, there are plenty of restaurants in Aspen where the wait staff is used to serving customers with bed head and pillow marks on their faces — folks who just want a stack of pancakes or plate of eggs even though Aspen’s noon whistle has just sounded.

Aspen has a couple of cafes that specialize in satisfying your first priority after rubbing sleep out of your eyes: caffeine. Zele cafe, on the corner of Hopkins and Galena, features leaded and unleaded coffee brews from all over the world, not to mention irresistible pastries, plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, and panini sandwiches and salads for when true hunger sets in.

But if you’re just looking for quality java, you can’t do much better than Ink! Coffee, across Durant Avenue from the gondola plaza. The beans are roasted in Basalt, and the store itself offers a full range of espresso drinks connected to a trendy snowboarding shop (D&E), for sudden caffeine-fueled shopping sprees.

If you’d rather get the day going with a full plate of breakfast fare, choices abound. The Wienerstube, at 633 E. Hyman, has been serving breakfast (and lunch) since 1965. Their motto, “Where the locals meet,” refers to “The Stamtish,” a community table in the corner where conversation is always good. The menu ranges from traditional omelets and stacks of pancakes to Viennese specialties like wiener schnitzel and Austrian apple raisin bread pudding with warm vanilla sauce. (Did we mention their killer Bloody Marys?)

Waiter Vlado Rebta said the restaurant’s corned beef hash is most popular, and warns that when they’re really busy for breakfast, lunch service may not begin until 12:30 p.m.

Poppycock’s, a small cafe on Cooper Avenue in the Aspen Square building, is known for traditional breakfast foods with a twist. They offer crepes and decadent French toast that’s breaded with pecans, topped with bananas and served with Grand Marnier butter. Many patrons don't escape without digging a fork into the famous hearty oatmeal pancakes, spinach eggs and homemade pistachio nut sausage.

Waitress Cindy Pena said that the No. 6 smoothie, made with bananas, strawberries, blueberries and protein powder sells like, well, hotcakes. The restaurant serves breakfast from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and starts offering their salads and hot and cold sandwiches at 11 a.m.

For fresh croissants, bagels, donuts, muffins and scones paired with good coffee, the Main Street Bakery lives up to its name. Brunches at the bakery are jampacked with people waiting to be seated for eggs benedict, and huevos rancheros. Forget about the wait if you’re in a hurry, as the bakery offers a community table where locals enjoy baked goods and read the newspaper.

A few quick suggestions for you who slept in but are still headed for the slopes: Grab something and go. Sandwich shop Johnny McGuire’s, on Cooper Avenue just across from City Market, offers portable breakfasts like the Captain Hash Brown, including hash browns, onions, green peppers, bacon, cheddar and eggs — just the grease you need to get the wheels rollin’ for the days. The shop also has plenty of strong coffee. “It’s the raw deal here,” said Jero, who works behind the counter. If you’ve missed the 11 a.m. cutoff for breakfast food, try the Julian sandwich, which includes grilled ham, bacon, cheddar, green Tabasco, avocado and mayo.

Bagel Bites near Clark’s Market offers toasted bagels with cream cheese and various breakfast sandwiches; Paradise Bakery at the corner of Galena and Cooper is muffin central in the morning.

If you’re headed to Snowmass for a late day of skiing, try one of the best-kept secrets, in the Aspen Business Center: Louis Swiss Pastry. When you walk in the front door, you’re standing within the bakery itself, so there’s no seating. But it’s easy to grab a fresh sweet roll or cinnamon twist, order a quickly prepared espresso drink and hit the road.