Two Philly breakfast spots duke it out on Good Morning America

Darnel's Cakes and Middle Child competed on the morning talk show to represent Philly in the United States of Breakfast segment.

Salt and peppered sunny side up eggs cooking at Darnel’s Cakes at 444 North 3rd Street in Philadelphia, Pa., on Tuesday, June 14, 2022.Read moreTYGER WILLIAMS / Staff Photographer

by Jenn Ladd

Published Jun. 29, 2023, 11:43 a.m. ET

Philly’s breakfast sandwiches aren’t as vaunted as its cheesesteaks and hoagies, but the city is rife with excellent examples. Good Morning America spotlighted two contenders, Darnel’s Cakes and Middle Child, on Thursday as part of its summer-long United States of Breakfast segment.

The competitors and judges — former Eagle Jon Runyan, chef Michael Solomonov, and Action News anchor Alicia Vitarelli — assembled at Bok Bar early this morning to determine which Philly contestant would advance to a four-way final round in New York City tomorrow. Fans and most of Philly’s sports-team mascots cheered them on.

The two breakfasts in consideration were a bacon, egg, and cheese from Darnel’s Cakes, served on a buttermilk biscuit and drizzled with Thai chili-shallot aioli; and the pastrami, egg, and cheese from Middle Child, sandwiched by toasted rye from Merzbacher’s.

“We bake our biscuits fresh, in-house every day,” Darnel’s founder Kyle Cuffie-Scott said on the broadcast. “There’s 216 layers of butter, flour, eggs, sugar ... it’s a light, fluffy, flaky, melt-in-your mouth sensation.” Darnel’s co-owner Joe Lope explained the just-runny egg sandwich is topped with applewood-smoked bacon and a blend of Gruyere, cheddar, and Parmesan. (You can get the sandwich for $8.25 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at their Old City cafe Monday through Friday.)

“Our sandwich is all about simplicity,” said Middle Child owner Matthew Cahn, running through processes for the deli’s cured, smoked, steamed pastrami and the scrambled-to-order eggs. “It’s all about deceivingly simple — four simple ingredients, no crazy anything, but everything done right.” (Get the sandwich at Middle Child Clubhouse in Fishtown for $13 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., every day but Monday.)

In the end, while Solomonov pronounced Darnel’s biscuits “one of the best biscuits ever,” he voted for Middle Child and was joined by Vitarelli for a tie-breaker.

Middle Child will face off against competitors from Houston, Cleveland, and Boston on Friday’s edition of GMA. The winner gets $10,000.