Get a boardwalk breakfast at My Friends Diner in Atlantic City

The floor is sticky and the cutlery is plastic, but don’t read into that: The service at My Friends Diner is par excellence. A host fields my coffee-and-a-water order the second I sit down in the Atlantic City Boardwalk spot, and a waiter materializes moments later with a menu.

There’s less breakfast theater here than there is at, say, the Melrose. There’s only a few stools at the counter, and the line cook is mostly concealed behind a prep station piled high with paper plates and to-go containers. Still, you can hear them working the flat-top grill in the background, skillfully browning homefries in between orders.

I’m impressed by their economy when my order arrives. They manage to fit a Belgian waffle, two eggs, and sausage ($13.95) on one Dixie plate, accompanied by a time-worn bottle of Log Cabin syrup. The sausage links are tasty. The waffle is lightly dusted with powdered sugar wherever it isn’t obscured by eggs, which are actually cooked over-medium. Even the sidecar of butter is flipped upside-down so the waffle can warm it up.

At $17.50 plus tip, it’s not the cheapest breakfast, but there’s a built-in bonus at the end. When I settle up at the counter, the clerk tops off my coffee as I take it to-go.

My Friends Diner, 1507 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, N.J., 609-345-1100, instagram.com/acmy_friendsdiner, open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.